Japanese Version→

The Impact of Estonia’s Digital StateThe old town of Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, is also a world heritage site. Its government digitization is progressing at a rate hard to imagine based on the bucolic scenery, having rolled out a series of some of the world’s most advanced policies. [[[yumikann/PIXTA]]]

“Perhaps even Silicon Valley may be falling behind.” Last time, what indicated this was the creation of new ecosystems around the world which surpass Silicon Valley in the US.

 In Singapore, in Israel, in Shenzhen, China, and in Paris, France... All around the world, they are mimicking the model of Silicon Valley while building unique frameworks to generate new businesses and industries. Of course, the same goes for Japan, albeit on a smaller scale.

 Of these, I was rather struck by Estonia in Europe. Estonia is one of the three Baltic states, with a population of just 1.3 million, roughly on par with Okinawa Prefecture. The old town in the capital city of Tallinn is a registered world heritage site, and has a townscape which retains a certain medieval charm, as if it could appear in of the Dragon Quest role-playing games.

 However, this small country could well attract the world’s top talent in the future. This impression comes from the series of world-leading policies it has rolled out.
 The most famous of them is the government digitization initiative called “e-Estonia.” They have promoted the digitization of government systems since 1997. It has been arranged so that all government services can be received online by using your national ID.