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Estonia (e-Estonia) is the world’s only fully digitalized nation, where almost 100% percent of all public services are online, from IDs to education to healthcare. Previously, I wrote an article about how AI can actually sharpen inequality in the world unless developing nations implement the proper technological infrastructure to be able to adopt AI in the first place. Although this is a main area of concern, few governments are stepping in to address the issue. However, there is one country that is actually helping developing countries with digitalization: Estonia.

I recently came across a brilliant e-Governance Academy report called A Digital Decade in a Year, which outlined the accomplishments of Estonia’s eGA in 2020/2021. For background knowledge, “the eGA is a non-profit foundation, founded in 2002 to assist public sector organisations make digital transformation happen. eGA’s mission is to increase the competitive- ness of societies through digital transformation, transparency, and openness. For this purpose, we analyse information, create knowledge about e-governance and digital transformation, and transfer Estonian and international best practices to governments and other stakeholders around the world.”

Moreover, in this report, the eGA mentioned how it aided developing nations like Benin, Uganda, and Djibouti, Tonga, Mongolia, Turkey, Moldova and Ukraine (among others) with implementing and accelerating digitalization agendas. For example, according to the report the eGA helped set up a data exchange platform and citizen portal for Benin, “The secure data exchange framework is based on the Estonian X-Road model with the Unified eXchange Platform (UXP) software.” In Tonga, they developed a civil registration and national ID system, “A modern e-society is based on the identities validated and verified by the government. The objective of the project “Tonga civil registration and national ID” is to modernise the identity management in the Kingdom of Tonga, by implementing the first aspects of e-governance and digital transformation.” As another example, the eGA is helping with Mongolia’s e-governance development, and “provides to the Mongolian Government with the consultancy on the e-government related policy development and improvement of infrastructure, national cyber security and digital services provision.”

This is just a snapshot into the vast contributions of the little-known Baltic Nation of Estonia in helping developing countries with digitalization and preparing for the AI age. In my opinion, I am not surprised that Estonia stepped up to this specific challenge. For starters, the country is the only one in the world with a legitimate digitalization track record that dates back to 1994. Like a startup, the nation built itself into a digital giant from the ground up. Because of this, Estonia has the proper faculties and expertise to aid developing countries in becoming digitally mature.

Thanks to Estonia’s efforts, our world is becoming a more digitally mature place. One begs to ask the question, if not for the eGA, then who would step into address this challenge? So far, other countries have remained largely silent. Governments from around the world must take Estonia as a serious example, and help to level the playing field in technological and digital access. Otherwise, sharp inequality will arise in the AI age, and will take on a form unlike we’ve never witnessed before in modern human history.

Danish Minister for Business and Growth, Troels Lund Poulsen, launched the new Dialogue Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility and Growth on February 23 2016.

The Dialogue Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility and Growth is surposed to organize the dialogue between companies and stakeholders within the field of social responsibility and social economy and contribute to danish government policy development in the area.

The Dialog Forum’s purpose is to support companies’ efforts to take social responsibility and social enterprises work to create growth in a way that creates maximum value for eth individual company and for the community as a whole.

Dialogue Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility and Growth will perform the following tasks:

• Obtain, develop and disseminate international and national knowledge on trends within social responsibility and social enterprises.
• Encourage corporate commitment to follow up on the UN World sustainable development objectives.
• Promote partnerships for social responsibility and growth and social investments.
• Host a series of roundtables to bring together companies and relevant stakeholders themed dialogues.
• Contribute to government policy development in the area.
  • Organise an annual conference in collaboration with relevant stakeholders on developments in the field.
• Develop a yearly status to the Minister on developments in responsible corporate behavior and social enterprises as well as on the work of the Forum.

The new Dialogue Forum is composed of a total of 14 members incl. Chairman Dan Boyter who is a board member of Pressalit A / S and chairman of the Danish National Opera.

See members of the Dialogue Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility and Growth here

Source: Danish Business Authority

Estonia (e-Estonia) is the world’s only fully digitalized nation, where almost 100% percent of all public services are online, from IDs to education to healthcare. Previously, I wrote an article about how AI can actually sharpen inequality in the world unless developing nations implement the proper technological infrastructure to be able to adopt AI in the first place. Although this is a main area of concern, few governments are stepping in to address the issue. However, there is one country that is actually helping developing countries with digitalization: Estonia.

I recently came across a brilliant e-Governance Academy report called A Digital Decade in a Year, which outlined the accomplishments of Estonia’s eGA in 2020/2021. For background knowledge, “the eGA is a non-profit foundation, founded in 2002 to assist public sector organisations make digital transformation happen. eGA’s mission is to increase the competitive- ness of societies through digital transformation, transparency, and openness. For this purpose, we analyse information, create knowledge about e-governance and digital transformation, and transfer Estonian and international best practices to governments and other stakeholders around the world.”

Moreover, in this report, the eGA mentioned how it aided developing nations like Benin, Uganda, and Djibouti, Tonga, Mongolia, Turkey, Moldova and Ukraine (among others) with implementing and accelerating digitalization agendas. For example, according to the report the eGA helped set up a data exchange platform and citizen portal for Benin, “The secure data exchange framework is based on the Estonian X-Road model with the Unified eXchange Platform (UXP) software.” In Tonga, they developed a civil registration and national ID system, “A modern e-society is based on the identities validated and verified by the government. The objective of the project “Tonga civil registration and national ID” is to modernise the identity management in the Kingdom of Tonga, by implementing the first aspects of e-governance and digital transformation.” As another example, the eGA is helping with Mongolia’s e-governance development, and “provides to the Mongolian Government with the consultancy on the e-government related policy development and improvement of infrastructure, national cyber security and digital services provision.”

This is just a snapshot into the vast contributions of the little-known Baltic Nation of Estonia in helping developing countries with digitalization and preparing for the AI age. In my opinion, I am not surprised that Estonia stepped up to this specific challenge. For starters, the country is the only one in the world with a legitimate digitalization track record that dates back to 1994. Like a startup, the nation built itself into a digital giant from the ground up. Because of this, Estonia has the proper faculties and expertise to aid developing countries in becoming digitally mature.

Thanks to Estonia’s efforts, our world is becoming a more digitally mature place. One begs to ask the question, if not for the eGA, then who would step into address this challenge? So far, other countries have remained largely silent. Governments from around the world must take Estonia as a serious example, and help to level the playing field in technological and digital access. Otherwise, sharp inequality will arise in the AI age, and will take on a form unlike we’ve never witnessed before in modern human history.

Danish Minister for Business and Growth, Troels Lund Poulsen, launched the new Dialogue Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility and Growth on February 23 2016.

The Dialogue Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility and Growth is surposed to organize the dialogue between companies and stakeholders within the field of social responsibility and social economy and contribute to danish government policy development in the area.

The Dialog Forum’s purpose is to support companies’ efforts to take social responsibility and social enterprises work to create growth in a way that creates maximum value for eth individual company and for the community as a whole.

Dialogue Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility and Growth will perform the following tasks:

• Obtain, develop and disseminate international and national knowledge on trends within social responsibility and social enterprises.
• Encourage corporate commitment to follow up on the UN World sustainable development objectives.
• Promote partnerships for social responsibility and growth and social investments.
• Host a series of roundtables to bring together companies and relevant stakeholders themed dialogues.
• Contribute to government policy development in the area.
  • Organise an annual conference in collaboration with relevant stakeholders on developments in the field.
• Develop a yearly status to the Minister on developments in responsible corporate behavior and social enterprises as well as on the work of the Forum.

The new Dialogue Forum is composed of a total of 14 members incl. Chairman Dan Boyter who is a board member of Pressalit A / S and chairman of the Danish National Opera.

See members of the Dialogue Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility and Growth here

Source: Danish Business Authority