Is Estonia an example of European digital sovereignty?

European digital sovereignty is an important goal for the EU and all member states have an important role to play in achieving it. It is important to understand the concept. Digital sovereignty means, on the one hand, a true digital single market that helps European companies grow with common rules (no fragmentation), and on the other hand, strengthening our global competitiveness, EU standards and values, rights and security (more reliable connectivity), technology to ensure the best use of safes and to strengthen strong ties with like-minded countries. It is also an opportunity to contribute to the green transition and the free market. Estonia has always accepted these sentiments, so we can be an example, but to achieve this, there must be strong cooperation within and outside the EU.

American technology multinationals are mainly based in Ireland to operate in the EU market. What strategy does Estonia follow in its relationship with the other great technological power, China?

Estonia does not want and cannot compete with big countries like China or the United States in terms of technology production. However, we have some strengths that make Estonia an attractive place for foreign investment and business.

Fast and convenient digital services are at the core of our strategy. For example, Estonia ranks first in the world in the field of entrepreneurial activity, because an entrepreneur can do everything digitally, from starting a company and filing a tax return to submitting an annual report. Creating a company takes about half an hour, although our record is just 18 minutes. The online tax return takes about 3 minutes on average. Estonia is also among the countries with the highest concentration of startups per capita.

In addition, Estonia offers its digital society domain as a testing ground for innovative ideas and products. Therefore, innovation and practicality are embedded in the minds of citizens and digital governance is created to provide people-centered solutions.

But security comes first, which means that not every investment is welcome if it could affect the security of our digital lives, critical infrastructure or technology. We are very vigilant when it comes to cyber security or security in a broader sense.

Do you think that Erasmus+ offers the opportunity for adequate mobility to experience the technological and entrepreneurial skills that Estonia offers on the spot?

The Erasmus+ program is very good for exchanging ideas and experiences in various sectors, including digitalization and technological competence. Since it is a very broad program and offers opportunities to people of different ages and interests, it has great potential to develop cooperation at different levels. However, the most important thing is to provide a support framework for students in important academic disciplines (ICT, technology in the broad sense, engineering) to strengthen demand and interest, including female students, to overcome the existing digital gender gap, which is still a problem in many countries.

Digital is here to stay, accelerated by the coronavirus crisis. Do you think the time has finally come for the EU to appreciate the real value Estonia brings with its digital model?

The EU has been valuing digitization for years, but the need and urgency to accelerate the digital transition is still better understood around the world. It's a shame that it takes such a big crisis to get quick and common results, like the EU's Covid certification, but at least the EU has taken advantage of the crisis and taken many important steps on the road to the digital world. As we have seen with Digital Compass 2030, there are many important goals proposed for the Digital Decade. The most important thing is to ensure interoperability, flexibility and reliability. It doesn't make much sense to implement 27 different cross-border digital identity solutions that don't talk to each other. We hope that now everyone has a better understanding (from the experience of the pandemic) and that we can implement the necessary and useful solutions for our citizens more quickly.