i3 - March/April 2019 - 19
S M A RT
The story of Estonia's successful transition
from floundering state to digital hub all began
after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and later
when the country gained its independence in
the 90s. To make the region stand out among
European neighbors, Estonia's forward-thinking leaders opted to pursue a path that may
have seemed far-fetched at the time, especially
given the country's struggling economy - to
invest and ultimately create one of the world's
first-ever smart cities.
By essentially digitizing and networking
education, government and other key live/
work entities, Estonia managed to achieve full
digitization by the mid 2000s. This meant
that literally everything in the country became
digitally connected, including voting (which
can be done on a smartphone), taxes (which
can be submitted in less than a few minutes
digitally) and banking (people even get alerts
if their account is illegally accessed), making
it one of the safest, privacy-friendly systems
ever built by a government in the world.
CITIES
Being "smart" in Estonia also means having
Wi-Fi everywhere with seamless e-services, as
well as constantly evolving to meet the needs of its
citizens. For example, Estonia recently launched
a digital participation tool called AvaLinn, a
mobile app that's being billed as a "co-creation"
tool that allows citizens to share ideas and discussions about spatial and urban planning.
What makes the system work so seamlessly is
that every citizen of Estonia (or e-Estonia, as it's
sometimes referred) has been outfitted with an
ID card with a chip that - in combination with
a pin code and USB reader - creates his or her
digital identity. Once logged into the system, a
person can access all facets of data - everything
from health and education records to taxes,
insurance and government programs in one
user-friendly portal. It has simplified transactions that used to require more time, money and
labor, thus making the citizens of Estonia content with the way things are running.
NSIDE
What we can learn
from Estonia and other
high-tech wonderlands
BY NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD
ILLUSTRATIONS BY SEAN MOSHER-SMITH
old, rocky and dotted with hilltop fortresses, Estonia's past as a one-time Soviet
Union stronghold on the European coast could
hardly have predicted its unlikely rise into one of
the smartest countries on the planet. Today, the
city of Tallinn, Estonia's capital, is not only known
for its beautifully preserved Old Town and the
soaring TV Tower, but also the many high-tech
startups that call this super smart city home.
C
i3 - March/April 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - March/April 2019
Contents
i3 - March/April 2019 - Cover1
i3 - March/April 2019 - Cover2
i3 - March/April 2019 - Contents
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