Author: Stephen Johnson / Source: Big Think
- A new report from The Associated Press outlines Estonia’s most recent advancements in its digital government.
- Estonia allows its citizens to vote, obtains medical data and register business documents online.
- Given security concerns and other complications, it remains unclear whether nations like the U. S. could implement similar systems.
It’s easier than ever to order goods and access information online. So, why don’t governments offer the same level of digital convenience to citizens when they need to, say, go to the DMV or register a birth certificate?
A new report from The Associated Press shows how Estonia’s digital government is doing just that, and how the country serves as a model for how the rest of the world might pursue digital transformation.
In Estonia, which has been steadily digitizing its government for decades, the country’s 1.3 million citizens can access virtually all public and private services online by using a digital ID card that enables them to do tasks such as banking or business operations, signing documents or obtaining a digital medical prescription.
The country’s digital government also:
- Has used blockchain technology in its national health, judicial, legislative, security and commercial code systems registries since 2012.
- Became the first country to offer online voting in a national election in 2005.
- Provides each citizen with online access to nearly all of their personal medical data.
In the spring, Estonia plans to automate the birth registration process, making it so parents simply receive an email when their child is born. These and other records are managed through a software called X-Road, a decentralized data exchange system that links separate public databases, and enables people to see when data has been accessed or changed.
“Outgoing data is digitally signed and encrypted, and all incoming data is authenticated and logged,” the report reads.
Marten Kaevats, Estonia’s national digital adviser, told The Associated Press that the goal is to create a…
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