Estonia is renowned for its e-government infrastructure. Its electronic ID card for public as well as private organisations, the X-Road infrastructure connecting governmental organisations since 2001 are leading examples for other European countries. No wonder that a trip to e-Estonia was a “must-do” for many governmental strategists over the last few years. At the same time, e-Estonia faced a severe challenge last September when a vulnerability was discovered in its ID card. A vulnerability that has been tackled through an update in the cryptographic algorithms used.
This week mr. Taimar Peterkop, the Director General of the Estonian Information System Authority, visited the Netherlands. InnoValor’s Bob Hulsebosch and Wil Janssen had the opportunity to discuss both Estonian as well as European developments in the field of electronic identity and services.
Mr. Peterkop, what are key ingredients of the success of e-Estionia in your opinion? The development of e-Estonia can be seen as a technology success, but in fact, it is not. Important was the fact that we were able to tackle bureaucracy and legislation was crucial. The technology came from existing solutions. Our ID card, for example, was based on the Finnish card. In the first two years of its existence, the X-Road infrastructure was in fact illegal during the first years. We needed to show its importance to be able to adapt legislation to this model.
Also, the Estonian mindset is very open. When visiting other countries I’m often surprised by the sensitivity of the privacy discussion I encounter. In Estonia, the development of the ID card was a joint development of the government, the Estonian banks and a telecom operator. The fact that all of them can use it was of vital importance for adoption and trust. When logging in to governmental services, Estonian citizens can choose between many different card and identification services, both private as well as public.