And what not…

Estonia is a role model for digitisation. 100% of all government services are available digitally. But what exactly do the Estonians do better? And what not? Here are my lessons:

1. Consistency instead of compromise

Estonia decided early on to think about administration as fully digital — not as an add-on, but as the standard.

2. Unity instead of diversity

With X-Road, there’s a unified data infrastructure that reliably connects every authority. Clear roles, clear responsibilities, clear interfaces.

3. Everything revolves around digital identity

The eID is mandatory, widespread, and highly functional. It enables secure, fast interactions with no media breaks.

So is everything perfect? No.

1. Uniformity can be paternalistic

One solution for everyone always means ignoring local and regional specifics, as well as different requirements. Sometimes there needs to be room for special-case solutions too.

2. Going fully digital excludes people

Not everyone can or wants to use services digitally. In Estonia, they have no choice: digital, or nothing at all. But that’s not always possible, and not fully accessible either.

Bottom line: we can learn a lot from Estonia, but not everything. What do you think of the idea of only offering services digitally?

Image: Makalu for Pixabay.

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