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The Estonia Model: Why a Free and Secure Internet Matters

In this Director's Forum, His Excellency Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of the Republic of Estonia, will discuss the state of cybersecurity, privacy, and the digital economy.

Date & Time

Tuesday
Apr. 21, 2015
1:00pm – 2:00pm ET

Location

6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center
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Overview

After regaining independence in 1991, the Republic of Estonia built a new government from the ground up. The result was the world's most comprehensive and efficient 'e-government': a digital administration with online IDs for every citizen, empowered by a free nationwide Wi-Fi network and a successful school program — called Tiger Leap — that boosts tech competence at every age level. While most nations still struggle to provide comprehensive Internet access, Estonia has made major progress towards a strong digital economy, along with robust protections for citizen rights. E-government services have made Estonia one of the world's most attractive environments for tech firms and start-ups, incubating online powerhouses like Skype and Transferwise.

An early adopter of information technology, Estonia was also one of the first victims of a cyber attack. In 2007, large-scale Distributed Denial of Service attacks took place, mostly against government websites and financial services. The damages of these attacks were not remarkable, but they did give the country's security experts  valuable experience and information in dealing with such incidents. Eight years on, the Wilson Center is pleased to welcome Estonia's President Toomas Hendrik Ilves for a keynote address on the state of cybersecurity, privacy, and the digital economy.

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Digital Futures Project

Less and less of life, war and business takes place offline. More and more, policy is transacted in a space poorly understood by traditional legal and political authorities. The Digital Futures Project is a map to constraints and opportunities generated by the innovations around the corner - a resource for policymakers navigating a world they didn’t build.  Read more

Global Europe Program

The Global Europe Program addresses vital issues affecting the European continent, US-European relations, and Europe’s ties with the rest of the world. We investigate European approaches to critical global issues: digital transformation, climate, migration, global governance. We also examine Europe’s relations with Russia and Eurasia, China and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Our program activities cover a wide range of topics, from the role of NATO, the European Union and the OSCE to European energy security, trade disputes, challenges to democracy, and counter-terrorism. The Global Europe Program’s staff, scholars-in-residence, and Global Fellows participate in seminars, policy study groups, and international conferences to provide analytical recommendations to policy makers and the media.  Read more

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