How Nations Can Cope with Digital Transformation

Report of a speech given by Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia, to Chatham House in London on the 27 March 2018.

Estonia had focused significant efforts on implementing a wide-scale digital transformation of its public and private sectors culminating in an advanced digitised society, referred to as ‘e-Estonia’. It was the first platform of its kind which allowed citizens to file tax returns, apply for residency and access their health records online, and offered an example to other nations looking to modernise their government services. However, as hacking and data breaches become more commonplace, what were the dangers in centralising such critical personal data and what were the particular vulnerabilities that must be guarded against?

The president of Estonia outlined the challenges and opportunities her country faced in regards to this digital transformation. What were the urgent questions and issues that arose as the basic operations of a society became increasingly digitised? And what lessons could countries developing their online profile learn from Estonia’s experience?