Estonia became Internet savvy "thanks" to occupation - Ilves

16.04.2008

"When Estonian independence was restored in 1991, there was nothing to be done with the structures that the occupation regime left behind. Many of the features that are characteristic of normal countries, such as banks, were totally missing," Ilves said in his presentation at the Institute of European Affairs.

The basic engine for Estonia's e-revolution was the internetization of all schools in the course of the Tiger's Leap project and the development of Internet banking, he said.

In today's Estonia 66 percent of the population uses the Internet, and more than half of households have a home computer, of which 90 percent are connected to the Internet.

The audience was very interested in Estonia's experiences with conducting e-elections and in the use of ID cards generally, as well as the possibility of using the e-tax board environment to file tax declarations.

"Although an e-country has clear benefits -- savings in time and human resources, and the reduction of corruption -- there are also great risks," the president noted.

Estonia has not experienced any serious system errors, but last year it experienced a massive and coordinated cyber attack against the country with the goal of crippling the work of state institutions, banks and information channels, in order to destabilize the situation in the country, Ilves said.

Today, a NATO cyber security center is being established in Estonia, and European Union legislation to combat cyber crime and cyber attacks should also be worked out as soon as possible, he said.

On Wednesday, the last day of his state visit to Ireland, Ilves will visit local historical sights -- the Passage Tomb at Newgrange and the ruins of a monastery at Glendalough.

On Thursday morning Ilves will fly from Dublin to the United States to start a working visit there.

Tallinn newsroom, +372 610 8862, sise@bns.ee