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Home » What a digital government looks like | Anna Piperal

What a digital government looks like | Anna Piperal



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What if you never had to fill out paperwork again? In Estonia, this is a reality: citizens conduct nearly all public services online, from starting a business to voting from their laptops, thanks to the nation’s ambitious post-Soviet digital transformation known as “e-Estonia.” One of the program’s experts, Anna Piperal, explains the key design principles that power the country’s “e-government” — and shows why the rest of the world should follow suit to eradicate outdated bureaucracy and regain citizens’ trust.

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46 thoughts on “What a digital government looks like | Anna Piperal”

  1. Great talk, great system! I hope Finland will soon follow in Estonia's footsteps in this. So far, the main problem has been the technologically challenged older people, who refuse to adopt new ways out of fear of the unknown, and their younger enablers, who keep drumming for their right to remain ignorant.

  2. and what happens when an EMP or solar flare shuts down the power and fries the system? You're basically back to zero. Hey, I love the idea of no bureaucrats but paper records have value. You'd also need to regulate the internet as a public utility; maybe easy to do in a country like Estonia, but here in Canada, it would be a logistical nightmare.

  3. Politicians, and the human factor in general, hinder more than they help. Humans have their own agendas that are often not in line with the common good. Prejudices, sympathy for some and not for others, corruption and personal gain, retribution of personal favors, and cognitive biases are some of the factors that compromise the evaluations of human decision makers. Algorithms and AI are much more reliable and transparent, and should be used whenever possible. When the unique abilities os humans are needed, a careful structure should be put in place to counteract the negative aspects of human judgment. A lot of progress has been made in this direction in psychology and behavioral economics, and these ideas should be used when we structure the decision-making processes. Daniel Kahneman and Richard Thaler
    have been talking about these things.

  4. I like how most people here are concerned about someone watching them or their information being hacked… well guess wat the government and private companies are doing with your on-paper documents when ur not watching! And by the way, when they copy them, you wont get a notification about it.

  5. And I am working on programmed halogramic humanoids that are operated from central database system and can serve people 24/7 which speaks all the languages in the world. After im done with it the people wont need anymore any burocracies any human service any waiting lines any corruption bribery elements any human contact policies relations etc. We are entering to a new era! 🙂 Hi from Kyrgyzstan

  6. I’d like to have it in my country. We’re in 2020 and I can’t really see that we use the “digital” potential. Estonia has been using it for almost 20 years. Why can’t we? The vision of getting rid of all the paperwork has completely taken me. In my opinion we waste so much time organising, filling out or even keeping any kind of documents. Of course introducing such a solution to government’s system is probably not easy and takes lot of time but I’m sure it will pay off. In my country going to any office is a nightmare and I mean it. You have to be mentally ready for standing in a queue for half day , dealing with office workers and finally after all of this finding out that you didn’t bring one document which makes you unable to get something done. Here’s the solution and I love it.

  7. wow sounds fun… now can you hurry up with time machines so I can go back to native American life where God and country is heaven and humans don't talk like devildroids..I'll take my chances there

  8. Things that have actually happened in my life

    Dad, trying to get his blood test results online: What do you mean I don't have permission IT'S MY BLOOD!??!

    Me: gets 100% on physics test, grade uploaded at 10am
    Text from mom 5 min later: I saw your test grade! I'm so proud of you 😊

    Dad: why did this random government worker look at my birthdate?

    Me: walks into new doctors office
    Doctor: can you wait like 5 minutes, the system has crashed, i don't even know your age

  9. Quite encouraging to see the Estonian Government fully embrace technology and improve Government services easily accessible to all, at the same time have clear data ownership principles. Quite admirable

  10. I must say the fundamental thing is still that you have to trust your governments ability to manage your data. Then again the same trust you have to give your government, digital or not.

    Estonia perhaps the biggest plus is that we are a "manageable" country with a small population, so if some politician or anyone gets rich quick the alarm bells go off.

    But practically the trust has been gained and at the end of the day the idea is very simple. Instead of going to the office and writing stuff on paper you simply file it online. Like the government will get your data one way or another. It's just more efficient. Every person saves hour/days of travel time in a year and as a population we save a percentage or two, three from the overhead cost of "the government".

    I kind of hate the concipracy theories. I mean if they mismanage the data then the government would mismanage any data and use it for ill , again digital or not. So far the system works and if we are constantly afraid of everything we could simply do away with government alltogether and live as hut tribes in forests. At the end we still have to "give power" to people to manage others and every system that has humans as a factor in it can fail. But putting those fears first would lead to no progress. I mean we are doing fine, we have roads, schools, gdp per capita is mostly going up, more cash in our pockets etc. It's stupid to have such big fears upfront. I mean its smart to be cautious but for gods sake, at least try the system before building a "mental wall" infront of you. This is more for US citizens who I have seen mostly being extra paranoid about their government while the main collectors are the ones all use as in facebook, google and other sorts tech companies who can track your phones through gps and they don't answer to any government or could "hop countries" .

    In the end well all know we live in a "broken world" that mostly has become democratic or in other words "the best semi-working system we have" to date. Putting a layer of digital infra on it is in no way the straw that would break the system.

  11. This is coming to your country in near future . Digital vax cards just the start next it will become digital id , digital wallet , voting via blockchain online with id . Government figures your taxes for you also . Vax digital cards just the start .

  12. Truth. This is what happen to Malaysia Chinese Pop. We have nothing. The govt that look right but we were not part of it. Our 40% rights were rob by race Malays that selfishly took 100%.

  13. My country has had the same type of digital government as Estonia has, yet this video makes it seem like it's "new" to have for instance a digital identity, when here in Norway we've had BankID(digital identification) for online voting, online banking, social services and whatnot for many years.
    No one distrusts this system, everyone trusts the government.
    Good for them, though.

  14. NOT a good idea. I guarantee a massive HORRIFIC failure within 20 years.
    it will be bad….very bad. most likely at the hands of leftist controlled big tech.
    its a ruse, so protect yourselves.

  15. The government is a burden on the people. Every government that has ever existed has extorted the people they are meant to serve and has corrupted itself to tyranny against the people it represents so that it only represents itself.
    After thousands of years of failed government, why would the people not try governing themselves?
    What part does the government play in your life? Does it manufacture your vehicle, build your home, make your clothes, grow your food, or set the dinner table of the evenings? What do the people “need” the government for?
    The people can run their own National Guard and Reserve defense. The people can use their resources to support or condemn manufactures who either supply goods in a harmonious way with nature or a destructive one. The people can and do deal in their own foreign relations every day.
    I say again, as sure as other governments are falling around the world, the people will realize that government is a corrupted burden on them and always has been.
    The people shall govern themselves! C

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