Mr. Shangkong | Lessons to be learned from tiny Estonia
Estonia is often cited as a showcase example of what ‘e-government’ should be like
What is the most advanced digital society in the world? America? Britain? Or Germany?
No. The answer is a little-known country in Europe – Estonia.
In fact, Estonia has grabbed a lot of attention in recent years, especially after its digital citizenship initiative which gave everyone in the world the potential to “virtually” become an Estonian so they could more easily set up a business online for market entry into the European Union, of which Estonia is a member nation.
Estonia is often cited as ashowcase for what so-called “e-government” should be like. This concept is no stranger to Hong Kong officials as the city has been pushing for “e-government” for many years but little progress has been made.
A former Hong Kong official told me about 15 years ago that he heard some Estonian officials say in a conference that the vision for the Estonian government was to become the “Hong Kong of Europe”, referring to Hong Kong’s highly competitive advantages on the world stage, including low tax, rule of law, efficient business environment, and effective governance at that time.
I was in Estonia last week and was quickly impressed by the country’s internet and technology-friendly environment. You can of course use a credit card to pay for your taxi fare, which you cannot do in Hong Kong – and apparently the government has so far got no idea how to fix this problem after so many years of public discussions.
