Issue №13. December 2007

The Role of Electronic Governance in the Contemporary Society: The Case of Estonia

Administration specialist, Social Sciences Faculty, Tallinn University of Technology.

Electronic governance is defined as “using information and communication technologies, the Internet in particular, as an instrument of improving the public administration”. Since Estonia gained independence, the counties administration and its main institutions were rebuilt, creating a powerful impulse for creating the foundations of an information-oriented society to secure a competitive advantage for Estonia in Europe. The administration’s ability to adapt to social transformation and react quickly and efficiently is of utmost importance for independent Estonia. Thanks to its remarkable IT specialists, Estonia is known today as an innovative state and a dynamic, developing information-oriented society. The article examines the current state and the perspective of information and communication technologies and electronic governance in Estonia. The author also examines the strategic possibilities Estonia has as a small country in a global international information-oriented society.

Keywords

Electronic governance, information-oriented society, competitive advantage, independent Estonia, IT, information and communication technologies.