Overview July 1999: Estonia

This document gives an overview of activities that have contributed to the shaping of information society in Estonia.

This overview and the forthcoming database cover the completed activities, in progress and planned in private, public and third sector.

People’s awareness of the information society in Estonia has grown rapidly in the result of cooperation between different organizations and of organizing several large-scale activities, such as the annual Information, Telecommunications and Office Technology Fair "Computer", which in 1999 took place from April 22-24 in Tallinn. The fair is targeted at a wide audience and is considered to be the main annual event of Estonia's IT life.

Tiger Leap Foundation has contributed a lot to the development of information society. This year it organized a conference on May 5, 1999 at the Ugala theatre in Viljandi which concentrated on the future of education and training in the information society.

Another traditional event is Fair "Innovatics", which in 1999 took place from April 8-9 in Tartu. The main focus of the fair was introducing new ideas how to produce new and innovative goods and services in Estonia, and how to respond to the market demand of such goods and services in the future. Also, a seminar "Cooperation as a key to innovation" was held at the fair

In the near future, several large-scale activities concerning the information society are planned. For example the forum "From Vision to Solutions", which takes place from September 23-24 1999 in Pärnu. The main focus of the forum is on problems concerning the application of information and telecommunications technology in our everyday life and the vast increase of all kinds of information. The presenters include top professionals from abroad (Senior Vice President and General Manager of Nokia, Executive Vice President of International Operations of Telia and Senior Vice President Europe of Oracle Corporation) and from Estonia as well.

There are also several annual gatherings of "computer people":

• "Ee.kevad" is an annual meeting of Estonian Internet experts. In 1999 the meeting was held for the fourth time and it took place in Viljandi County at Lake Karula from May 28-30 The main topics discussed were the ID-card project, project Külatee, electronic commerce and the ATM communications technology.
• "OK Fest" is an annual gathering of Estonian computer firms, held in 1999 for a fifth time at Kurgjärve in Võru County from July 23-25. During the gathering, several workshops, sport contests and social events taking place.

The main organization in the third sector active in raising the awareness of people is Open Estonia Foundation, which through project calls has financed several innovative information society projects (for example the creation of Public Internet Access Points, publishing of www-pages, organizing seminars and conferences). There are also several third sector professional organizations such as the Estonian Computer Association and Estonian Information Technology Association.

In the public sector, the Ministry of Education is active in developing the IT base of Estonian schools through the Tiger Leap Foundation. The most successful activity directed at public in this field would be the annual Tiger Leap Roadshow, aim of which is to raise the IT knowledge level of the Estonian public.

Estonian Informatics Centre publishes the computer journal "Arvutimaailm" which is directed at a large audience and covers various aspects of information society. At the Government of the Republic level, there is Estonian Informatics Council, which drafted the "Principles of Estonian Information Policy", a document approved by Riigikogu. Based on that document the "Estonian Information Policy Implementation Plan" has been created.

Several surveys have been carried out to promote the activities of the information society. Since 1997, Baltic Media Facts has carried out a survey "Usage of Computers and Internet among the population of Estonia", which has proven to be a valuable source of information in making the decisions in this field. Beside that, other surveys to analyze the informatisation of organizations, Public Internet Access Points etc. have been carried out by other research organizations.