Estonia's e-volution

Estonia is one of Europe's largest centers of web technology innovation. The small republic has free public Wi-Fi and internet access is virtually guaranteed. Many things other Europeans have to leave home to do, Estonians can do on the internet. Since 2007, they've been able to connect their personal IDs to a computer via a USB card reader, so they can fill prescriptions, pay fines, file their tax returns and even register a company online. Since the mid-1990s, the government has been investing one percent of the national budget annually in IT development. Every citizen is issued with an electronic ID card which doubles as an access key to all e-services.

In Estonia setting up an internet company takes 20min, while doing your taxes may take 30. 90% of Estonians votes on the web. According to the Global Information Technology Report Estonia ranks: #3 Laws related to IT, #3 Presence if IT in government agencies, #2 Internet access in schools, #2 Mobile phone subscriptions, and #5 Accessibility of digital content, out of 138 countries.

Estonia possesses far greater experience in the computerization of private and public services, which even in Western Europe is at a fairly primitive level, compared to where Estonia is. Keep in mind that, 99% percent of all Estonian tax returns are filed electronically. All of their public documents are available on the Internet. The European Union would do well to move away from paper and go digital because it's all much more transparent that way. That familiarity with computers does come natural with age (the younger you are, the easier to adopt a techno-lifestyle), but it has also to be induced or taught , because when overlooked, people will simply not follow, because again most people are not naturally adept to computers and mobile technology.