Estonia is a small Baltic state with just 1.3 million citizens. But this number might rise very soon. It is all due to their “e-citizen” project, which they have started recently. It will allow non-Estonians from every corner of the world to apply for their “e-citizenship“. Right now, there are over 12.000 people that have expressed their interest in becoming e-citizens of Estonia. The number of possible e-citizens could reach well over 10 million, according to Estonian sources.
The advantages of Estonian e-citizenship for foreigners are certainly interesting: it will allow non-EU residents to actually register a company, that will be able to do business inside the EU from day 1. And all that without actually being physically present in Estonia. Also, the future “e-Estonians will get the chance to open a European Union bank account in a single day. This can happen due to the fact, that Estonia’s tax system is fully adapted to “online” and the country’s internet banking infrastructure is on a very high level, an e-resident will not have to be physically present on the same continent to manage his business ventures in Estonia. At this moment you still have to come to one of the offices of the Estonian Border police to start the application process, but they already have plans to allow the process to start at any of the Estonian embassies around the world.
E-residents are given a special microchip-equipped ID card, which as the mandatory national card serves as the digital access card for all of Estonia’s secure e-services. While it isn’t valid as a physical ID or a travel document because it doesn’t have a photo on it, it can be used with special software and a USB reader for two-factor authentication, like the regular Estonian ID card. To provide a digital signature or get access to a service, an e–resident has to verify their identity by entering a secure PIN that only they know. The chip on the card carries embedded files which, using by using 2048-bit public key encryption, enable it to be used as definitive proof of ID in an electronic environment. Otherwise, Estonians can use their ID card for the following services:
⦁ As a ⦁ national ID card for legal travel within the EU for Estonian citizens
⦁ As the national health insurance card
⦁ As proof of identification when logging into bank accounts from a home computer
⦁ As a pre-paid public transport ticket in Tallinn and Tartu
⦁ For ⦁ digital signatures
⦁ For i-voting
⦁ For accessing government databases to check one’s medical records, file taxes, etc.
⦁ For picking up e-Prescriptions
So what does all of this mean for other Internet States projects, Futuria included? For certain, more media coverage and exposure, which never hurts so to say. We can also expect to see the rise in credibility since we offer alternatives to the current system, a concept which still needs to be “battle-tested” so to say. As soon as Estonian e-citizens become a number that nobody will be able to ignore, then we will also see a positive attitude towards other Internet State projects as well. In Futuria we have already stated that we are interested in developing our very own “citizens card”, with features similar to the Estonian one. Who knows, maybe one day we develop official ties with e-Estonia.
