Good things happening in Estonia

July 25th, 2006

I knew Skype’s development team was based in Tallinn, but I didn’t know how wired Estonia had become. From the Oxford University Press blog: “The Estonian cabinet conducts its paperless meetings entirely online in the capital city of Tallinn. Nearly four times larger than the country’s next biggest city, Tallinn is the center of an electronic society as well as an e-government. Internet access is considered a constitutional right and throughout the city blue traffic signs with the @ symbol direct citizens to hundreds of free Public Internet Access Points (PIAPs).”

8 Responses to “Good things happening in Estonia”

  1. David Derrick Says:
    July 26th, 2006 at 2:08 pm

    Why is it good for the Estonian cabinet to be conducting its meetings entirely online? I would have thought it was very bad.

  2. Lance Knobel Says:
    July 26th, 2006 at 2:11 pm

    I have to confess that I haven’t checked the details about how much is online.

    I think a presumption in favor of openness is a good thing. I suspect there are issues where even the most open cabinet, however, should probably close the doors.

  3. David Derrick Says:
    July 26th, 2006 at 2:17 pm

    You meant online and open. That’s very different. My apologies if I misread that. Scandinavian and quasi-Scandinavian cultures have a lot to teach us here.

  4. David Derrick Says:
    July 26th, 2006 at 2:26 pm

    (And a question begged there is whether Estonia is quasi-Scandinavian when its closest cultural ties are with Finland, which isn’t invariably included in Scandinavia.)

  5. Lance Knobel Says:
    July 26th, 2006 at 2:33 pm

    Most Scandinavians would include the Finns. I’m not so confident that the Finns would include themselves. Nordic certainly works, but I’m not sure that applies to Estonia. Baltic doesn’t cut it as a meaningful cultural description.

  6. Jonathan Says:
    August 1st, 2006 at 11:42 am

    Finns are Scandinavian, no two ways about it. Sweden and Finland are first cousins, and always have been.

    (Disclosure: I’m Swedish…)

  7. Felix Says:
    August 8th, 2006 at 8:45 am

    Can I nominate the “is Finland in Scandinavia” debate as the most boring thread on the internet?

  8. Lance Knobel Says:
    August 8th, 2006 at 9:50 am

    The competition is stiff, but you can certainly make the nomination.

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