Vastus

Hello,

Unfortunately Your request for additional information did not reach me before the April 16th deadline had well passed and I have no way of knowing if you received any additional input from any of the original addressees. As I see it, a response also adequately reflecting the national policy level and not only my own domain would require me to reach out to people at the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications among others.

There have been a number of changes recently at the level of policy makers in Estonia but at the Estonian Information System Authority I am responsible for developing and maintaining a number of the technical platforms already covered in the attached document (Personal Data Tracker, X-tee ecosystem, RIHA, RIHAKE, Estonian Open Data Portal).

Have you already drawn your conclusions based off of the available information and reached the publishing stages or is your request still valid despite the original deadline?

Best Regards

Riho Kerge

Head of Department

State Data Exchange Department

Estonian Information System Authority

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Dear ladies and gentlemen,

At the electronic Public Institutions and Administrations Research Forum (e-PIAF) at the University of Basel, we are currently working on a study on the ‘Resilience of Democracies in the Wake of the Digital Transformation of the State’. As part of the study, we will also create a ranking with a cross-country comparison (CH, DE, EE, UK).

Our goal is to understand the effects of the entire digitalisation measures, especially their consequences for the established democratic system. The focus is on the consequences for the separation of powers, federalistic structures, the prevention of the concentration of power and state sovereignty. In short, we are addressing the question of how the digital transformation can succeed in a way that preserves existing democratic structures and institutions in the digital space as well.

The way in which the administration is digitally transforming plays a central role in the context of the resilience and longevity of democratic systems. This is because it is currently (in relation to the other powers, parliaments and courts) the front runner and driving force of state digitalisation. From our perspective, we are particularly interested in the development of IT standards and IT outsourcing. In the attached PDF document, you will find further information on the background to the study, a (short) questionnaire, and the publicly available information we have already collected.

Should you have any additional or supplementary answers to our questionnaire, we would be very happy to receive them. We would also be happy to conduct an interview if you would prefer that. If you participate, we would like to mention you by name as an expert. However, if you do not wish to be mentioned, we will of course respect your wish for anonymity.

To be able to include and evaluate your (additional) information in the study, we need to receive it by April 16^th, 2025.

If you are unable to provide us with information yourself, we would be grateful if you could forward our request to the person responsible or provide us with relevant contact details.

We thank you in advance for your support. As soon as our study is published (presumably in early summer 2025), we will of course send you a copy. 

I am happy to answer any questions you may have. 

Yours sincerely,

Christian Ulbrich

-- 

Dr. Christian R. Ulbrich | Director, e-PIAF

electronic Public Institutions and Administrations Research Forum

Universität Basel | Juristische Fakultät

Peter Merian-Weg 8 | Postfach | 4002 Basel | Schweiz

https://www.e-piaf.org