| Dokumendiregister | Riigi Infosüsteemi Amet |
| Viit | 1.1-6/25461 |
| Registreeritud | 30.05.2025 |
| Sünkroonitud | 02.06.2025 |
| Liik | Väljaminev kiri |
| Funktsioon | 1.1 Asutuse tegevuse korraldamine |
| Sari | 1.1-6 Kirjavahetus üldistes küsimustes |
| Toimik | 1.1-6/2025 |
| Juurdepääsupiirang | Avalik |
| Juurdepääsupiirang | |
| Adressaat | The University of Basel |
| Saabumis/saatmisviis | The University of Basel |
| Vastutaja | Riho Kerge (RIA, AVO) |
| Originaal | Ava uues aknas |
Dear Mr. Ulbrich,
Thank You for the information on the deadline. I´m certain we will have a lot of new developments before it is time to inform the next round of this study.
The architecture of the „Estonian information system“ (a legal umbrella-term used for the whole constellation of public sector information systems with their databases that are connected via the mandatory secure data lxchange layer X-tee and their support systems) as a whole is designed to be highly distributed (to avoid creating single points of failure or so-called super-databases in any single organisation for example) and at the same time has to be as citizen-centered and a service-based as possible.
Every estonian also has their unique state proivided personal code and an electronic identity with a legalised digital signature to match. Real world implementation of this logic poses certain challenges to all of the organisations as we aim to continue to foster trust (between and towards public sector) and accountability through transparency; keep it all technically, semantically and organisationally interoperable while also maintaining efficiency and usability.
Keeping all this in mind, while SAP, Oracle and other solutions are in fact widely used in certain domains, open source solutions and standards adopted and/or also backed by other EU member states are preferred over specific products by any one vendor when developing different state information systems. It holds true for X-tee (based on X-road developed by NIIS) and other solutions developed by the public sector (mostly developed in public-private partnerships), some of which can already be found here: https://koodivaramu.eesti.ee/explore/projects.
„Standardlahendus“ is not a mark of a tailor-made solution but actually just an estonian legal term that roughly translated marks any software solution (such as official document sharing platforms for public sector) that has been registered in the Estonian Information System Administration System (RIHA) and can be used by any number of other institution or persons to carry out their official functions specified in law.
Hoping this helps set the stage a bit more and clarify a few things,
Best Regards
Riho Kerge
Head of Department
State Data Exchange Department
Estonian Information System Authority
Käesolev e-kiri võib sisaldada asutusesiseseks kasutamiseks tunnistatud teavet. Kui te ei ole selle kirja adressaat, palun võtke ühendust saatjaga ning kustutage e-kiri arvutist.
This e-mail may contain information which is classified for internal use. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete the message.
From: "Christian R. Ulbrich" <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, 29. May 2025 at 21:50
To: Riho Kerge <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [EXTERN] Re: Request in the context of a scientific study (University of Basel)
E-kiri saadeti väljastpoolt RIA-t. Kui Sa ei tunne saatjat, siis ära ava linke ega manuseid!
Dear Mr. Kerge,
Thank you very much for reaching out to me!
Indeed, it unfortunately is too late to add additional information, as our study is already in the layout process.
On the other hand, Estonia is much more transparent regarding its activities, architecture, and institutions and does provide so much information, and in these days with the help of Google translate we could also dig through all the Estonian webpages and regulations which contain more information than the English ones, so that I am pretty sure that I have basic understanding of the Estonian digital environment.
Nonetheless, our study is planned as a monitor, these means, we will update it every year or every two years.
Hence, it would be great, if I could contact for the next round again!
Maybe one question, I would like to raise, where I couldn’t find too much information:
My impression is that SAP (ERP) and Oracle (databases) products are not playing an important role in the Estonian state ecosystem (at least not as important as in the other countries). Especially regarding databases you seem to use your own “standard solution” (Standardlahendus), instead. Or do I have got this wrong?
Thank you very much!
Best regards,
--
Dr. Christian R. Ulbrich | Director, e-PIAF
Forschungsstelle für Digitalisierung in Staat und Verwaltung
Universität Basel | Juristische Fakultät
Peter Merian-Weg 8 | Postfach | 4002 Basel | Schweiz
Von: Riho Kerge <[email protected]>
Datum: Donnerstag, 29. Mai 2025 um 08:57
An: "Christian R. Ulbrich" <[email protected]>
Betreff: [EXTERN] Re: Request in the context of a scientific study (University of Basel)
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
Käesolev e-kiri võib sisaldada asutusesiseseks kasutamiseks tunnistatud teavet. Kui te ei ole selle kirja adressaat, palun võtke ühendust saatjaga ning kustutage e-kiri arvutist.
This e-mail may contain information which is classified for internal use. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete the message.
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 16th, 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
| Nimi | K.p. | Δ | Viit | Tüüp | Org | Osapooled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vastus | 29.05.2025 | 1 | 1.1-6/25461 | Väljaminev kiri | ria | The University of Basel |