Case Study: Fostering Digital Leadership and Synergy in Azerbaijan

Introduction

Azerbaijan has charted an impressive course toward digital government, marked by strong execution and tangible achievements. Yet, as with any ambitious transformation, complexities inevitably emerge, particularly in aligning diverse agencies and shifting from digitalising existing processes to reimagining government services for simplicity and user-centricity.

Recognising these nuanced challenges, the Innovation and Digital Development Agency (IDDA) identified the need to enhance digital leadership and collaboration to unlock Azerbaijan’s next level of digital development. It was within this context that our Digital Leadership Masterclass was initiated – to equip key actors with the capabilities, mindset, and tools to lead transformative change across government, and most importantly, to create a platform for cross-sector collaboration across leadership ranks.

Scope of Work

The masterclass aimed to establish a shared foundation among the leaders of the public sector for what successful digital government looks like in Azerbaijan. We focused on harmonising understanding across agencies and equipping the leaders with a shared toolbox – exploring the fundamentals of digital society, user-centric service design, and the strategic building blocks such as digital identity and interoperability. The content was enriched with relevant international case studies, always rooted in Azerbaijan’s unique context, strategic priorities, and implementation realities.

Participants included leaders from key ministries and agencies, with IDDA acting as the local facilitator and strategic partner. Our team at Digital Nation led the preparation and delivery of the masterclass, managing the involvement of external experts and partners.

Our approach

The Masterclass was grounded in a hands-on, practitioner-to-practitioner learning philosophy – one designed to actively engage participants in meaningful collaboration.

Practical Orientation

Rather than relying on lecturing, our methodology prioritises practical engagement, supported in this Masterclass by our partner Rethink. Each session was built around dynamic group work, sector-specific clustering, and hands-on assignments. This immersive format intentionally pushed participants beyond their usual routines, creating space for reflection, experimentation, and new ways of thinking.

Peer Learning with Global Relevance

To ensure relevance and inspiration, we brought in seasoned digital government practitioners from around the world – leaders who had successfully navigated similar journeys in places like New South Wales or Finland. Their first-hand insights into what worked (and what didn’t) helped participants see the pathway ahead through a practical, lived-in lens.

Learning by Story, Learning by Doing

Throughout the sessions, we blended case studies, inspirational talks, and participants’ own professional experiences to unlock new perspectives. Sectoral clusters – ranging from finance to education, health, and environment – enabled focused collaboration on shared challenges. This applied, collaborative model wasn’t just about transferring knowledge, but about cultivating capability, confidence, and connection across Azerbaijan’s public sector leadership.

Impact

Perhaps the most lasting impact of our engagement lies in what we helped unlock, which was a safe, structured space where cross-sectoral dialogue could take root. In a naturally siloed public sector landscape, bringing together leaders across ministries to speak openly and with shared ambition was no small feat. 

The sessions inspired new thinking and planted the seeds for longer-term collaboration, with participants expressing a desire to continue meeting informally across agency lines. By breaking down barriers, igniting peer learning, and sparking practical ideas, the Digital Leadership Masterclass created both the momentum and mindset shift needed for Azerbaijan to move toward a more unified approach to digitalisation.

Thank you to the IDDA team and all our external experts and partners for the effective and impactful collaboration in strengthening digital leadership across the Azerbaijani public sector!

From e-Governance Conference in Tallinn to World Bank Summit in Washington

In one whirlwind week in May 2025, the Digital Nation team found itself in three different cities and four events, yet immersed in one global conversation on how to govern a digital world.

Where We Were and Why It Mattered

May took us from Tallinn to Washington to Tashkent to back again - all in pursuit of the same mission: helping public institutions lead real digital transformation beyond the adoption of new technology. Each event was a snapshot of the future we are helping shape, which is toward bold leadership, grounded strategies, and people-first digital services.

Africa Business Forum 2025 in Tallinn

Too often, digital transformation is treated like a tech procurement project. But as we emphasised at the Africa Business Forum, it's 20% technology - and 80% transformation. And that transformation depends on leadership.

On a panel exploring how digital governance is accelerating business across Africa, our Director of Service Transformation Helena Lepp shared lessons from Estonia’s journey, and how we've helped governments across Africa adapt those insights to their own realities. From interoperability rollouts to service transformation, one theme has kept resurfacing: transformation succeeds when leaders drive it. Vision, decisiveness, and relentless follow-through make the difference.

We didn’t speak from theory. We brought our practitioner experience from working with governments across four continents to build systems that scale, serve, and deliver. 

e-Governance Conference 2025 in Tallinn

The theme said it all: From Bytes to Benefits. But as we emphasised on stage and in conversations throughout the week, bytes don’t deliver benefits - leaders do.

At this year’s e-Governance Conference, we engaged directly with peers and partners from countries across the Caribbean as well as Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, North Macedonia and the U.S. The takeaway that emerged across all settings is that digital transformation succeeds when it’s grounded in leadership, strategy, and execution.

On the Partner Stage our Director of Interoperability Maksim Ovtsinnikov distilled four essential lessons from our global experience:

  1. Leadership + DPI is the real transformation engine
    Technology alone won’t cut it. Without leadership at the highest levels - such as ministers, presidents, and agency heads - ambition stalls. The most successful governments treat digital as a strategic national asset, not an IT upgrade.

  2. Strategy must be actionable
    We shared what defines an effective digital strategy. Principles like citizen-centric design, integration with national development goals, and a roadmap with clear, measurable outcomes.

  3. Copy-adapt, not copy-paste
    Success lies in translating global best practices into local realities. Regional collaboration can support this adaptation, but local ownership is non-negotiable.

  4. AI is an enabler, not the endgame
    AI’s value lies in aligning its utilisation with national priorities and solving real problems. The question isn’t whether to adopt AI, it’s how to use it to advance concrete goals.

Across both structured sessions and side discussions, we stayed focused on what truly matters, which is implementation, not just intentions.

This was also made clear by some of the key voices on the Strategic Stage such as Minister Stefan Andonovski from North Macedonia who posited that “It’s not just about saying “digital transformation” but actually doing it. It is about giving dignity to regular people on the ground. From mothers in rural areas that don’t have to take a sick day to do business with the tax office to people who do business in other towns where registration and filing of reports can be done faster. Governments must do more for citizens.”

GovTech Global Forum 2025 in Washington

In the heart of global policymaking, our Managing Partner Siim Sikkut joined the world’s leading voices to tackle one of the decade’s defining questions: how do governments lead responsibly in the age of AI?

Joining a panel of global experts, Siim shared three essential enablers for public sector AI adoption, principles shaped by Estonia’s experience and refined through our work with governments worldwide:

  1. People before papers. Strategy can’t succeed without ownership. Before crafting frameworks, appoint the leaders responsible for delivering AI and data governance daily. Clear roles create momentum.

  2. Build for change. In a rapidly evolving landscape, rigidity is a risk. Institutions must embed adaptability, making it possible to pivot, update, and scale without starting from scratch.

  3. Invest in the invisible. Foundational data infrastructure and everyday tools don’t make headlines, but they make delivery possible. It’s the quiet systems behind the scenes that determine success.

It was also a milestone moment for Digital Nation as our first engagement as a World Bank GovTech Global Partner. We're proud and excited to join a global network committed to advancing impactful, inclusive, and scalable solutions through shared knowledge and collaboration.

Tashkent Law Spring

Trust in government isn’t built through policies and bold promises, it’s built through experience and results. And the vehicles for this are government services. That’s exactly what our Director of Digital Service Transformation Helena Lepp highlighted in Tashkent during the session on Digital Public Administration and Public Services Transformation.

The focus of her presentation was on the design of public services that are proactive by design. When services are delivered automatically, at the right time and tailored to real-life situations, governments demonstrate that they understand and respect their citizens.

But achieving this requires more than technical upgrades. It demands a full reorientation, from government-centric thinking to truly human-centric design. From reactive service models to anticipatory delivery.

Helena laid out the four pillars of meaningful proactivity:

  1. Accessible - Services delivered without needing users to apply, overcoming digital skill or connectivity gaps.

  2. Usable - Simplified journeys that eliminate the need for searching, guessing, or navigating bureaucratic hurdles.

  3. Personalised - Responses based on real needs, at the right moment, for the right individual.

  4. Trustworthy - Systems that reduce missed benefits and obligations, earning confidence through fairness and reliability.

Critically, she also stressed the institutional prerequisites: robust data protection, transparency in how services are triggered, and respectful treatment of personal agency, especially in predictive or sensitive areas.

Our take on what it all means

At every event, in every exchange, a clear pattern of understanding emerged in that digital transformation is driven by leadership that delivers. What we saw in May underscored the need for three things:

  1. Leaders who own the transformation journey and focus on execution beyond promises enshrined in lengthy documents

  2. Actionable strategies that are rooted in local context and translate into immediate action, not just intent

  3. Services that are built around people rather than institutions and government processes.

These are the levers of real, lasting change. And that’s where Digital Nation is mainly focused, helping governments lead with clarity, act with purpose, and implement systems that serve, earn trust, and endure.

Why Service Standards Matter and How to Set Them Up

In a world of instant apps and on-demand everything, people expect digital public services - like renewing a passport or registering a business - to match that speed and simplicity. But great digital services aren't just achieved through technology. They require a relentless focus on people’s needs and doing so consistently across every department. 

Without clear and shared Service Standards, consistency and sense of direction across government breaks down. These standards aren’t just helpful. Rather, they are the backbone  of meaningful, high-quality services.

What Is a Service Standard?

A Service Standard is a clear set of principles and criteria that define how government services should be designed and delivered. It helps ensure that services are not only functional and secure but also accessible, user-friendly, and built with real people in mind.

Think of it as a playbook that helps teams build better public services. It provides a common language and shared expectations for service owners, developers, and decision-makers.

The UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS) team were pioneers in this space, setting up the first comprehensive service standard globally. Their work set a benchmark and inspired many others. Estonia’s first service standard, for example, was directly influenced by the UK’s approach. We learned from their example and followed many of the lessons they had already surfaced.

Building on these foundations, countries like Singapore, Estonia, Canada, Portugal, and Australia have already established service standards as part of their digital government strategies and the results speak for themselves. These countries are often cited for their user-centric approach to public service design and rank high in indices measuring human-centricity and quality of services.

Service standards help governments move from siloed, agency-by-agency services to a more coordinated and citizen-centred approach.

Why Do Service Standards Matter?

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that digital transformation is mostly about adopting new technologies. Technology is an enabler and amplifier. The heart of successful digital public services lies in understanding people and their needs.

I’ve seen this mistake firsthand, including during my time at the Estonian Government CIO Office. In Estonia, we launched digital identity, X-Road, and many e-services already in the 2000s. But it took more than a decade before we truly started to turn our attention to service design and delivery. The first Estonian Service Standard was only adopted in 2021, at a point when the need for it had become painfully clear. Technically, our services worked well. But too often, they were designed from a government perspective and lacked consistency in user experience and interface. Behind the scenes, departments were duplicating work and continuing to take unnecessarily complex processes online - inefficiencies that ultimately surfaced in clunky, frustrating service experiences.

Now we’re seeing much too often the same pattern across the world. Governments are rapidly digitalising and pushing services onto digital platforms, but without foundational principles for how those services should be designed and delivered. As a result, many services fall short of meeting real user needs. That’s why human-centric service design and a whole-of-government Service Standard shouldn't come later. They need to be there from the start. It’s not a nice-to-have. It’s a must to ensure services are meaningful, coherent, and high quality from the beginning.

It’s also a critical window of opportunity. Early in the digitalisation journey, many line ministries and agencies are still building their service design capacity. This is exactly the right time to set a shared direction and avoid costly rework later.

People don’t usually differentiate between government agencies and departments. When something doesn’t work - whether it’s a missed benefit or a confusing online form - they often blame “the government” as a whole. 

This becomes especially important in key life-events such as having a baby or starting a business, because users don’t experience these as separate services, but as one continuous user journey. That’s why consistent service design and delivery matter so much.

A good Service Standard ensures:

  • Services are easy to find and use

  • Information is clear and accessible

  • Systems are secure and trustworthy

  • Everyone can access services equally

  • Services look and feel similar across agencies

In short, Service Standards help governments build trust, design better targeted services and improve efficiency.

How to Set Up an Effective Service Standard

Creating a Service Standard is not about writing yet another policy document. It’s about changing how things get done. Below are key steps to get started and make it work in practice:

1. Build with a Community

The best standards are made in co-creation with the ecosystem: other government agencies, private sector experts and end-users. 

It’s important to include a mix of profiles and levels of experience: not just subject-matter experts, but also decision-makers who can champion the effort and secure political buy-in at key moments. 

Start by working with like-minded agencies that are motivated to move quickly. This helps build early momentum and deliver tangible results. More neutral or skeptical stakeholders will follow once there’s progress and real-life examples  to showcase.

This collective and strategic approach leads to standards that are both relevant and widely supported.

2. Involve End-Users Early

It might seem time-consuming or costly to include citizens in the design process, but in the end, services must create real value for the people who use them. While end-users aren’t the ones applying the Service Standard directly, they are its ultimate beneficiaries and if their needs aren’t met, the standard has failed its purpose.

Involving end-users early on, especially during the problem definition phase, is essential. This is where you can uncover what the real issues are, from the users’ perspective, and begin to understand the root causes behind pain points or inefficiencies. While it’s important to involve users at various milestones, a common pitfall is engaging them only at the validation stage. By then, the design may already be built around flawed assumptions, and key problems can be overlooked.

You don’t need to run large-scale studies or complex user research. Even small focus groups and simple user interviews at critical points can reveal insights that help shape services that truly work for people.

3. Learn from Others and Adapt

Many countries have already developed excellent Service Standards. Rather than starting from scratch, study what they’ve done. What has worked well? What challenges did they face?

For instance, Portugal’s Mosaico provides a comprehensive toolkit for technical areas from service design and usability to open data and AI, while Australia’s Service Standard places strong emphasis on digital inclusion and accessibility.

Estonia, for example, analysed seven different international models to draw insights for their recently launched Service Standard 2.0.

These kinds of good practices can be adapted and customised to fit your own country’s legal frameworks, service landscape, and administrative culture. Learning from others is not about copying - it’s about building smarter, faster, and with fewer blind spots.

4. Don’t Forget Service Management

Service design and delivery get a lot of attention, but good services also need to be well managed. This often-overlooked aspect is essential for long-term quality and consistency.

Every service should have a clearly assigned owner who is close to delivery, understands the details, and has the mandate to make improvements when needed. It’s also important to monitor how services perform and how users experience them. Without measurement, improvement is guesswork.

Agencies should actively manage their portfolio of services and know what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to change. At the whole-of-government level, a consistent approach to service management and measurement helps prioritise efforts and improve decision-making across the system.

5. Start Small. Then Scale

Don’t aim to create a perfect Service Standard all at once. Instead, start with a minimum viable version – something simple but functional. Begin with a clear set of core principles, a practical checklist, and general implementation guidelines that service teams can follow. This initial version doesn’t need to cover everything. It just needs to be good enough to get started. 

Test this early version in a real-world setting, collect feedback from those who use the standard, and observe where things go smoothly and where they don’t. Use these insights to refine, improve, and expand.

As the standard matures, you can gradually introduce more elements and details, such as toolkits, templates, guidelines and real-life case studies. Taking this approach helps ensure the standard is practical, grounded in experience, and easier for teams to adopt.

6. Make It Mandatory

Voluntary Service Standards often fall flat. Some agencies may embrace them, but many won’t unless there’s a clear incentive or requirement.

Tie compliance with the standard to key decisions like budget approval or project sign-off. For example, require agencies to show how their new service meets the Service Standard before funding is released. 

This creates a strong incentive to follow best practices while still leaving room for flexibility and innovation.

7. Provide Support and Resources

Enforcement is important, but support matters just as much. Offer practical tools, templates, training, and expert guidance to help teams apply the standard in real-life situations.

Think of building a community of practitioners - a network of service designers, developers, and service owners who can share experiences and help each other. Support is the carrot that makes the stick more effective and fairer.

8. Set Up Governance and Ownership

Success doesn’t come from having a Service Standard on paper. It comes from how well it’s implemented. And that depends on having the right governance mechanisms in place from the start.

A strong governance model should be built into the standard itself. This includes clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and decision-making structures.

Every Service Standard needs a clear owner. This might be a dedicated task force, or a designated position. The clearer the role and responsibilities, the stronger the ownership. Make sure the owner has enough mandate and resources to maintain and evolve the standard effectively.

Without clear and strong governance and ownership, the standard can easily become another forgotten document.

9. Keep Iterating

The world doesn’t stand still, and neither should your Service Standard.

Undertake regular reviews. Based on real-life use cases and feedback, analyse what’s working and what’s not, and make changes as technology, user expectations, and policies evolve.

For example, if many teams are struggling with a certain criterion - like integrating accessibility features - add case studies, tools, or training to help them succeed.

At the end of the day, a Service Standard isn’t just a checklist - it’s a culture shift. It helps governments put people first and deliver services that are simple, inclusive, and consistent.

And it’s not something to consider later. A Service Standard is a must from the outset. Without clear principles for service design, delivery, and management, digital services risk becoming fragmented, confusing, and disconnected from people’s real needs, requiring significant resources to rework them later.

Designing effective service standards can be complex, but you don’t have to start from scratch. Digital Nation works with organisations to co-create tailored standards and provide hands-on support to make them stick. Reach out if you're planning to take that step.

Digital Nation Monthly Insights Loop: May

Digital transformation in the public sector comes down to fundamentally rethinking how governments operate, make decisions, and deliver value in a fast-changing technological environment.

In the first edition of our new monthly expert insights, we take a closer look at three developments from May that we believe are particularly relevant for public sector leaders navigating this transition.

1. A Compass for Modern Public Sector Engineering: The Latest Technology Radar

Govt teams are often left navigating hype or outdated standards. The latest Thoughtworks Technology Radar cuts through that, highlighting emerging practices and tools with real-world traction and practical implications.

“The Tech Radar is a strategic guide to modernise safely, filtering industry hype through practitioner experience and offering signals for what to adopt, trial, or avoid. It helps public sector leaders avoid stagnation in legacy systems and align with modern engineering standards.”- Kristo Vaher, Director of Technology at Digital Nation

2. Agentic AI and the Future of Government Operations

A new white paper titled How Agentic AI Will Revamp 10 Functional Layers of Public Administration (Version 1.0) lays out a bold vision of how autonomous agents may drive deeper reforms in governance than decades of digitalisation.

The paper identifies 10 functional layers where agentic AI could cut operational costs, enhance responsiveness, and personalise public service delivery.

“The discussion around agentic AI is getting louder, and this white paper can help policymakers start to make sense of the topic. Governments that adapt with agentic AI models can unlock significant public value, but it must be done right and the time to prepare is now.” – Sigrit Siht, Director of Data and AI at Digital Nation

The White Paper is released by the Global Government Technology Centre Berlin (GGTC) and authored by Luukas Ilves with contributions from Manuel Kilian, Tiago C. Peixoto, Ott Velsberg.

3. Putting Interoperability into Action with Fusion Intellect

Alongside monitoring these developments, May also marked the launch of a new assessment in Fusion Intellect - our free, AI-powered consultancy tool built for digital government leaders.

Developed by our Director of Technology Kristo Vaher and Director of Interoperability Maksim Ovtsinnikov, the new interoperability assessment offers tailored, expert-backed guidance to help you take the next step toward real interoperability - fast, clear, and actionable

Digital Nation's new Director of Business Development - Adhele Tuulas

As Digital Nation continues to grow and scale, we are investing in the people who make that possible. Adhele Tuulas is taking charge of our ever-growing list of clients and partners as our Director of Business Development.

Over the past 6 years, Adhele has navigated the vast digital governance landscape - starting as a freelance writer and evolving into strategic roles, recently serving as Head of Sales for Data Exchange Technologies at Cybernetica. Along the way, she has built meaningful partnerships across South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Kick-starting new projects and gaining firsthand insight into how vital it is to leverage existing best practices, while tailoring digitalisation to specific contexts. This belief aligns closely with one of the core values of Digital Nation - co-creating solutions for the future together with local stakeholders who ultimately drive and own the change.

Here’s three tips Adhele would give to build long-lasting partnerships across continents and languages:

1. Build trust through consistent delivery.
Trust is earned through action—not just words. Start delivering mutual value early, even on a small scale, and build momentum from there. Demonstrating integrity by matching your words to results fuels the credibility that long-term partnerships rely on.

2. Embrace empathy and local context.
Step into your partner’s shoes. Advisors should listen more than they speak, striving to understand the environment and needs of their counterparts. Solution providers must also adapt to local realities, while beneficiaries should create space for that understanding and adaptation. Mutual understanding fosters a resilient working relationship.

3. Focus on complementary strengths.
Partnerships often form because each party brings something unique to the table—expertise, networks, resources, or local insight. Lean into these differences instead of duplicating efforts. Avoid the instinct to "go it alone" and instead build on each other’s capabilities. This not only drives efficiency but creates more impactful and scalable outcomes.

Outside work, Adhele finds balance by exploring the world and racking up miles - running, hiking or walking with her golden retriever Ross, who is as excited in taking on journeys with Adhele as we are taking on this new journey with her to build a growing network of partners across the globe.

Digital Nation launches AI-based Fusion Intellect to assist digital transformation consultancy

Kristo Vaher was waist-deep in queries as the director of technology at Digital Nation, a three-year-old consultancy; he was used to answering the same questions from parties in East Asia, Africa, and even the Caribbean who wanted to know about Estonia’s experience with digital governance.

“I just had so many emails from people who wanted to know about X-road,” he recalls. He could see that this bottleneck was costing him time and proving expensive for potential clients who needed to access information to guide their digital transition.

So Vaher did what he always has done. He designed an AI-based tool to automate the process.

The resulting tool, Fusion Intellect was rolled out in March. With the tagline “expert advice is no longer a luxury,” it consists of two related questionnaires, each nine questions long, that relate to implementing AI in governance and digital government services.

Respondents receive personalised reports generated using AI that match the context of their responses to information prepared within Digital Nation based on its expertise. A typical report includes “initial thoughts” and detailed recommendations and can run about 13 pages. Fusion Intellect differs from a generic AI tool like ChatGPT in that it operates within defined boundaries, and its output aligns with Digital Nation’s strategies and practices. Vaher calls this “expert-mixed AI,” where expert advice is combined with a tool.

“Everybody knows that AI hallucinates,” says Vaher, noting there are situations when AI might provide inaccurate or even fabricated information. Fusion Intellect, however, has been supplied with facts about interoperability, data exchange, digital services, and ways to approach AI in governance, all sourced from Digital Nation. “Someone from a country in Africa just has to answer a few questions,” says Vaher. “We use the AI to match the context between the client’s problem and our recommendations. The AI is used to find out what is relevant.”

Vaher joined Digital Nation in 2023, after serving as CTO for the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for five years. He is also the creator of Cup of Coffee AI, an AI-powered platform he created to streamline the initial meetings of professionals and clients. He says that Cup of Coffee AI was the basis for Digital Nation’s Fusion Intellect.

“The early consulting process is often cumbersome, boring, and expensive,” he points out. “Customers just want to get some initial advice they can work with,” Vaher says. “It’s the initial coffee, the first meeting.”

Repurposed for Digital Nation, Fusion Intellect can now be used by the company to generate potential new leads and focus on would-be clients who might be ready to take further steps. One of the company’s consultants could step in and continue. Though Digital Nation is just a few years old, the map on the wall in its office is dotted with white flags representing partners. Little white flags are now displayed from South America to Africa to Asia and the Pacific.

Vaher says the company is currently working with partners worldwide, and its goal is to “build a better digital nation” than in Estonia. That country could take on the mantle as the world leader in digital service. It has not yet happened, but that is Digital Nation’s dream.

Like Vaher, many of the company’s members were involved in shaping Estonian digital policy. Digital Nation’s cofounder and managing director is Siim Sikkut, Estonia’s former chief information officer. Helena Lepp, Digital Nation’s director of service transformation, once served as digital service development director within the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and has been involved in digital governance for over a decade. Sigrit Siht, director of artificial intelligence and data, was a project manager and data policy advisor at the same ministry. She was involved in developing Bürokratt, a virtual assistant that communicates with public institutions.

According to Lepp, Fusion Intellect aligns well with Digital Nation’s focus on building the foundations for digital governance in partner countries.

“What countries often miss is that they think digital transformation is just about building technology,” says Lepp. “But it’s also about putting together good governance structures.”

With its deep bench of expertise, Digital Nation is well-positioned to fly into Tanzania or Japan and advise potential clients about their digital governance services. Having Fusion Intellect to help them along that process allows the company to focus on the work that matters and skip the basics. A client will contact Digital Nation and contact the company, after which they might be referred to Fusion Intellect so that the company’s consultants can better understand their situation, and the clients will also better understand what they need to do. This saves time and money for both parties, Lepp notes.

“It’s something we can share as a follow-up,” says Lepp. “We can say, ‘Try this out, maybe you’ll find it interesting.'”

Siht prepared the information that forms the component of the AI implementation report provided by Fusion Intellect (Lepp provided the playbook related to digital government services). Siht says she started by creating a list of questions that she typically asks clients and then branching off into why she would ask those questions of them. She also included information to help demystify AI for new clients approaching the firm.

Development continues. “Right now, we have the first version,” says Siht. We can always tailor it to meet the needs of organisations and governments.” Vaher said an interoperability report will soon be added to Fusion Intellect. It will provide an initial government interoperability assessment and recommendations. “An important part of it is the data exchange aspect, including how X-Road might work for the country,” he added.

In general, Siht says that Fusion Intellect has the opportunity to disrupt the market, as some consultancies might seek to benefit from the lengthy dialogues during the onboarding process. Vaher expects these kinds of tools to be implemented more frequently in consulting for the same reasons that led him to develop them.

“You don’t need a world-class, expensive expert to help you with initial ideas,” he says. “Tools like this will replace initial consulting. The signs are there. This is only going to grow.”

Maksim Ovtsinnikov joins Digital Nation as Director of Interoperability

This week, Digital Nation’s arsenal of expertise is getting yet another massive boost - Maksim Ovtsinnikov is joining Digital Nation’s team as our Director of Interoperability.

Maksim previously held the position of Head of Data Exchange Technologies at Cybernetica and his 8 years of experience in the e-Governance domain has made him truly grasp the intricacies of different nations' problems to find long-lasting solutions. Between 2017 and 2021, Maksim has been in charge of the technical track of Ukrainian Trembita data exchange platform, which is the country’s digital backbone for e-governance and e-services and which empowers the famous Diia application. Besides Ukraine, Maksim has been working with the governments of Benin, Malaysia, Brazil, Tunisia, Namibia, Aruba, Kenya and many others, helping these countries to digitalize their public services.

We asked Maksim to give you insights into the most recent trends in interoperability and data exchanges that he is seeing across the globe:
1. There is a shift from monolithic systems to modular and reusable digital building blocks. This initiative is being driven by GovStack and promotes vendor neutrality and open standards, something which Digital Nation wholeheartedly supports.
2. Governments have been pushing for event-driven architecture and cloud-ready interoperability platforms as it fits well into cloud-first strategy.
3. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are offering new ways of solving problems in the interoperability domain. Be it data mapping, matching citizen's records across different databases in case of the absence of a unique identifier, harmonization of the workflows or processes inside the interoperability system.
4. The importance of cybersecurity and digital infrastructure resilience. Estonia's digital public infrastructure was hit by a large-scale cyber attack back in 2007, since then we understood that the cyberwarfare component of the confrontation may be as important as the physical war and something to prepare for. From the start of the full-scale war conflict in Ukraine the rest of the world has been catching up to the same reality.
5. Governments and international organizations are moving towards cross-border interoperability. Some examples of this are EIDAS 2.0 and OOTS (Once-Only Technical System) in the European Union and the One Africa Project launched and curated by Smart Africa.

In his spare time, Maksim loves to travel, he especially finds comfort in spending time outside on gravel bike or trailrunning. Last year he ran the 77 kilometre Grand Canyon rim2rim2rim track in a whopping 10 hours. Lasting digital transformation always needs true commitment and endurance in making things last and clearly Maksim has this covered. Whether it be trailrunning or digital governance - you can get in touch with Digital Nation and Maksim so we can help you build future-ready digital societies.

Unlocking Enterprise Architecture in 2025

What you expect to change often stays the same, while the things you’re sure about suddenly shift as Kristo Vaher, Digital Nation’s Director of Technology remarks on enterprise architecture. Last week he shared some insights into enterprise architecture with digital government leaders from Kenya. Kristo has worked as a digital solutions and software architect for most of his career, and continues to find that this field evolves in subtle and surprising ways.

Here are some of his key insights on unlocking enterprise architecture in 2025:
1. You need architects who act as elevators in your organization - and you need to empower them. The people who can move between layers - business, data, applications, and infrastructure - and help align business goals across the enterprise.
2. Sustainable architecture means building systems that last longer before they're labelled "legacy.” As enterprises add more services, they often hit a tipping point where maintaining existing systems dominates over innovating new ones. Your architects need to design systems that are change-tolerant.
3. TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) can be useful - if you pick the right parts. It’s a heavy framework and not always the right fit in full. But if there’s one part he’d highlight, it’s gap analysis. Define the scope and criteria for the change you want, understand your baseline ("as-is") architecture, define your target ("to-be") architecture, then identify the gaps in between.

The CHAOS Report by the Standish Group once pointed out that only about 6% of large projects succeed. If your project feels too big, it probably is. Don’t roll the dice - Break it down. If you’d like to have a conversation around enterprise architecture and how to build it, then get in touch and let’s dive deeper into the intricacies of it all.

Analysis of EU Commission's AI study

A study commissioned by the European Commission highlighting the significant potential of AI to improve public sector services was published a few days ago. The study focused on the EU, however there are valuable lessons for every other government to consider, too.

The study looked at various AI initiatives from the EU countries and while 72 initiatives were identified, which for a union of 27 countries is relatively impressive, 33 of those were strategies, 13 legislation, 4 reports and guidelines respectively, 2 frameworks and 1 declaration. There’s nothing wrong with creating a supportive ecosystem for AI implementation, however the overall tendency should be more on the practical initiatives that bring with them both some type of tangible outcomes and better understanding for what the ecosystem really needs. 10 of the remaining initiatives were action plans and 5 programmes. Strategy is important, but it needs to be turned into practical outcomes. Every government that considers AI implementation needs a vision, core principles and key activities, however being a viable and active stakeholder with your own AI projects in development is just as crucial.

Talking about those AI projects, the study states that the four public sector areas with the greatest number of AI projects are general public services (public administration), transportation, police services, and public health (medical equipment). The most common typologies are chatbots, computer vision, machine learning and predictive analytics. Interestingly, chatbots are not only the most popular AI projects (mainly found on ministerial websites and thus seen as improving those “general public services”) but also are by far the biggest spending article with the estimated 42 000 000 €. The next typology on that list is machine learning with just over 10 000 000 € and computer vision and identity recognition with 7 300 000 €. The numbers are very surprising and a bit alarming. It is difficult to reason yet easy to understand why chatbots are so popular. They offer, in theory, great wins by alleviating customer service agents’ workload and being available 24/7, but in real life need lots of high quality data to be able to answer questions correctly and adequately. Chatbots need to be integrated with existing business processes and civil servants need to be educated on them. Moreover, the general public needs to be accepting and willing to use this new channel of communication. With all this in mind, it’s interesting that chatbots are so much more popular than image recognition for example, that can be used in so many ways (traffic management, wildlife detection) and with a more specific goal in mind thus also being an AI project that is not going to be that difficult to integrate with existing processes and technologies.

To parallel this, the study states that there’s a lot of unknowns in AI and this leads to the “AI for the sake of AI” situation where something is procured more because of the hype and less because of actual necessity. This in turn leads to only surface-level integration and the transformative change that is promised and theoretically possible, is not achieved.

The study also focused on core AI skills, or more the lack of these skills in the public sector. This is, understandably so, seen as hindering the AI uptake. What is odd, is that the first perceived solution by respondents is hiring in-house AI experts that with their higher expectations for salary is the variable behind the high cost of AI adoption. The lack of in-house AI experts is also seen as one of the causes for poor procurements and biassed algorithms. It is proposed that creating guidelines (“standard templates, policies and legal frameworks, as well as ethical considerations”) on procuring AI solutions should relieve that. 

The lack of core AI skills is definitely a problem, however, because the perceived solution is hiring “AI experts”, it is first important to define “core AI skills”. A civil servant should not be an advanced Python coder - a civil servant should be well versed in the domain they work at, so that they could be a valuable partner to external AI experts. Most often the problem with any IT (AI incl.) project is the lack of understanding the root problem which comes from the lack of domain knowledge. Same with guidelines, as anyone who has ever had to write procurement documents can tell you, any template is much appreciated (although like with many other things, templates need to be kept up to date regularly). The best solution, however, is combining the two. The study mentions the Estonian public procurement guidelines. If you were to ask what resulted in most AI projects in Estonia, it was not (just) these guidelines, but bringing together civil servants with their very specific domain problem and different data scientists from the private sector telling them about different ways AI can be employed. This is why we at Digital Nation believe in the practical service called “AI accelerator” where we bring teams of civil servants together and with the help of very experienced data scientists start defining the domain problem into AI projects.

The study itself brought up the unrealistic expectations set on the technologies. Bringing the two sides together enables the civil servants to get practical feedback and answers to questions left unanswered on AI.

Digital is a leader’s job, so when it comes to skills and knowledge, managers cannot be overlooked. The study emphasises the importance of top management and their interest and understanding of AI. This is seen as the key to increase “buy-in” when it comes to any new ways of doing things. The way to get the point across, much like with other civil servants, is showcasing practical AI use cases and their business benefits. 

As expected, data, the lack thereof, and the quality and processes were also heavily featured in the study. Most prevalent problem the civil servants are facing is data ownership. There’s a lot of grey area with sharing data: the general sense seems to be “the less you share the safer you are against any wrongdoing” because of vagueness stemming from no clear guidelines and the lack of data strategies. As with any type of strategy, a comprehensive and practical data strategy is a must-have for every government and will be of big help to those civil servants that deal with data by setting a clear vision and core values.

Next to a data strategy, many governments, unsurprisingly, were struggling with data governance. As AI enjoys the hype, data governance is the key to unlocking the promised benefits of AI. This link is still not understood by most governments as the lack of investments and interest on the topic are very prevalent. The study also suggests moving away from the old “data is the new gold” rhetoric as this is not conveying the practical value behind data and AI. Similarly to the AI accelerator, Digital Nation believes in empowering senior leaders with core data governance principles in a practical way to enable the previously mentioned transformative change within the public sectors of the world.  

Overall, the study encompasses many important points, much that are already known, yet still it is important to emphasise these. Without any attention on these problem areas, it is easy to not focus on them and keep the status quo. Read the full study here.

Empowering Ukraine’s Digital Future: Training and Workshops for the Ministry of Digital Transformation

Introduction

In 2024, Digital Nation, in collaboration with Estonian partners Proud Engineers and Civitta, launched a project to strengthen the digital capabilities of the Ukrainian government. This initiative was designed to equip officials with expertise in digital governance, cybersecurity, and AI—critical areas for modernizing public services in a rapidly evolving landscape. Implemented in partnership with the CDTO Campus in Ukraine and funded by the Estonian Centre for International Development, the project prioritized practical skill-building and knowledge transfer to create lasting impact.

Bridging the Digital Skills Gap

The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine identified a crucial need: its officials required advanced expertise in digital governance, cybersecurity, AI applications, and data protection. With digital transformation central to modern governance, ensuring that public officials could effectively implement and manage digital services was essential. This program aimed to provide structured, real-world learning experiences that would enable officials to translate knowledge into action.

A Hands-On Approach to Learning

A consortium of Estonian experts designed a structured approach to maximize impact:

1. Intensive Training Sessions in Kyiv

A one-week immersive program tailored to different levels of experience:

  • For Senior Officials: Sessions focused on regulatory frameworks, cybersecurity strategies, data protection, and AI applications in the public sector. These were designed to align with immediate challenges, combining expert-led discussions with real-world case studies.

  • For Junior Officials: A foundational course covered digital identity, trust services, data interoperability, and leadership in digital transformation. Hands-on exercises and collaborative discussions deepened understanding and practical application.

2. Study Visit to Estonia: Learning from a Digital Leader

A few months after the Kyiv training, officials traveled to Tallinn for a study visit, designed to reinforce and expand on their learning. The visit included:

  • Meetings with Estonian digital leaders to discuss implementation strategies and lessons learned.

  • Firsthand exposure to Estonia’s digital identity systems, interoperability frameworks, and governance solutions.

  • Interactive discussions on adapting best practices to Ukraine’s context.

3. Self-Learning and Continued Engagement

To sustain knowledge acquisition, participants engaged with curated reading materials, case studies, and assignments between the training and study visit. This approach allowed them to deepen their understanding at their own pace and apply insights to real challenges.

Key Insights and Practical Takeaways

The program provided Ukrainian officials with actionable strategies to advance digital transformation. The study visit offered direct exposure to Estonia’s best practices, prompting reflections on how these approaches could be adapted to Ukraine’s needs. Key insights included:

1. Strategic Planning for Digital Transformation

  • Estonia’s structured approach—defining function, concept, and form—provided a clear framework for long-term digital planning.

  • AI-driven tools and OKR systems highlighted the importance of structured governance for technological advancement.

2. Strengthening Public Trust through Transparency

  • Estonia’s citizen-centric data transparency model, where individuals can see how their data is accessed, was recognized as a powerful trust-building mechanism.

  • The innovative approach to traffic violation management, which allows alternative sanctions alongside fines, stood out as a policy model that balances efficiency and fairness.

3. Prioritizing Cybersecurity as a Core Digital Pillar

  • Cybersecurity was emphasized as a foundational aspect of digital governance, requiring continuous risk management and proactive defense strategies.

4. Unlocking the Power of Data Interoperability

  • Estonia’s X-Road system was recognized as a benchmark for secure and efficient data exchange.

  • Participants underscored the importance of interoperability as an enabler of scalable and effective digital services.

5. Putting the User First in Digital Services

  • A key takeaway was the need to prioritize user needs over technological complexity.

  • Iterative development and direct user feedback were highlighted as critical factors for building effective digital services.

6. Simplifying Systems for Long-Term Sustainability

  • Estonia’s use of modular system designs and pilot projects reinforced the importance of reducing complexity for scalable, sustainable digital transformation.

Building on Momentum: The Next Steps

Beyond the training sessions and study visit, this initiative laid the groundwork for continued progress. Participants were motivated to:

  • Apply Estonia’s insights within their respective ministries.

  • Engage with international GovTech experts to deepen their expertise.

  • Advocate for more frequent, hands-on training sessions that focus on real-world applications.

Follow-up meetings, expanded training opportunities, and additional funding initiatives are already in discussion, ensuring that Ukraine’s digital governance efforts continue to evolve. Ongoing collaboration between Ukrainian officials and Estonian experts will be critical to sustaining this momentum.

Conclusion

This initiative was not just about knowledge transfer—it was about enabling action. By combining expert-led training, hands-on learning, and continuous engagement, the program provided Ukrainian officials with the tools and confidence to drive meaningful digital transformation. As one participant put it:

“The insights gained from Estonia’s digital transformation are directly applicable to our work—they are practical steps that can be implemented immediately.”

With continued collaboration, Ukraine is well-positioned to build a resilient, forward-thinking digital governance framework.


3rd Year in Action

As we wrap up our third year in action, we’re exhilarated to look back at a year of expanding horizons and novel ideas. This year we delivered impactful advice in 22 engagements for 15 countries and 2 regional organisations, including 5 new countries for us. Practical solutions and co-creation have remained at the core of how we help meaningful digital transformation globally.



Some impact highlights from last year

  • Bangladesh: We provided technical expertise to the Aspire to Innovate (a2i) team in piloting the government data exchange for the country’s 174 million citizens.

  • Thailand: We brought world-class digital government know-how to compile the national digital government strategy and high-level roadmap.

  • Namibia: Together with the Office of the Prime Minister we co-created a three-year digital government roadmap to make the country’s services more accessible and human-centric.

  • Kenya: We strengthened Kenya's Government Enterprise Architecture, building a robust, future-proof foundation for delivering world-class digital services to citizens and businesses.

  • Azerbaijan: We raised the digital leadership skills of 60 public sector leaders based on our Digital Leader’s Lab, empowering them with tools and attitude to address digital transformation challenges and foster data-driven governance.

  • Trinidad & Tobago: We continued delivery assurance and policy advice for the national interoperability platform implementation.

  • SIGMA/OECD: We helped their excellent team conduct the assessment of 5 Western Balkans countries against the Principles of Public Administration.


Raising Our Strength

  • Ave Lauringson joined our team as our COO. Her strong steering has enabled us to take on more ambitious projects globally, optimize collaboration, and enhance the quality of the solutions we provide.

  • Last year we launched Digital Nation’s Expert Stage initiative - our globally recognized experts ready to bring their insights onto your stage. Throughout the year we had numerous opportunities to share our practical knowhow with global audiences all across the world.

  • A major milestone this year was the opening of our new HQ in Tallinn. Fostering collaboration and serving as a hub for hosting our friends while they visit e-Estonia — old and new alike.


Next Impacts


We’ve also been preparing an exciting new solution that blends our expertise with advancements in AI to address critical challenges in digital transformation. This product, designed to provide actionable strategies and measurable impact, will mark a significant step forward for governments and organizations alike. Stay tuned for its unveiling soon!

As 2025 and our fourth Digital Nation year has started, our focus remains clear: to continue delivering impactful advice for governments that want to change their digital game and build future-ready digital governments. In many ways it still feels that we are only getting started with this mission.

Case Study: Bangladesh & X-road

Introduction

The goal of this project was to collaborate with the Bangladesh government and the a2i digital delivery team to implement a proof of concept for digital government data exchange platform based on X-Road. We provided technical expert-as-a-service support to ensure the platform was tailored to meet Bangladesh's specific requirements. As a result, the data exchange DPI was successfully launched and was operational in Bangladesh by the end of the project in initial scope, with the a2i local team fully onboarded. The work was funded by our good partners from Co-Develop (https://www.codevelop.fund/). 

Scope of work

Provided hands-on support in setting up the X-Road data exchange platform in a cloud environment, alongside comprehensive technology reviews and strategic recommendations (incl on policy). The focus was on enhancing a2i's implementation plans for the digital government architecture. Delivered a detailed report outlining next steps and key recommendations for future development.

Our approach and deliverables 

The collaboration between Digital Nation and Bangladesh's a2i team began in December 2023 by first co-creating the engagement scope and plans. Active collaboration with the national unit contributed significantly to the project's progress throughout the work.

Weekly meetings ensured smooth project coordination, hands-on work with the X-Road implementation, and presentations on governance and technical aspects, both on-site and remotely. The collaboration reached a high point during DN experts’ visit to Dhaka in spring 2024, where they worked directly with the a2i team and introduced X-Road to a broader technology community through a workshop led by Bangladesh's digital leaders.

A big part of the work was ongoing guidance and mentoring to a2i team to enable them to build up own technical capacity for next stages.

 

Impact and next steps

The X-Road proof of concept was successfully implemented on the a2i team's infrastructure and cloud environment in Bangladesh. Comprehensive feedback was provided on digital service interoperability and data architecture. Clear recommendations for the next steps were outlined to guide the Bangladesh government in further advancing their digital initiatives.

Conclusion

The collaboration between Digital Nation and Bangladesh demonstrated that innovative approaches can be successfully applied to government services. The X-Road POC project was validated both architecturally and technically for a2i digital services, leading to plans for continued collaboration. Bangladesh engagement is a good case study that if there is a capable local team, then with Digital Nation’s mentorship and technical assistance, they can do Digital Public Infrastructure adoption quick and strong while building up further local capacity.

Citizen-Centric Public Services and Government Enterprise Architecture in Kenya

Kenya, recognized as a digital leader in Eastern Africa and dubbed the "Silicon Savannah," is increasingly focused on improving public services and government enterprise architecture. In line with the Kwanza Manifesto's goal to make 80% of government services online, Kenya has rapidly automated its public services. Around 19,000 services are now accessible on the eCitizen platform. Additionally, after updating several government ICT standards in 2023, the Kenyan government aims to renew its Government Enterprise Architecture (GEA) and develop an Interoperability Framework for the country.

In this context, the Estonian Centre for International Development Cooperation (ESTDEV) has commissioned Digital Nation to recommend policies for developing citizen-centric digital services and strengthening GEA in Kenya.

Digital Nation's approach involved research, interviews with stakeholders, and a co-creation workshop with key players in Kenya’s digital governance ecosystem. Departing from the traditional policy analysis, the focus is on practical, actionable recommendations based on Digital Nation’s extensive experience.

As a result, a suite of recommendations was provided, each including rationale, gap analysis, implementation steps, and initial cost assessment. These recommendations span ten areas, covering the governance model, tools, and frameworks for digital public services, GEA, cybersecurity, and core components like eCitizen, the data exchange layer, and digital identity. In addition, prerequisites for the successful implementation of the recommendations were highlighted together with some quick wins to boost motivation.

The recommendations aim to lead to practical pilots to redesign certain public services and test a data exchange platform. Implementing this actionable advice will give Kenya robust and future-proof foundations for digital government, enabling top-class digital services for its citizens and businesses.

We extend our gratitude to the Kenyan government agencies, particularly the Ministry of ICT, the Ministry of Interior, and the ICT Authority.

Governmental Chatbots

In honor of Estonian 102nd “birthday” a vision paper for Bürokratt was published. Government services were supposed to be from now on provided in a way suitable for the 21st century, making them accessible from every device possible, in Estonian and in a conversational manner.

Estonia is not alone in looking towards chatbots as they offer a new way for the government to be connected with their citizens. 

These days many of us have smartphones and they are in use for a significant amount of time, it’s thus seen by governments as preferred device of the “client”. And as chatbots aren’t human they are accessible 24/7. And even though everyone is special in their own way, when it comes to the information they might require or services they want to be provided with, these are more often than not the same or very similar. Chatbots can alleviate much of the workload customer service agents (CSA) deal with daily when they just answer the FAQs.

With such positive arguments the case for a chatbot seems almost too obvious. However, here are a few personal observations from having been part of Bürokratt’s core team.

-        No civil servant needs to fear being replaced by chatbots. Training any bot will take not only time but people with domain knowledge. Government officials should provide existing CSAs reskilling options, so that they could become chatbot trainers.

-        Chatbots should be seen as beneficial additional channels, not the only channel for any service. Some citizens will never start using chatbots (and that’s fine) and some services will never be suitable for chatbots (that, too, is just fine).

-        Chatbots are available 24/7 only in theory, at least in the beginning. Fallbacks need to obviously be built into every conversation, but some agencies may for service quality reasons decide that chatbots are online only during working hours, so that a CSA could immediately take over.

-        If any governmental agency considers launching their chatbot, they should immediately start collecting their incoming question-answer data. This data will not only act as training data for the future chatbot but will also allow leaders to make a data-driven decision on the need of a chatbot. If the amount of incoming requests in your agency is minimal, you might want to reconsider the investment.

-        Some people have had very negative experiences with already existing chatbots, they will be hard to convince to use any governmental chatbots. (Fun added bonus: people are always harder on any governmental service because these matter most.) Just be ready to handle any negative feedback that could negatively affect the number of users of your chatbot.

Governmental chatbots can have a place in almost every agency and they really can improve service quality. They cannot, however, be expected to improve bad processes or expect to magically understand incoming requests without continuous training of their models.

Namibia Sets a New e-Government Strategic Roadmap to Support the Vision "Digital First Services for All

In February 2024, the Digital Nation team successfully completed the project to draft the new Digital Government Strategic Roadmap for Namibia for 2024-2026.

This roadmap was developed in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister of Namibia. Launched in September 2023, the project encompassed several phases, including the mapping of the Namibian government's digital readiness based on Digital Nation's Digital Governance Future-Readiness Framework, the identification of needs and opportunities, development of the roadmap’s vision and actions. To achieve this, both extensive desk research and three co-creation workshops were conducted, engaging stakeholders from various government organisations, the private sector, and other partners.

The roadmap sets the vision of "Digital First Services for All" and prioritises inclusivity, citizen-centricity, security, and innovation, with the objective of making digital services universally accessible and responsive to all users' needs. By 2026, the roadmap aims to achieve key milestones such as transforming the top 10 priority public services, eliminating unnecessary paperwork in 50 services through NamX integrations, and issuing eIDs to at least 25% of the population.

To realise this vision, the roadmap outlines six strategic pillars: Governance and Leadership; Digital Identity; Registers and Interoperability; Digital Public Services and Administration; Cybersecurity and Data Protection; and Government Infrastructure and Platforms. These pillars cover a comprehensive range of initiatives, including the establishment of a foundational eID infrastructure, the expansion of NamX integrations, the enhancement of digital services user-centricity, and the development of a national data centre. Each pillar is accompanied with concrete timelines and distribution of roles and responsibilities for the next three years.

The project was supported by the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV). 

AUDA AI White Paper

The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) has published a White Paper on Regulation and Responsible Adoption of AI in Africa. The White Paper sets out to demystify AI by providing the reader many already existing examples of AI uses in Africa and gives African governments recommendations on what their next steps should be.

The document is written very favorably towards AI, seeing the technology as a saving grace for major problems affecting African countries such as climate change, providing medical care to everyone and empowering local languages, e.g. making it possible to teach students in their own local languages instead of colonial world languages that to many are foreign.

From an Estonian standpoint the issue around languages hits close to home. With only around a million native speakers, Estonian is not a priority for any major tech giant. For example, iPhones are the most popular phones in Estonia, but iOS is not available in Estonian. That sounds like a real first world problem (which it is), but when we started developing Bürokratt, the first national chatbot that needed to communicate in the state’s official language it became obvious that the government needed to heavily invest in this field, starting from collecting language data and creating various language corpora.

So, it is good to see language (technology) being prioritized in the White Paper. To all (African) government officials, investing in language technology will ensure that your culture and language will remain in existence for centuries (read a long period of time, cannot give any specific time frame) and will benefit not only the educational sector, but improve almost every other sector as well.

W.r.t climate change, many listed exciting use cases that fight the problems caused by climate change were important additions to the White Paper, however, the negative aspects were left out completely. Firstly, AI will need a lot of energy which sadly will most likely mean bad things for the climate. Also, as AI can be used for good (see all the exciting use cases) it can be used for bad as well: massive misinformation campaigns amplified by AI should be expected and dealt with accordingly by every government on the continent.

The recommendations in whole were very reasonable when considered that this White Paper is meant for the whole continent of Africa. Every African government will need to consider their country’s starting point and then every recommendation on its own. This is echoed in the paper’s first recommendation of creating “national AI strategies that can clearly define the national AI priorities across all economic sectors and strengthen competitive advantage of each country.”

Additionally, and not surprisingly, all (African) governments need to consider the monetary means, because in no way are any of the suggestions cheap. Creating a strategy will alleviate this a bit, because with a strategy governments will commit their resources to certain activities, and it is more (cost)effective to finance certain activities that have already been prioritized than give funds to spontaneous projects that may not contribute to the whole as much as expected.

You can look further into AUDA’s White Paper here:
https://www.nepad.org/blog/taking-continental-leap-towards-technologically-empowered-africa-auda-nepad-ai-dialogue

Digital Nation 2nd Year of Action

Year of Going Global - in our 2nd year of action our footprints can be found in 14 countries on 4 continents.

This has been possible thanks to the best Digital Nation core team & our constantly growing network of experts, who contributed in 26 advisory works in 2023 to build future-ready digital societies around the world!

We expanded our core team with 3 world-class experts in their respective fields, Helena Lepp as a Director of Service Transformation, Kristo Vaher as a Director of Technology and Sigrit Siht as a Director of AI & Data.

Here are the some of the highlights from this horizon expanding year:

We continued helping governments build roadmaps for digital change. For example, in Namibia partnering with the Office of the Prime Minister and the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) funds and contributed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 digital government strategy.

We looked into the future of government customer experience trends together with The International Foundation for Customer Experience in Government, and supported the Abu Dhabi government on their next Government Customer Experience (#GCX) strategy.

We helped governments plan for and deliver data exchange and interoperability, from high-level awareness training in Kenya to delivery assurance in Trinidad & Tobago to mentoring the a2i team in Bangladesh.

We created the Smart Africa Trust Alliance (SATA) initiative’s strategy for cross-border digital trade and digital single market across Africa, plus delivered a practical resource mobilisation plan to make #SATA a reality.

Meanwhile in Kenya, Digital Nation and #ESTDEV have been hard at work training and piloting support for bringing citizen-centric service design principles into the heart of government operations.

In Azerbaijan, we launched a comprehensive two-month digital leadership development programme, tailored for 60 public sector leaders, based on our Digital Leader's Competence Model. We taught that the essence of digital transformation lies in effective management rather than solely technological upgrades.

Our focus for our third year in action will be two-fold. First, we will expand in our current core expertise areas - digital government roadmaps, strategy development and advice during the delivery of transformation initiatives, data exchange and interoperability implementation. We will also continue committing to public sector leadership development programmes, as digital transformation is always a leader’s job!

In addition, we are working to launch whole new advisory streams on public sector AI, nextgen digital services and related reforms, and startup ecosystem building. Let us know if these topics are on your plate and mind for 2024 and let’s pilot them together.

Interoperability unpacked by Kristo Vaher & Siim Sikkut

Yesterday Siim Sikkut and Kristo Vaher shared insights into creating an interoperable digital government to an international audience of policy leaders and experts at the latest round of Digital Nation’s webinar series on how to become a digital nation.

Kristo Vaher, Estonia’s former CTO divided the key to success in interoperability into 3 main categories:
🧩 Decentralised Architecture
🌐 Cross-Border Readiness
📑 Open Source Standards

If you missed the session here are 9 key takeaways that Kristo Vaher, Estonia’s former CTO and Digital Nation’s Technical Director presented for you to get started on your path in creating interoperable digital public services:

1. By integrating decentralised architecture you gain the ability to migrate technology.
2. A byproduct of decentralising your systems is creating cybersecurity which is fault tolerant.
3. Even if you decentralise your systems in play, you can still maintain central governance of your product stack.
4. Designing your systems with cross-border compatibility from the get-go enables you to be prepared at no extra cost, whilst preparing you for the future.
5. In an international world, shared languages enable shared business opportunities to prosper if the architecture surrounding the businesses ecosystem allow it by being interoperable.
6. When starting out, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Examples like GovStack, X-Road and federated data exchange are options for getting off the ground.
7. By procuring your systems using open source standards you may gain the right to IP.
8. Even if you can’t procure the services open source, you can still implement adapters to enable interoperability.
9. The lessons you learned can and will help someone else along the way, with any chance yourself in the future, so share and publish the fruits of your labour along with metrics.

“Interoperability isn’t a tech challenge: it requires policies and legal rules, careful change management, stakeholder engagement and governance, etc. That is why a good comprehensive interoperability roadmap is required, which also has to feature good showcase quick wins of new good interoperable public services,” Siim concluded, summarising the experience from several countries where Digital Nation has helped to kickstart or restart interoperability in government.

Case Study: Zero Paper Côte d'Ivoire by 2030

How to get a country to become paperless in less than a decade?
This is what we set out to answer with Côte d'Ivoire this past year and here's what we learned.

🚩 The government of Cote d’Ivoire has done some considerable work over the past years to build an initial set of digital services and introduce the core legal framework elements. However, the fundamental principles, policy and technological foundations required to implement a fully digital government were not there yet. The foundations of digital governance were not ready and actual digital service offering was very limited.

📝 Digital Nation crafted an ambitious yet achievable vision for a Zero-Paper Cote d'Ivoire by 2030. By realising this vision, Côte d'Ivoire has great potential for becoming the Continental front- runner for public service availability and quality. Cote d’Ivoire’s government will always be open and accessible for its citizens. This all entails significant reductions of bureaucracy whilst saving money and time for everyone.

📈 Digital Nation mapped the country with our Nation’s Digital Governance Future-Readiness Framework which takes 12 pillars of Digital Readiness into account to build a solid foundation for the whole-of-government approach to full digital transformation.

📌 Based on the assessment, we developed an effective and impactful digital government roadmap „Zero Paper Cote d’Ivoire by 2030“.We composed the roadmap with a dual-track approach to lay the foundations for transforming the whole government fully digital and at the same time deliver quick wins in parallel.

🌍 By implementing this vision and roadmap, Côte d'Ivoire will become a digital leader in Africa, in alignment with the nation's aspirations. This leadership entails not only offering a wide array of digital public services but also ensuring their availability and quality, ultimately translating into tangible and positive impacts on the lives of its citizens.

🤝 We'd like to thank the Honourable Patrick Achi, the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire along with his office and SNDI - Société Nationale de Développement Informatique headed by Nongolougo Soro for entrusting us with this mission and DIGITAL AFRIQUE TELECOM for partnering with us to deliver this roadmap.

Digital Nation 1st Birthday

Last week marked an extraordinary milestone for Digital Nation as we celebrated our first ever birthday as a company and what a year it has been!

A year ago, our partners Üllar, Siim, and Taavi had a vision to create a company that could prove that any government, with the ambition and readiness to act, can become a digital leader and have a tremendous impact in just a few short years. They believed that by combining the experiences of Estonia, the world's first truly digital society, with the best practices from around the globe, a successful and future-proof digital society can emerge anywhere. With this mission in mind, Digital Nation was born!

Looking back on our first year, we're proud to say that Digital Nation has come a long way already - even if still only starting. We owe a big thank you to our amazing team who have been the driving force behind our success. From the initial spark of an idea in the heads of three founders, we've grown to a core team of 10 with offices in Tallinn and Nairobi. Along the way, we've also built a network of over 100 experts, 10+ advisory companies, and 10+ tech partners, which gives us the confidence to tackle any digital transformation challenge at every scale.

Second kudos goes – of course – to our clients who have entrusted us with their digital transformation journeys! In our first year we worked on 13 impactful projects, working with 10 clients across 6 countries and 3 international organisations. Plus, an uncountable amount of speaking gigs on different stages to build the likeminded coalition around the globe!

We have launched several client engagement models from quickhand assessment of digital readiness and roadmap creation to implementation support, expert-in-residence services on-site, and even hosted immersion tours in Estonia.

We have been focusing on the African and Middle East regions mainly. Why so? Well, our main driver is to contribute where we can have a real impact and in these parts of the world we have seen the most hunger for this so far.

As we are continuing our journey to our second year, let's take a glimpse into the future.

We are in the process of exploring new challenges, clients and partnerships - while taking our existing relationships to new heights. We are expanding our reach beyond the current regions, with plans to launch in another area soon this year. But shh, let's keep that under wraps until we make it official!

We are committed to growing our internal capabilities. As we don't believe in one-size-fits-all solutions, we will be continuing to develop our own unique offerings to provide maximum value and deliver the highest impact for our clients.

If you want to hear more or discuss how you can benefit from our expertise in building future-ready digital societies – drop a line and let’s have a chat!