Largest virtual choir live on Tallinn Song Festival Grounds

May 2020

by Adhele Tuulas

creative assistant

In Estonia, keeping our cultural inheritance alive, thriving and in constant development is a matter we do not take lightly. To some, an unprecedented situation where cultural gatherings are deemed a health hazard and life seems to be put to a halt may appear like a complex, perhaps even an existential challenge. But for Estonians, complexity tends to inspire bold action and challenges are always tackled head on. We tend to do this by leveraging the resources we have and thinking outside the box. For us, the first reaction is to go digital.

For the first time in history, more than 2500 Estonian choir singers united for a virtual concert on the historic Tallinn Song Festival Grounds on May 17, 2020. The unique technological solution, installed under laulukaar (the arch of the Song Festival Grounds), brought together the legendary singer Ivo Linna, his band, choirs from across the country, and of course, the audience that attended the concert from their cars on the festival grounds. This was led by renowned conductor, Aarne Saluveer.

Photos by Jüri Kartul

Such an undertaking is ambitious and seemingly impossible in a myriad of ways, many of those technical. Especially, when pulling it off – from idea to execution – in a matter of six days. Magnus Müürsepp, the technical producer behind the virtual concert says that the greatest challenge was achieving perfect sync during the live broadcast. Combining multiple pre-recorded clips into beautiful pieces is a tried and tested practice. The true challenge presents itself when information has to travel from the conductor to the singers, back to the screens on the Festival Grounds and ultimately presented as one shared moment on the main screen under the laulukaar. 

Photos by Jüri Kartul

“We achieved this by simultaneously using three ‘time machines’,” Müürsepp discloses. Tweaking the moments that the singers receive the music and the time that the singing reaches the Festival Grounds, the final broadcast was designed to result in close to perfect synchrony. The technical heart of the concert was the ultrafast internet connection on the Festival Grounds and the 20 computers behind it. The technical execution also required connecting 14 cameras for the live TV broadcast, various screens on the festival grounds, the online broadcast, 1000 tablets under laulukaar and, of course, the TVs, computers and phones of the singers at home – all in one moment of time, all through mutual effort in order to share a common experience.

According to Lehari Kaustel, the author and initiator behind the idea, this is the largest virtual concert of its kind in the world to date. “Everyone has worked very hard together, as a society, during the past months. All our daily private and work-related matters have been dealt with to the best of our abilities,” Kaustel noted before the event. “What will be taking place on Sunday is a very special moment. We will put our digital competence truly to the test and see if we can come together and do what we have always done – sing. It is going to be an interesting experiment, where singers will use their phones to unite from their homes and sing together under laulukaar.”

And the experiment was a success. This unique moment of togetherness once again proved that innovative digital solutions can combat even the most unprecedented challenges and unite us in extraordinary ways even while we must remain physically distant.

Witness the moment for yourself:Video Player00:0005:52

The event was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the public and private sector. The concert is supported by Estonian Public Broadcasting, Telia, Estonian Choral Association, Tallinna Lauluväljak, Valge Klaar, Eventech, ProLab, Miltton, Royal Experience, Apollo Cinema.

Resource: e-estonia

Cyber Security in Estonia 2020: What has changed?

May 2020

Within the past month, the Estonian Information System Authority (RIA) has released two comprehensive resources on the state of cyber security in Estonia and Estonia’s perspective on international challenges. The compendium “Cyber Security in Estonia 2020” explains the landscape, the responsibilities, and activities of different public sector organisations in Estonia, who all play a role in protecting our digital state and society. The second resource, RIA’s new yearbook, introduces the work of RIA and the events of 2019 in Estonian cyberspace in greater detail.

Furthermore, on May 26, RIA will be hosting a webinar “Cyber Security in Estonia 2020: What Has Changed,” where renowned cyber security experts will discuss how the changed environment will impact the plans for this year and the next.

Shaping international law 

One of the main themes that has emerged in recent years is the growing need to establish a common understanding of a rule-based cyberspace, rooted in the principles of international law. In the opening pages of the compendium, President Kersti Kaljulaid highlights that if we want to achieve a secure and stable cyber domain, then malicious cyber activities should have similar consequences as attacks carried out in the ‘analogue’ world. With this in mind, Estonia has made many attempts to help shape international law, some of which have been reflected in the work of Estonia’s presidency of the UN Security Council. 

Phishing, botnets and other threats

The yearbook and compendium also both touch upon the cyber threats and challenges from the perspective of civilian networks as well as national security. The year 2019 was largely dominated by phishing attacks. The compendium highlights that the number of incidents concerning phishing campaigns almost doubled compared to the year before. The threat is prominent for both civilians and in cases that can impact national security. The greatest number of incidents in 2019, were however reported on compromised systems added to botnets, which is likely to continue in 2020.

 Image retrieved from The 2020 Yearbook of The Information Security Authority, page 34.

Estonia’s view on the 5G challenge 

The emergence of Fifth Generation (5G) networks has captivated governments around the world. The revenues of the revolutionary technology are estimated at 225 billion euros in 2025. Despite the opportunities that the technology presents, most of the thought process and debate has been dominated not only by technical questions, but also by major security concerns. The compendium summarises the reasons behind these concerns as well as Estonia’s efforts to mitigate these risks both on a national level as well as within the European Union.

To learn more:

• Access The 2020 Yearbook of The Information Security Authority here
• Access the compendium “Cyber Security in Estonia 2020” here
• Tune in to RIA’s webinar “Cyber Security in Estonia 2020: What Has Changed” on May 26th from 17:00-19:00 Estonian time EEST (4pm Brussels CET, 10am Washington EDT) which will be streamed on RIA’s Facebook page.

Photo: Cover illustration of the compendium  “Cyber Security in Estonia 2020”

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Today, e-governance and e-services have become a necessity in every country. e-Estonia Briefing Centre – the gateway to Estonian expertise in e-governance, invites you to connect with the Estonian IT companies directly responsible for the successful functioning of the e-state even during a pandemic. Get in touch with us to set up your custom virtual programme with the best partners you could get: business.e-estonia@eas.ee

Resouce: e-estonia

Cybernetica: Pursuing secure health data exchange in the midst of COVID-19

May 2020

by Adhele Tuulas

creative assistant

The past few months have introduced a dramatic change in global circumstances. Many companies have been forced to pivot and adapt their previous activities to the “new normality,” and rapid innovation has entered the scene in response to the crisis. For some, however, previously ongoing projects suddenly reached a whole new level of value and relevance.

Cybernetica, the Estonian company behind the Unified Exchange Platform (UXP) that sustains a wide array of Estonia’s e-health services, had been pursuing international projects for secure health data exchange even before COVID-19. These included their project TOGETHER for PPE Readiness and other projects for international data exchange of personal medical information, based on the UXP technology. The company has now accelerated their development process, as the importance of trusted and rapid data sharing has suddenly skyrocketed.

Shifting priorities in light of an emergency

“When we started with our project TOGETHER for PPE Readiness, back in September 2019, we had no idea that we will face the situation we have in the world right now in the near future,” notes Meril Vaht, Project Manager and Systems Analyst at Cybernetica. As the aim of the project is to share Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (masks, gloves, gowns, etc.) data regionally and nationally in the USA for better emergency preparedness, the importance of this undertaking has now increased significantly.

“The system we are building allows trusted data exchange between hospitals, in order to improve their ability to manage PPE inventory,” Vaht explains. “Using the UXP technology, federal and state level organisations are provided access to a set of services that digitally maintain inventory data as well as purchasing and delivery data for the sites that manage stocks of PPE.” The solution provides nearly real-time data, which ensures greater efficiency in PPE distribution during surge demands – such as disease pandemics and other emergencies. It is therefore exactly the kind of solution we would benefit from right now.

Photo provided by Cybernetica

The initial plan saw the end of the project’s first phase, dedicated to testing purposes only, in September 2020. Now that global priorities have undergone dramatic shifts, the company has accelerated the development process. The first three organisations are set to go live by the end of the first phase.

Importance of cross-border data exchange

Cybernetica’s second project on secure exchange of personal medical data touches upon another important consideration that came to the spotlight in the past few months – if an emergency hits an individual when they are abroad, how can we ensure they get the help they need? One possible response to this question is well highlighted in the proof-of-concept project Cybernetica successfully completed in March this year, in collaboration with NTT DATA Corporation and NTT DATA Italy.

“The proof-of-concept focused on a scenario where a hospital acquired the data of a Japanese person, who was receiving medical treatment in the EU, from the patient’s medical records in Japan,” Vaht explains. “In addition to providing better treatment while abroad, seamless and appropriate treatment is available for the patient upon returning to Japan.”

Systems like this support improved communication between doctors, enhanced control over health data records stored in standardised format, and better decision-making and treatment plans. In light of the current crisis, we are also talking about better accessibility, improved possibilities for better data analysis, and so on.

Mitigating risks and safeguarding privacy

In light of the hurried development of new solutions under crisis mode, many have voiced loud concerns surrounding privacy and the potential pitfalls that could occur with accelerated processes. Nonetheless, Vaht assures that despite faster decision-making, critical analysis in the development process is definitely not pushed aside but rather prioritised even more.

The promise of privacy is indeed present in every aspect of Cybernetica’s technologies. When it comes to GDPR compliance, Vaht notes that there are of course many factors to take into account. From the perspective of the implemented technology, the UXP provides technical measures that take care of the security of the interaction between the information systems of one or more organisations.

Due to UXP’s distributed architecture, the UXP members communicate directly with each other and exchange only specified data. The data exchange between organisations is authenticated and encrypted and the service provider can control access to the services. Furthermore, all the messages are signed and timestamped, which prevents misuse of sensitive data.

However, Vaht also notes that the UXP technology covers only one part of the GDPR compliant data exchange. “It is important to keep in mind that the organisation which implements the UXP has to adjust its privacy policy with appropriate requirements of the GDPR. Additionally, the organisation must prove that it has implemented end-user authentication and access control procedures that are compliant with the security requirements.”

Digitalisation can no longer be escaped

Vaht agrees with many observers from Estonia and around the world, that by now there is no doubt this pandemic will push the world towards greater digitalisation. With increased data access and connectivity, we nonetheless have to be mindful of the associated risks. Privacy of digital data and trusted data exchange are therefore going to keep moving further into the spotlight.

“Providing the means to audit and trace back information to its single origins, enables a truly connected and secure world despite the physical distance.”

So, what’s next for Cybernetica?

When it comes to secure data exchange, Vaht says they are hopeful to see a growing number of international projects, in healthcare as well as in other fields in the future. “We are looking to contribute to greater digital accessibility to data and vital services and to that becoming part of the ‘new normality’ for both the public and private sector.”

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Today, e-governance and e-services have become a necessity in every country. e-Estonia Briefing Centre – the gateway to Estonian expertise in e-governance, invites you to connect with the Estonian IT companies directly responsible for the successful functioning of the e-state even during a pandemic. Get in touch with us to set up your custom virtual programme with the best partners you could get: business.e-estonia@eas.ee

Resourse: e-estonia