According to Tax Foundation, Estonia’s top score in 2022 is driven mainly by four positive features of its tax code:
It has no corporate income tax on reinvested and retained profits (and a 14-20 per cent corporate income tax rate on distributed profits). This means that Estonia’s corporate income tax system allows companies to reinvest their profits tax-free.
It has a flat 20 per cent tax on individual income. The tax is not applied in the case of distributed dividends that have already been taxed with a corporate income tax (see above).
Its property tax applies only to the value of land, rather than to the value of real property or capital.
It has a territorial tax system that exempts 100 per cent of foreign profits earned by domestic corporations from domestic taxation, with few restrictions.
A simple tax system means less hassle
A clear advantage of Estonia’s tax system is that companies spend less time on tax compliance than they would in any other country in the OECD. For example, in an average OECD country, 42 hours per year are used by companies to comply with just corporate income taxes. In Estonia, the figure is five hours. The report also stresses that other taxes, such as the value added tax (VAT), also have a low compliance burden.
Estonia is also among the few countries in the OECD that do not have any property transfer taxes, meaning taxes on the transfer of real property (real estate, land improvements, machinery) from one person or firm to another.
Low marginal tax rates create a competitive tax code
According to Tax Foundation, the structure of a country’s tax code is an important determinant of its economic performance. A well-structured tax code is easy for taxpayers to comply with and can promote economic development while raising sufficient revenue for a government’s priorities. A competitive tax code keeps marginal tax rates low.
A study by the World Bank found that countries with simpler, more efficient tax systems had higher rates of economic growth than those with more complicated tax systems. The study also found that businesses in countries with simpler tax systems were more likely to invest and create jobs than businesses in countries with more complicated tax systems.
Last year, Estonia’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 8.3%, beating the average European Union GDP growth rate of 5.38%. This year, tax efficiency will help the country to battle rising energy prices and inflation in Europe.
In today’s globalized world, businesses can choose to invest in any number of countries throughout the world to find the highest rate of return. This means that businesses will look for countries with lower tax rates on investment to maximize their after-tax rate of return.
If a country’s tax rate is too high, it will drive investment elsewhere, leading to slower economic growth. In addition, high marginal tax rates can lead to tax avoidance. According to research from the OECD, corporate taxes are most harmful to economic growth.
Wish to invest in Estonia or do business in the country that has the world’s best tax system? Read more about taxation in Estonia and send us a request for e-Consulting to find out more from one of our advisors
Estonian technology company Ridango has acquired a 100% stake in LIT transit, a Slovenia-based firm providing solutions for public transit; together, the companies now operate systems in over 25 countries.
Ridango is an Estonian company specialising in the development of systems for public transport ticketing as well as payments and real-time passenger information solutions.
“Our joint ambition is to become one of the leading providers of public transport mobility technology systems globally by 2026. The acquisition of LIT Transit is an important milestone, as they’re the leading players in the public transport real-time industry,” Erki Lipre, the chairman of the management board of Ridango, said in a statement.
“Ridango’s main focus has been account-based ticketing and payments in Baltic and Nordic markets. /—/ The transaction will significantly increase our global reach and the number of markets we operate, as well as provide very strong expertise in real-time and ticketing solutions,” he added.
Extending its reach to Asia and Oceania
Ridango is operating in Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Ukraine and Greenland.
Following the acquisition of LIT Transit, the group now offers its ticketing, transit management and payment solutions in countries and cities like Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Qatar, New Zealand, Oman and others.
Ridango is headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, and is a transportation solutions provider founded in 2009.
LIT Transit was founded in 2012 in Slovenia and has customers in Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Middle East, Mexico etc. Among other solutions, LIT has a leading transit management system and an estimated time of arrival prediction engine.
A protocol of common intent to build an undersea tunnel between Finland and Estonia is due to be signed by the countries’ governments on Monday.
The Estonian cabinet, meeting on Thursday, gave its consent to Taavi Aas, the minister of economic affairs, to sign the agreement. Its contents will not be made public until after the signing.
The deal is a step closer to work beginning on the world’s longest undersea tunnel, estimated to cost around $20bn, although it does not commit either side to the project.
However, it does allow the project to gain the imprimatur of the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network programme, making it eligible for EU funding.
As reported by Estonian news site ERR, Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas said: “In the case of such a huge project, it is important that both countries express their will. I hope that the protocol will be signed and that we can move forward with preparations for the possible construction of the tunnel by the state.”
After the signing, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will relaunch the Tallinn–Helsinki Tunnel Working Group, which will include representatives from both governments as well as the Tallinn and Helsinki city governments.
The tunnel would form the final link in the Rail Baltica route, intended to orientate Baltic states towards the EU (RB Rail AS/CC BY-SA 4.0)
The ministry must now submit an overview of the project development to the government in the third quarter.
Previously, Estonia had expressed scepticism about the idea (see further reading). In 2019, Aas commented: “We need a clear understanding of where the money is coming from and in what amount. Where are the guarantees that it will be completed? The developer hasn’t been able to respond how it’s estimated the volume of people that will be traveling through there.”
The project was first suggested by Peter Vesterbacka, a developer of the Angry Birds app, as a twin-bore 103km-long tunnel that would form the final leg of the EU’s Rail Baltica project.
A feasibility study was concluded in February 2018. It found that by 2050, demand would reach 12.5 million passengers and 4 million tonnes of freight a year. This gave a cost-benefit ratio of only 0.45, owing to the high capital cost, but the study recommended the scheme on the basis of its impact on regional development, which it estimated at between €4bn and €6.9bn a year.
Top image: The Estonian capital of Tallinn is expected to receive a development boost from the tunnel (Maigi/CC BY-SA 3.0)
The e-Estonia Live webinar series is hosted weekly on oure-Estonia Facebook page, where we connect with Estonian state experts and company representatives to discuss current issues and the developments within e-Estonia.
Back in 2013, the world’s first digitally signed international agreement was signed between the Prime Ministers of Estonia and Finland, Andrus Ansip and Jyrki Katainen. This agreement was the Memorandum of Understanding, which established the formal cooperation for “developing and maintaining a software environment enabling secure connectivity, searches and data transfers between various governmental and private databases” – X-Road.
Currently, Estonia and Finland have a well-established system for health data exchange and a growing number of services added to the X-Road ecosystem. To discuss this cooperation between the two digital partners, we brought together Taavi Rõivas, Member of the Estonian Parliament and Former Prime Minister of Estonia and Ville Sirviö, CEO of Nordic Institute of Interoperability Solutions (NIIS).
What are the prerequisites for establishing data exchange between two or more countries? How did the partnership between Estonia and Finland get started and what did it entail? What would it take to achieve digital data exchange on a European level? And what is the role of trust in all this, from the government level down to the citizen? These, and many more questions, were covered in the insightful discussion facilitated by our Digital Transformation Adviser, Anett Numa.
Watch the recording for the full discussion:Video Player00:0001:05:38
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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
Estonia and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden have pooled their solutions together and are humbled to share all of their digital education tools to support other countries’ education systems during the Covid-19 crisis. The complete listofinternationally-accessiblesolutions that have joined this initiative will be updated over time as new offers are made.
Estonia announced on Monday that the country will to support the international community with its digital education tools. Now, thanks to very positive feedback from other countries, a cross-regional initiative has begun to offer education solutions from the entire region for free to support the cause.
Schools in an increasing number of countries are being forced to close their doors, but this does not necessarily mean that learning needs to stop. Based on Estonia’s experience, education can successfully switch entirely online.
“As of today, 102 countries have closed schools and educational institutions impacting over 849 million children and youth (UNESCO monitoring). Tens of millions of additional learners will experience education disruption in the coming months. Now more than ever is the time to open up resources and share experiences to support the continuity of learning for all – and it is heartwarming to see many organizations, individuals, and countries are already doing just this. By spreading the learning solidarity as far and wide as we can, we will come out of the crisis as stronger learners empowered by digital technologies,” said Tiina Neuvonen, Thematic Lead in Education at the United Nations Technology Innovation Labs.
Märt Aro, co-founding member of the European EdTech Alliance, states that thanks to the Nordic’s general adoption of digital technologies in education, there are tools that can also be applied to support other countries’ distance learning. They are typically co-created between schools, universities, and companies. “A number of tools are prepared for international usage and the numerous companies developing them have also kindly agreed to support other countries in need. The aim of this initiative is to support distance learning and work in the education sector during this time of crisis. Many of the solutions also enable an increase in the social aspect of distance learning and do their best to motivate learners,” explained Aro.
“Technology is often seen as a tool for learning and teaching, but Estonian EdTEch companies have also contributed to high-quality and contemporary content creation,” said Birgit Lao, CEO of Innove. “Considering the vast diversity of different learning methodologies, the use of technology will help learners find the most suitable way to personalise their experience.” Innove also provides webinars on how to organise distance learning.
The co-founder of the Good Deed Education Fund and ride-hailing unicorn Bolt.eu Martin Villig noted Estonia’s general readiness that comes from a well-developed digital society:
“Estonia is globally known for its digital society and e-services, and thanks to the solutions, Estonia is somewhat better prepared for this crisis. I am humbled to see companies coming to support schools and universities this quickly and also organising free webinars to support educators in achieving the best possible results.”
We are also inviting all other countries to open up any resources they can to help minimise the impact of crises and to share expertise that could support other countries.
Birgit Lao Chief Executive Officer of Foundation Innove +372 735 0594 birgit.lao@innove.ee
Märt Aro Co-Founder, DreamApply.com Chairman of the Board, Nordic EdTech Forum – N8 Co-Founder, European EdTech Alliance +372 53415761 mart.aro@dreamapply.com
Laura Limperk-Kütaru Acting Head of Department European Union and International Cooperation Department Estonian Ministry of Education and Research +372 7354078 laura.limperk-kutaru@hm.ee
When we talk about impressive strides in AI development, there is no way we would miss the big players like the United States and China or companies like Google, Baidu, Amazon and Microsoft. Home to significant investments, cutting edge research, top talent and thriving ecosystems, pushed forward and nourished by the greatest leaders in the industry – these regions serve as the epicentre of the buzz.
Yet, while focusing on the mainstream hype, we risk missing the significant leaps being taken in other parts of the world. Zooming into the Northern corner of Europe, we in fact see notable AI initiatives and strong determination to catch up in the race. The Estonia-based team behind North Star AI – a top talent community for engineers and data scientists – has taken note of its surrounding regional potential and is now leading the way in bringing Nordic AI cooperation to the next level.
We spoke to the founders ofNorth Star AI to shine a light on these regional developments and the determined pursuit of accelerating AI impact in the EU.
Triin Mahlakõiv, Co-Founder of North Star AI
Measuring potential vs. measuring success. How can the current AI landscape in the Nordics be described? How does it compare to the big players in the field such as the United States or China?
When mapping out the AI landscape, one of the assessments we could look to, is McKinsey’s recent report, “Notes from the AI Frontier.” Giving an overview of Europe’s position relative to countries like the US and China, it reveals the harsh yet known reality – in comparison, Europe as a whole is lagging behind. While exhibiting some significant strengths such as an increasing number of striving digital hubs, world-class research institutions and the fastest growing pool of professional developers, the continent struggles with its AI ecosystem’s fragmentation.
Nonetheless, if we break the regional bloc apart and look at its members independently, the story changes. In the AI readiness ranking, Sweden and Finland take the lead right behind the United Kingdom and the US. Estonia follows close behind with Ireland, even placing itself ahead of China. The index takes into account the “core enablers” of development such as the presence of a vibrant AI ecosystem, digital readiness, human skills and investment capacity. These factors are then weighed according to relative importance for boosting economic growth.
According to this, we can say that Northern Europe has the preconditions necessary to boost AI development: digital societies, digitally savvy citizens and supportive governments that recognise the value of going digital. The future, however, will depend on our abilities to nurture and build on the core enablers that we have in place in order to bridge the gap that separates us from the AI world leaders.
What are the key regional challenges in the field of AI that we should be focusing on?
The obstacles in the race to AI leadership already begin at the starting line. In comparison to the US or China, the natural disadvantages of smaller regions relate to scale and legacy.
The McKinsey report estimates that the US is 31 percent ahead of Europe in the AI-enablers playing field. While the reasons for this are layered, the core of it comes down to accumulation of resources and strong ecosystems that have consolidated themselves through time. The dynamics surrounding such networks have created agglomeration effects in skills, capital and education. The snowball effect further attracts resources from afar. In Europe, we see a clear brain drain to regions that already have strong AI ecosystems such as the US. Talent attracts talent, high-level skills are vital in bringing about innovation and the ecosystem keeps growing.
To overcome the problem of scale, we need to expand the regional scope of cooperation and replace what we lack in numbers with nailing down quality. Above all, this means we need to focus on tackling the fragmentation that currently characterises Europe and creating favourable conditions to challenge, maintain and unite the pool of talent that already exists in the region. Some notable European level efforts are reflected in initiatives such as Horizon 2020, which increased its investments in AI by 70% for 2018-2020, aiming to support European organisations and companies in the pursuit of AI adoption and development.
Still, AI performance and readiness varies greatly among member states. Alongside wide-scale efforts, we could benefit significantly from uniting the countries that can already be aligned strategically, culturally and in the case of Northern Europe, even geographically. By narrowing down our focus on more specific regional strengths and capitalising on those, we are creating the core of an ecosystem that can then have spillover effects on the rest of Europe.
Europe needs role models and success stories that would encourage the upcoming generation to work harder and on meaningful projects. In a nutshell, we had Skype and now there’s Spotify, but we (in North Star AI) believe that Europe is able to achieve so much more. We need a new narrative to inspire the technologists and entrepreneurs of Europe to aim higher, to keep working on solving the most complex problems of humanity using AI and related technologies.
The road to leadership. What do you see as the greatest regional strengths that can be capitalised on to position Northern Europe among the leaders in AI? What is North Star AI bringing to the table in these efforts?
We may not have the presence of the Silicon Valley Top 5 AI leaders, but we do have talent. Besides the technical preconditions that we mentioned before, one of our greatest regional strengths is our growing pool of professionals and our recognition of this existing potential. In order to fulfil it, we need to strategically consider and combine each country’s individual strengths.
Sweden, as the clear leader of the bunch, has dedicated itself to becoming a world leader in digital technologies and AI. Seeing the country’s initiatives, we can say that in Sweden, words and actions go hand in hand. Just recently, the country launched AI Innovation of Sweden, a national centre for applied AI research and innovation. In effect, this creates a separate institution, with the sole purpose of functioning as “the engine in the Swedish AI ecosystem.” The initiative and the investments behind it, reflects the country’s dedicated efforts in strengthening its ecosystem and research as well as growing its base of AI professionals to drive the industry forward.
Finland has adopted a broader, yet equally important approach when it comes to AI education and skills training. Elements of AI– a series of free online courses created by Reaktor and the University of Helsinki – is one of the prime examples of Finland’s commitment to involving the whole of society on the path of realising the potential of AI. The initiative was kickstarted during the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU and intends to make the learning materials accessible in all EU official languages.
Estonia is home to a strong and ambitious startup ecosystem, which includes some promising AI players such as Starship Technologies, Veriff, Transferwise and Bolt as well as some exciting newcomers such as Snackable AI and Feelingstream. By being committed to basing and growing their team of developers and data scientists in the region, these startups are playing their part in strengthening the regional ecosystem as a whole and contributing to the spread of AI adoption. Furthermore, the Estonian government has shown support to increase the adoption of AI-based applications, as demonstrated by our national AI strategy.
The Northern European region therefore exhibits great AI potential and strategic alignment. At North Star AI, we have recognised the value that lies in combining these strengths and have planted the seeds for further growth in Nordic collaboration. Our biggest initiative is our annual conference., As Europe lacks practical case studies about applied AI, North Star AI aims to find the best data scientists of Europe and encourage them to speak up and share their war stories. The conference brings together the top AI talent, creates a forum to share best practice in applied AI and data science and thereby contributes to the growth and strengthening of our AI community.
We hope to create a positive snowball effect. Once the tech-savvy, hands-on AI professionals start speaking up and grow stronger as a community, Europe as a region will not only attract great talent more easily, more foreign investments will start pouring in.
We have now taken a step further in consolidating the talent ecosystem and created a database mapping out the main AI leaders in the region. By doing this we are tackling one of the key questions that arises – who to turn to with questions around tech implementation or leading AI transformation in a team. During this process, we have seen readiness for collaboration, and we are therefore optimistic about the future of our regional ecosystem.
André Karpištšenko, Co-founder of North Star AI, Head of Data Science at Bolt.
New year and a new decade. When it comes to AI and Northern Europe, what should we be on the lookout for in 2020 and beyond?
For the AI industry in general, 2020 brings a greater focus on business impact as the technologies mature. Microsoft, AWS, Google, as well as next-generation companies such as DataRobot and Databricks are automating many of the engineering activities related to scaling AI within the companies. Best practices, business cases and impact expectations for automating and optimising businesses with machine learning have evolved enough to be a fit in established markets next to the technology sector.
In Estonia, we’re seeing a broader interest in technology. Governments, as well as universities, have established strategies and programs related to AI and data in general. For those looking for gains from the method, it is important to focus on high-value, high-impact business cases first, as the initial gains will vary from single to double-digit percentage points. Technical talent is also getting better connected within the region. Over the course of the year, I’d also expect to see an acceleration in growth from collaboration with neighbouring countries within Europe.
A digital highway for governments, a fundamental tool to make citizens’ lives easier – X-Road is taking over Northern Europe. More and more countries are deciding to take the way of interoperability for their internal and external data exchange.
Can we say that this was never in our plans? Well, we really can’t, and there’s a very simple reason. We have dreamt of our platform to be able not only to connect our public and private information systems, but also to provide an efficient and reliable solution for our neighbours and friends to walk the path of e-governance. As of this month, with two more exciting projects finally coming to life, we can say that we’re giving ground for fruitful cooperation across borders from corner to corner in Northern Europe.
Our geographical area is becoming increasingly interconnected. At the end of February, in Helsinki, the Estonian Ministry of Justice and the Finnish Patent and Registration Office signed an agreement that officially signals the kick-off for the data exchange between the countries’ respective business registers. Only one day later, in Tallinn, the Icelandic and the Estonian Prime Ministers jointly announced that the insular country – the first to recognize the independence of Estonia in 1991 – is the latest government to decide to implement a data exchange solution inspired by our national trusted and secure platform.
X-Road has been up and working in Estonia since 2001, making our country one of the pioneers of e-governance on the global scale. Today, at its coming-of-age, it connects over 1000 public and private organizations that exchange data through the secure layer on a daily basis. As one of the three pillars that make our digital society, together with confidentiality and integrity, availability allows information to be at the disposal of institutions and enterprises 24/7, enabling traffic of over 900 million one-time connections established every year.
The fact that the concept behind X-Road has gone international doesn’t really represent a novelty – already in 2016, the Prime Ministers of Estonia and Finland signed a joint declaration to foster cross-border data exchange and e-services between the two countries. Many parallel projects have started since then, even the formal creation of an intergovernmental agency to further develop the data exchange platform – the Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS). With entrepreneurship minister Rene Tammist inviting Iceland to join the organization, this could represent another step towards the creation of a Nordic digital ecosystem open to other countries in the area willing to participate.
Iceland
The country became a partner of NIIS in September 2018 while already in the process of implementing Straumsins, the Icelandic counterpart of X-Road. As the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs of Iceland Bjarni Benediktsson stated after the February 2019 meeting, “We are making great efforts to update Iceland’s public sector systems. We are very excited to implement new technologies and hope to cooperate more closely than before with Estonia and Finland. A joint data exchange platform in the form of X-Road creates a good basis for that.”
One of the interesting sides of the cooperation is that Iceland is ready to embrace the full potential of interoperability by aiming to connect both public and private sector entities to the exchange platform, as it already works in Estonia since the very beginning. Minister Rene Tammist commented on the topic, “The more countries using the same technology, the easier it will be to develop international cooperation.” Another bonus according to Tammist is facilitating the movement of information for people’s travelling and employment abroad.
Before Iceland, a data-exchange based platforms has been exported also to the small Faroe Islands, where the local Ministry of Finance initiated the project Digital Faroe Islands.
Finland and the business registers
The cooperation between the two business registers of Estonia and Finland represents another step towards a better integration of the countries’ information systems to ease the burden of bureaucracy for cross-border inquiries. “It is the unique X-Road application that makes the secure and simple data exchange between Estonian and Finnish authorities possible. X-Road leaves a record of any and all operations, making targeted data use easy to control,” emphasized Viljar Peep, Deputy Secretary General of the Estonian Ministry of Justice.
X-Road will enable cheaper, faster and more accurate data exchange between the commercial registers of the two countries, making the information stored by both public agencies mutually available. And though the main advantage will be for authorities, as the platform gives them the possibility to organize their work more efficiently, the successful implementation will also generally save some trees by cutting down on the paper work. With only a few last tests to go, X-Road is ready to function and to connect the two business registers.
Today, the first EU patients can use digital prescriptions issued by their home doctor when visiting a pharmacy in another EU country: Finnish patients are now able to go to a pharmacy in Estonia and retrieve medicine prescribed electronically by their doctor in Finland.
January 2019
The initiative applies to all ePrescriptions prescribed in Finland and to the Estonian pharmacies that have signed the agreement. The novelty of this initiative is that the ePrescriptions are visible electronically to participating pharmacists in the receiving country via the new eHealth Digital Service Infrastructure, without the patient having to provide a written prescription. This is in line with our policy on Digital Health and Care, which aims to empower patients by giving access to their health data and ensuring continuity of care.
Andrus Ansip, Vice President for the Digital Single Market, said: “Congratulations to Finland and Estonia for showing the path in eHealth cooperation between states and I would like other countries to follow soon. People should be able to use their e-prescriptions across borders. Free movement is a founding principle of the EU: we must make it as easy as possible for people to get treatment or medicines when abroad in the EU. The next major step will be to simplify patient access to their very own health data, by developing a common format for exchanging electronic health records between EU countries.”
Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: “I very much welcome the first step in the exchange of ePrescriptions between Finland and Estonia. Sharing ePrescriptions and Patient Summaries will be crucial for patient safety as it can help doctors to better understand a foreign patient’s medical history and can reduce the risks of incorrect medication and the costs of duplicate tests.The Commission will continue its support to expand these exchanges across the EU.“
Mariya Gabriel,Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, said: “This is a great starting point for better care for citizens, something arguably very important for them. ePrescriptions and International Patient Summaries can save lives in case of emergency situations. The EU Budget financed the technical solutions used for these exchanges, showing once again how important and how close it is to citizen’s daily life.”
In 2011, the European institutions adopted Directive 2011/24 which ensures continuity of care for European citizens across borders. The directive gives the possibility for Member States to exchange health data in a secure, efficient and interoperable way. The following cross-border health services are now being progressively introduced in all EU Member States:
1) ePrescription and eDispensation allow any EU citizen to retrieve his/her medication in a pharmacy located in another EU Member State, thanks to the electronic transfer of their prescription from his/her country of residence to the country of travel. The country of residence is then informed about the retrieved medicine in the visited country;
2) Patient Summaries provide background information on important health-related aspects such as allergies, current medication, previous illness, surgeries, etc., making it digitally accessible in case of a medical (emergency) visit in another country. It is an abstract of a larger collection of health data called the European Health Record. To make this a reality, the Commission will soon be presenting a Recommendation on the European Electronic Health Record Exchange Format.
Data protection rules are strictly observed and patients will have to provide their consent before these services are accessed.
Both services were made possible thanks to the eHealth Digital Service Infrastructure which connects the eHealth national services, allowing them to exchange health data, and which is funded by the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility.
Next steps
22 Member States are part of the eHealth Digital Service Infrastructure and are expected to exchange ePrescriptions and Patient Summaries by the end of 2021. 10 Member States (Finland, Estonia, Czechia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Croatia, Malta, Cyprus, Greece and Belgium) may start these exchanges by the end of 2019.
The eHealth Network (the body of eHealth authorities in the EU) has recently given the green light to Finland and Estonia to start exchanging ePrescriptions and to Czechia and Luxembourg to receive Patient Summaries of foreign citizens.
Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Kadri Simson and Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner on June 27th made the world’s first 5G video call using the network of telecommunications group Elisa, informs LETA/BNS.
The world’s first commercial 5G networks were launched on Wednesday in Tampere and Tallinn and a video call was made for the first time between two 5G networks. Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Kadri Simson made a video call to her colleague Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner. A 3.5 GHz frequency was used for the establishment of the 5G network, which is also one of the first frequencies in the future 5G network.
“The volume of the movement of data in the world is ever increasing and therefore the introduction of new technology is extremely important. Estonia already today is contributing to the development of self-driving vehicles and without a 5G connection it is difficult to organize automated movement based on artificial intelligence on the roads,” Simson said.
Elisa Eesti CEO Sami Seppanen said that he hopes that the preparations started in April for the auction of 5G frequencies will continue fast and Estonia can be the leader of developing and launching 5G in the world. “With the help of 5G, the speed of the mobile broadband connection will increase tenfold. With the help of such high speed connections, we can forward information more efficiently than before, which in turn provides opportunities for the development of wholly new applications. We wish for the state of Estonia to be at the forefront with Finland in developing 5G mobile networks,” Seppanen said.
Already in the near future, it will be possible to multiply the mobile data communication speed thanks to 5G. The data communication speed in the world’s first commercial 5G network used on Wednesday reached 2.2 gigabits per second.
The 5G network was created in cooperation with Huawei with the aid of the world’s first 5G end devices. Huawei is an important partner for Elisa in developing the future network and the company today is one of the leading 5G developers in ther world, contributing over 10 billion dollars to network development last year.
“Elisa is moving fast toward the new 5G era, bringing better speeds and user experiences to their customers. Huawei is glad to for the creation of such a significant moment and in cooperation with Elisa we continue to be prepared to be the trailblazers in the field of 5G networks and applications,” Zhang Xibo, Huawei’s country manager for the Central, Eastern and Northern European region, said.
5G enables the creation of new type of applications, where the speeds of mobile internet are up to ten times faster. These speeds enable to transmit greater data volumes.
Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Kadri Simson and Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner on June 27th made the world’s first 5G video call using the network of telecommunications group Elisa, informs LETA/BNS.
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