e-Estonia

🗞It’s newsletter o’clock! Behind every smart city, digital service or fast-growing tech company there is one simple question: does it make people’s lives better? In this edition, we look at smart cities, new unicorns and a reminder of who technology is really for. 🏙️Podcast episode: What makes a city truly smart? Johanna-Kadri Kuusk speaks with Prof. Ralf-Martin Soe and Külle Tärnov, experts from FinEst Centre for Smart Cities about how AI, data and digital solutions are transforming urban life. From smarter mobility and environmental monitoring to climate resilience, the conversation shows Estonia’s role in testing innovative solutions and why the future of smart cities is about people, not just technology. 🦄Blackwall reaches unicorn status! Estonian cybersecurity firm Blackwall has reached an estimated valuation of €1.033 billion in the TopTech 2026 ranking, a 368% increase from the previous year. Ranked fifth among Estonia’s tech companies and first in CyberTech, Blackwall shows the strength of Estonia’s cybersecurity ecosystem. 👶Digital government from birth. Kenya’s digital birth registration service, developed by Kenyan officials together with Estonian partners, has registered more than 270,000 newborns in just two months. Starting registration at participating hospitals reduces paperwork and helps give children the legal identity they need to access essential services. ⚡Skeleton Technologies becomes an unicorn! Estonian energy storage company Skeleton Technologies has secured a Siemens-led investment, pushing its valuation above $1 billion. The funding will support US manufacturing and research as Skeleton develops power systems for the growing energy needs of AI data centres. 🤝Giving power back to people. Digital government promises faster services, but its deeper achievement may be giving power back to people. In our Speakers’ Corner, Petra Holm explores how access to personal data and transparency can reshape the relationship between citizens and the state and help build trust. 📍Planning a visit to Estonia? Explore our programmes and schedule a briefing at the e-Estonia Briefing Centre to see how we’ve built our digital society. Happy reading! Team e-Estonia

🧠🤖 If AI can give us almost any answer, what does it mean to be smart? For generations, being educated meant knowing things. But in an age when information is instantly available and AI can explain almost anything, perhaps it's time to rethink what intelligence really means. 💡 Is it still about remembering facts? Or is it increasingly about asking the right questions, thinking critically, connecting ideas and knowing which information to trust? In her latest article, our Digital Transformation Adviser Johanna-Kadri Kuusk explores how AI is changing the skills we value and what Estonia's experience can teach us. 🇪🇪 Estonia's PISA 2025 results show that 58% of students use AI chatbots for schoolwork at least once a week, compared with the OECD average of 46%. And 73% of Estonian students learn at school how to verify AI-generated information. But using AI is not the same as learning to think. That's why Estonia's AI Leap (TI-Hüpe) initiative goes beyond introducing technology into classrooms. It's about helping students develop critical thinking, independent reasoning and the skills to use AI wisely. Because in the age of AI, being smart may be less about having all the answers and more about knowing what to ask. 📖 Read Johanna-Kadri's article: https://lnkd.in/eRrz8PnH #eEstonia #AILeap #ArtificialIntelligence #Education #CriticalThinking #DigitalEducation #DigitalSociety

🛰️🇪🇪 Estonian cybersecurity expertise is going to space! Estonian cybersecurity company CybExer Technologies will lead a 10-company European consortium developing security tests for satellite communications under a contract with the European Space Agency - ESA. The goal? To test the entire communications chain, from satellites and ground infrastructure to end-user systems, against interference and cyberattacks before the technology enters service. Once technology is in orbit, finding and fixing vulnerabilities becomes much harder. 🔐 The project brings together companies from Estonia, Finland, Greece and Italy and contributes to ESA’s work connected to IRIS², Europe’s future secure satellite connectivity network. For Estonia, it is another example of how expertise built through decades of protecting a highly digital society is finding applications far beyond our borders, and now beyond our planet. 🌍🚀 👉 Read more: https://lnkd.in/eZj3r2xz #eEstonia #CyberSecurity #SpaceTech #DigitalSociety #Estonia #ESA #IRIS2 #CyberResilience

🤖🇪🇪 From e-Residency to AI agent codes - could Estonia’s next digital identity be for machines? In 2014, Estonia launched e-Residency, giving entrepreneurs around the world a trusted digital identity and access to Estonia’s digital business environment. Now Estonia is exploring the next question: if AI agents increasingly act on behalf of people and companies, how should they identify themselves? The idea is an AI agent code, a separate digital identity that could make it clear: 👤 Who does the agent represent? 🔐 What is it allowed to do? 🔎 Can its actions be monitored and audited? ⚖️ Who remains responsible? Agent codes are still an experiment, with the first pilot planned for December 2026. The goal is simple: make the actions of AI agents more transparent, controllable and accountable. Estonia has a long tradition of testing bold digital ideas. Could agent codes be the next step? 💡 Read more about Estonia’s next digital identity experiment: https://lnkd.in/da3yiFj8 #eEstonia #AI #AIAgents #DigitalIdentity #eResidency #DigitalGovernment #GovTech #DigitalSociety

AI agents could transform how we interact with government. But who identifies them, sets their limits and takes responsibility when they act?

Estonia is #1 in Europe in PISA 2025! 🇪🇪🎓 The latest OECD Education and Skills PISA results once again place Estonian students among the strongest performers in the world, and at the top in Europe. PISA measures how well 15-year-olds can apply their knowledge, think critically and solve unfamiliar problems. And Estonia continues to combine high performance with a comparatively equitable education system: a student's socio-economic background has less influence on performance here than on average across OECD countries. The new assessment of computational problem-solving is particularly relevant for an increasingly digital and AI-powered world. 82% of Estonian students reached at least the baseline level, compared with 64% across the OECD. Estonia's digital society has always been built on people and skills, not technology alone. From early investments in digital literacy to today's AI Leap (TI-Hüpe), the aim remains the same: give young people the knowledge and skills to navigate and shape a changing world. A huge congratulations and thank you to Estonia's students, teachers and schools! 🔗Read more about Estonia's PISA 2025 results https://lnkd.in/dirZ77Tp #eEstonia #PISA2025 #Education #DigitalEducation #DigitalSociety #Estonia #FutureSkills #AILeap #OECDPISA