The estonian e-residency programme and its role beyond the country’s digital public sector ecosystem*

Abstract

Estonia is known for its technological and regulatory/institutional innovation proposals and the development of one of the most efficient electronic government models in the world. Besides the "X-road" project (also known as the X-tee), benchmarking the state’s innovativeness and digital capabilities at the domestic level, the e-Residency could be said to be the most important flagship programme positioning the country internationally. This article will expand earlier contributions about the political significance of the programme to explain further and characterize the concept according to its legal and political grounds, practical uses and continued strategic benefits to the country. It will revisit some of the strengths and weaknesses of the initiative, and present scenarios suggesting that its relevance will increase with the evolution of the European Union (EU) public sector digital ecosystems, leading to efficiency gains in cross border cooperation among the EU Member States (MSs).