Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Technology

Photo: president.ee

President Ilves was speaking about the success story of Estonia's democracy and e-state and the possibilities of e-democracy in Hertfordshire near London at the conference of Google's think tank Google Ideas, an annual conference that brings together thinkers from around the world and delves into the current state of affairs in the world. "We are a small country, but with a fast, free internet connection. Thanks to that, we see new possibilities and create innovative IT solutions, which are also our biggest article of foreign aid," President Ilves said.

President Ilves is participating in the conference Zeitgeist 2013 at the invitation of the organisers. The discussion with him was led by the founder and head of Google Ideas, Jared Cohen, who is one of the authors of the recently published book, 'The New Digital Age', which analyses the digital age. Jared Cohen asked the President about how to reduce corruption in communities. The Estonian president emphasised the importance of transparency of data. "The more openness we have in a society and the more data – on government spending, for example – are public and freely accessible via the internet, the less we have of corruption. You cannot bribe a computer," President Ilves said.

"The most important thing as a country is not losing your will to do things differently. The loss of such will leads to stagnation," the president concluded.

On Tuesday President Ilves visits the House of Commons of the British Parliament and will give a speech to the members of parliament, policy makers and opinion leaders about cyber defence and more broadly about the challenges a country must face in the 21st century.