Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Secure Implementation of E-Governance: A Case Study About Estonia

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Cyber Defence in the Age of AI, Smart Societies and Augmented Humanity

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to identify how feasible it is to securely and effectively implement e-governance in a developed country. The project uses Estonia as a case study, and analyses the path the country chose to take in order to achieve its current state of e-governance. The country’s answer to the existing risks embracing this transition included employing a distributed ledger technology and a proprietary solution acting as a data exchange layer, which promoted improvement on transparency and efficiency, and resulted on an increase on citizen’s trust. The study establishes a direct relationship between e-government and digital security, and compares Estonia’s level of preparedness in cyber security with other nations. This study also investigates the adoption of Cyber Situational Awareness program as an element of secure implementation of e-governance.

Examining Estonia’s results attained over the past two decades, and comparing its e-governance and cyber security index rankings with other developed countries, it becomes clear that the digital transition has acted as a lever in successfully developing the nation and maintaining it at the forefront of cyber security internationally.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Alketbi A, Nasir Q, Abu Talib M (2018) Blockchain for government services -use cases. In: Security benefits and challenges. Learning and technology conference. IEEE, Piscataway, pp 112–119

    Google Scholar 

  2. Alshehri M, Drew S (2011) E-government principles: implementation, advantages and challenges. Int J Electron Bus 9(3):255–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Anderson R (2008) Security engineering: a guide to building dependable distributed systems. Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis

    Google Scholar 

  4. Antonik J (2007, October) Decision management. In: MILCOM 2007-IEEE military communications conference. IEEE, pp 1–5

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ayanso A, Chatterjee D, Cho D (2011) E-government readiness index: a methodology and analysis. Gov Inf Q 28(4):522–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Beavers J, Pournouri S (2019) Recent cyber attacks and vulnerabilities in medical devices and healthcare institutions. In: Blockchain and clinical trial. Springer, Cham, pp 249–267

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  7. Bhattacharya S, Goswami J (2011) Study of E-governance: the attractive way to reach the citizens. In: 2nd national conference – computing, communication and sensor network

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bizarro P, Mankowski R, Mankowski H (2018) Blockchain technology: benefits, risks and the future. Intern Audit 33(4):12–16

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cong L (2018) Navigating the next wave of blockchain innovation: smart contracts. MIT Sloan management review

    Google Scholar 

  10. Dawes S (2009) Governance in the digital age: a research and action framework for an uncertain future. Gov Inf Q 26:257–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Deloitte (2017) Blockchain risk management – risk functions need to play an active role in shaping blockchain strategy. Fonte: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/financial-services/us-fsi-blockchain-risk-management.pdf

  12. Deutsche Bundesbank (2017) Distributed ledger technologies in payments and securities settlement: potential and risks. Monthly Report of the Deutsche Bundesbank, 35–49

    Google Scholar 

  13. Drechsler W (2018) E-Estonia as the β-version. JeDEM – eJ eDemocr Open Govern 10:1–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. E-estonia (2018) E-governance. Fonte: https://e-estonia.com/solutions/e-governance/

  15. Elisa N, Yang L, Chao F, Cao Y (2018) A framework of blockchain-based secure and privacy-preserving E-government system. Wirel Netw:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  16. Estonia Government (2018) X-Road not to be confused with blockchain. Fonte: https://e-estonia.com/why-x-road-is-not-blockchain/

  17. Estonian Government (2019) Overview. Estonia, Fonte. https://estonia.ee/overview/

    Google Scholar 

  18. Estonian Information System Authority (2019) Annual cyber security assessment 2019. Fonte: https://www.ria.ee/sites/default/files/content-editors/kuberturve/ktt_aastaraport_eng_web.pdf

  19. Gatteschi V, Lamberti F, Demartini C, Pranteda C, Santamaria V (2018) Blockchain and smart contracts for insurance: is the technology mature enough? Future Internet 10(2):20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Golesca S (2009) Understanding Trust in e-Government. Economics of engineering decisions

    Google Scholar 

  21. Gould J (2015) US Army seeks leap-ahead cyber defense tech. Retrieved September 20, 2019, from Defense News website: https://www.defensenews.com/2015/07/01/us-army-seeks-leap-ahead-cyber-defense-tech/

  22. Government of Estonia (2018) Data exchange layer X-tee. Information System Authority, Fonte. https://www.ria.ee/en/state-information-system/x-tee.html

    Google Scholar 

  23. Hartmann K, Steup C (2015) On the security of international data exchange services for e-governance systems. Datenschutz und Datensicherheit – DuD 39:472–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Hoberman S (2018) How Blockchain changes the rules of the game. Technics Publications, Basking Ridge

    Google Scholar 

  25. International Monetary Fund (2019) Fonte: IMF DataMapper: https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDPDPC@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD/EST

  26. International Telecommunications Union (2019) Fonte: Global Cybersecurity Index: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Cybersecurity/Pages/global-cybersecurity-index.aspx

  27. Jaffe E (2016) How Estonia became a global model for e-government. Medium, Fonte. https://medium.com/sidewalk-talk/how-estonia-became-a-global-model-for-e-government-c12e5002d818

    Google Scholar 

  28. Jeffries A (2018) Blockchain is meaningless. The Verge, Fonte. https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/7/17091766/blockchain-bitcoin-ethereum-cryptocurrency-meaning

    Google Scholar 

  29. Joseph S, Advic A (2016) Where do the Nordic Nations’ strategies take e-government? Electron J E-Gov 14(1):3–17

    Google Scholar 

  30. Keenan TP (2017) Alice in blockchains: surprising security pitfalls in PoW and PoS blockchain systems. In: 15th annual conference on privacy, security and trust (PST). IEEE, Calgary

    Google Scholar 

  31. Konashevych O, Poblet M (2018) Is blockchain hashing an effective method for electronic governance? In: 31st international conference on legal knowledge and information systems (JURIX 2018). Groningen

    Google Scholar 

  32. Korjus K (2018) E-residency is 4 years old so here’s 4 surprising facts about the programme. Medium, Fonte. https://medium.com/e-residency-blog/e-residency-is-4-years-old-so-heres-4-surprising-facts-about-the-programme-c3a9d64c988d

    Google Scholar 

  33. Larsson H, Grönlund Å (2014) Future-oriented e-Governance: the sustainability concept in eGov research, and ways forward. Gov Inf Q 31(1):137–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Luiijf E, Kernkamp A (2015) Sharing cyber security information. Global Conference on CyberSpace, Fonte. https://publications.tno.nl/publication/34616508/oLyfG9/luiijf-2015-sharing.pdf

    Book  Google Scholar 

  35. Mahajan N (2015) E-governance: its role, importance and challenges. Int J Curr Innov Res 1(10):237–243

    Google Scholar 

  36. Martens T (2010) Electronic identity management in Estonia between market and state governance. Identity Inf Soc 3(1):213–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. McGraw G (2013) Cyber war is inevitable (unless we build security in). J Strateg Stud 36(1):109–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. McLean S, Deane-Johns S (2016) Demystifying blockchain and distributed ledger technology – hype or Hero? Comput Law Rev Int 17(4):97–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Mehrotra S (2018) Why are smart contracts so important. Fonte: https://medium.com/acycliclabs/why-are-smart-contracts-so-important-81883d93a0cc

  40. NCSI (2019) Fonte: national cyber security index: https://ncsi.ega.ee

  41. OECD (2003) The e-government imperative: main findings. Policy Brief, Fonte. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN015120.pdf

    Book  Google Scholar 

  42. O’Hara K (2017) Smart contracts – dumb idea. IEEE Internet Comput 21(2):97–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Ojo A, Estevez E, Janowski T (2010) Semantic interoperability architecture for governance 2.0. Inf Polity 15(1/2):105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Olnes S, Ubacht J, Janssen M (2017) Blockchain in government: benefits and implications of distributed ledger technology for information sharing. Gov Inf Q

    Google Scholar 

  45. Ølnes S, Ubacht J, Marijn J (2017) Blockchain in government: benefits and implications of distributed ledger technology for information sharing. Gov Inf Q 34(3):355–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Ott A, Hanson F, Krenjova J (2018). Introducing integrated e-government in Australia. Fonte: https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/acs-publications/E-Gov%20Report.pdf

  47. Oxford Analytica (2016) Estonia: E-governance model may be unique. ProQuest, Fonte. https://search-proquest-com.hallam.idm.oclc.org/docview/1831820370

    Google Scholar 

  48. Palfreyman J (2015) Blockchain for government? IBM, Fonte. https://www.ibm.com/blogs/insights-on-business/government/blockchain-for-government

    Google Scholar 

  49. Parent M, Vandebeek C, Gemino A (2005) Building citizen trust through E-government. Gov Inf Q 22(4):720–736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Politou E, Casino F, Alepis E, Patsakis C (2019) Blockchain mutability: challenges and proposed solutions. Fonte: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1907.07099.pdf

  51. Pournouri S, Akhgar B (2015) Improving cyber situational awareness through data mining and predictive analytic techniques. In: International conference on global security, safety, and sustainability. Springer, Cham, pp 21–34

    Google Scholar 

  52. Pournouri S, Zargari S, Akhgar B (2018) Predicting the cyber attackers; a comparison of different classification techniques. In: Cyber criminology. Springer, Cham, pp 169–181

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  53. Rid T (2011) Cyber war will not take place. J Strateg Stud 35(1):5–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Riigi Teataja (2000) Public Information Act. Fonte: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/eli/ee/Riigikogu/act/529032019012/consolide

  55. Riigi Teataja (2017) Population Register Act. Fonte: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/eli/ee/Riigikogu/act/522032019005/consolide

  56. Riigi T (2018) Personal data protection act. Riigi Teataja, Fonte. https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/eli/ee/Riigikogu/act/523012019001/consolide

    Google Scholar 

  57. Riigi Teataja (2019) Electronic communications act. Fonte: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/eli/ee/Riigikogu/act/520032019015/consolide

  58. Rodriguez M, Alcaide L, Lopez A (2010) Trends of e-government research: contextualization and research opportunities. Int J Digit Account Res 10:87–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Rozario A, Vasarhelyi M (2018) Auditing with smart contracts. Int J Digit Account Res 18:1–27

    Google Scholar 

  60. Sadashivam T (2010) A new paradigm in governance: is it true for e-governance? J Knowl Econ 1(4):303–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Sadikin M, Purwanto S (2018) The implementation of E-learning system governance to deal with user need, institution objective, and regulation compliance. Telkomnika 16(3):1332–1344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Santhana P (2016) Risks posed by blockchain-based business models. Deloitte, Fonte. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/risk/articles/blockchain-security-risks.html

    Google Scholar 

  63. Satyabrata D, Subhendu K (2016) E-governance paradigm using cloud infrastructure: benefits and challenges. Proc Comput Sci 85:843–855

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Schou-Zibell L, Phair N (2018) How secure is blockchain? World Economic Forum, Fonte. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/how-secure-is-blockchain/

    Google Scholar 

  65. Sekhar S, Siddesh G, Kalra S, Anand S (2019) A study of use cases for smart contracts using Blockchain technology. Int J Inf Sys Soc Change (IJISSC) 10(2):15–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Solvak M, Unt T, Rozgonjuk D, Võrk A, Veskimäea M, Vassil K (2019) E-governance diffusion: population level e-service adoption rates and usage patterns. Telematics Inform 36:39–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Stephany F (2018). It is not only size that matters: How unique is the Estonian e-governance success story? Agenda Austria, Working Papers 15

    Google Scholar 

  68. Stockburger P (2016) Known unknowns: state cyber operations, cyber warfare, and the jus ad bellum. Am Univ Int Law Rev 31(4):545–591

    Google Scholar 

  69. Sullivan C, Burger E (2017) E-residency and blockchain. Comput Law Secur Rev: Int J Technol Law Pract 33(4):470–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. The World Bank (2018) GDP growth. Fonte: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=EE

  71. United Nations (2018) UN E-government survey. UN E-Government Knowledgebase, Fonte. https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/Reports/UN-E-Government-Survey-2018

    Google Scholar 

  72. United Nations (2019) Estonia. Fonte: http://data.un.org/en/iso/ee.html

  73. Vassil K (2015) Estonian e-government: foundation, applications, outcomes. Digital Dividends

    Google Scholar 

  74. Young-Jin S (2011) E002Dgovernment and universal administrative information service in South Korea. Fonte: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UNGC/UNPAN043625.pdf

  75. Zefferer T (2015) E-government services in Europe – a comparison of seven countries. Fonte: https://www.vodafone-institut.de/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/VFI_eGovServices_EN.pdf

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK

    Rodrigo Adeodato & Sina Pournouri

Authors
  1. Rodrigo Adeodato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sina Pournouri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sina Pournouri .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Northumbria University, London, UK

    Hamid Jahankhani

  2. Cyfortis, Worcester Park, Surrey, UK

    Stefan Kendzierskyj

  3. Open Innovation House, Saidot OY, ESPOO, Finland

    Nishan Chelvachandran

  4. Northumbria University, London, UK

    Jaime Ibarra

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Adeodato, R., Pournouri, S. (2020). Secure Implementation of E-Governance: A Case Study About Estonia. In: Jahankhani, H., Kendzierskyj, S., Chelvachandran, N., Ibarra, J. (eds) Cyber Defence in the Age of AI, Smart Societies and Augmented Humanity. Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35746-7_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35746-7_18

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-35745-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-35746-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation