Freedom, speed, electronic humidification
With a slight exaggeration, journalists write about small Estonia as a country that, with the help of modern technologies, has done away with bureaucracy, in fact creating a digital state. Although we are also aware of the elimination of paperwork (1) by introducing online solutions, digital authentication and electronic signatures from Poland, Estonia has gone much further.
Medicine prescriptions? In Estonia, they have been online for a long time. Is it the City Hall? There is no question of standing in lines. Registration and deregistration of the car? Completely online. Estonia has created a single platform for all official matters based on electronic authentication and digital signatures.
However, even in Estonia there are things that cannot be done electronically. These include marriage, divorce, and the transfer of property. Not because it's technically impossible. The government simply decided that in these cases it is necessary to appear in person to a specific official.
Digital Estonia is constantly evolving by adding new e-services. Since the spring of this year, for example, parents of a newborn child do not need to do anything at all to register him as a new citizen - neither log in to the system, nor fill out online forms, nor certify anything with an EDS. Their descendant is automatically entered into the population register and they receive an email welcoming the new citizen.
Martin Kaevac, one of the most important digitization authorities, reiterates that the goal of the Estonian government is to create a system that will support its citizens without needlessly hindering them. As he explains, the future operation of this “invisible state” could, for example, look like that when a new Estonian is born, neither parent should “arrange anything” - no maternity leave, no social benefits from the commune, no place. in a nursery or in a nursery.kindergarten. All this should "happen" completely automatically.
Trust plays a huge role in building such a digital, non-bureaucratic country. Estonians feel a little better about their country than most peoples in the world, although their systems are subject to external activities, mainly from Russia.
The bad experience of the great cyberattack they experienced in 2007 is perhaps a traumatic memory, but also a lesson from which they learned a lot. After they have improved security and digital protection methods, they are no longer so afraid of cyber aggression.
They also don't fear their own government as much as many other societies, though of course God keeps them on guard. Estonian citizens can constantly monitor their data online and check whether and how they have access to public institutions or private companies.
Blockchain is watching Estonia
The axis of the e-estonia system (2) is the open source software X-Road, a decentralized information exchange system that connects various databases. This public backbone of the Estonian digital system is located in Block () is called KSI, i.e . This chain is sometimes used by other organizations such as the US Department of Defense.
- say the representatives of the Estonian authorities. -
The use of a distributed ledger that cannot be deleted or edited is the key to the effectiveness of the X-Road system. This gives Estonian citizens more control over their data, while reducing interference from central authorities.
For example, teachers can enter grades into someone else's register, but cannot access their medical records in the system. Strict filtering processes and restrictions are in place. If someone views or receives another person without permission, they may be held liable under Estonian law. This also applies to government officials.
In any case, the one used in e-Estonia is considered by many experts to be a good idea for fighting bureaucracy. The use of an encrypted blockchain can improve the performance of a decentralized process.
Successes, for example speed up the collection of documentation from a large number of government agencies that do not have compatible systems or close organizational relationships. You may like this improve siled and cumbersome processessuch as licensing and registration. Information exchange between government organizations and the private sector - in the field of support services, insurance payments, medical research or advocacy, in multilateral transactions - significantly improves the quality of services for citizens.
The sister of bureaucracy, much uglier than the still barren lady with desks and papers, is corruption. It has long been known that blockchain can also contribute to its reduction. Typical smart contract clarityif he completely hates her, then at least he greatly limits the ability to hide suspicious transactions.
Estonian data from last fall shows that almost 100% of ID cards in that country are digital, and a similar percentage is issued by prescription. The range of services offered by the combination of technologies and public key infrastructure () has become very wide. Basic services include: i-voting - vote, electronic tax service - for all settlements with the tax office, Electronic business - on matters related to the conduct of business, or e-ticket - to sell tickets. Estonians can vote from anywhere in the world, digitally sign and securely send documents, file tax returns, etc. The savings from implementing the system are estimated at 2% KLK.
600 startup VPs
However, many experts point out that what works in a small, well-organized and integrated country does not necessarily have to work in larger countries like Poland, let alone diversified and huge giants like the United States or India.
Many countries are taking government digitalization projects. Both in Poland and in the world there are also quite a few of them in this respect. non-governmental initiatives. An example is the project (3), created almost ten years ago and concerning, in particular, the search for solutions to technological and communication problems related to the functioning of authorities and offices.
Some "experts" may, of course, argue with unwavering certainty that bureaucracy is inevitable and even necessary in the complex operation of complex organizations in complex environments. However, it cannot be denied that its massive growth over the past few decades has led to strong negative consequences for the entire economy.
For example, Gary Hamel and Michelle Zanini write about it in an article published in last year's Harvard Business Review. They report that between 1948 and 2004, U.S. nonfinancial labor productivity increased by an average of 2,5% per year, but later it averaged only 1,1%. The authors believe that this is not accidental. Bureaucracy becomes especially painful in large companies that dominate the US economy. Currently, more than a third of the US workforce works in businesses that employ more than 5 people. on average up to eight levels of management.
American startups are less bureaucratic, but despite the media hype, they do not have much economic importance in this country. Moreover, as they grow older, they themselves become victims of bureaucracy. The authors cite the example of a fast-growing IT company that, when its annual sales reached $4 billion, managed to "grow" as many as six hundred vice presidents. As a counterexample, Hamel and Zanini broadly describe the functioning of the Chinese electronics and home appliance manufacturer Haier, which avoids bureaucracy programmatically and successfully. Her superiors used unusual organizational solutions and the total responsibility of all tens of thousands of employees directly to the customer.
Of course, the positions of officials belong to the group of risky positions. progressive automation. However, unlike other professions, we treat unemployment among them with little regret. It remains to be hoped that over time our country will become more and more like e-Estonia, and not like a bureaucratic Republic that has stuck to its positions.
