02 September 2016
The Assistant Chief Minister, Senator Philip Ozouf, has completed a visit to Estonia, one of the world’s leading digital jurisdictions and a D5 member state.
During his visit, Senator Ozouf held a wide range of meetings with digital businesses and organisations, including the governmental initiative Startup Estonia, and attended the Future of Identity conference in Tallinn.
The aim of the visit was to gain deeper insights into Estonia’s digital sector and to identify ways in which Jersey’s digital economy could be further developed. The conference, which focussed on eID, security, eGovernment, FinTech and blockchain, covered a number of issues related to financial services, such as know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) technology.
Senator Ozouf was joined on the visit by the head of Digital Jersey, Tony Moretta, and the Assistant Minister with responsibility for eGov, Deputy Scott Wickenden.
Senator Ozouf commented “I was delighted to visit Estonia to discover more about what makes them such a digital success story. It’s very encouraging that we are continuing to grow this bilateral relationship with Estonia, following the visit of their Digital Adviser to Jersey earlier this year, and the welcome opportunity to host the country’s Ambassador and the athletes of Saaremaa at last year’s Island Games.
“The growth of the digital sector in Jersey is central to our Government’s ambitions and is vital to the creation of an economy that will provide more opportunities for Islanders and will continue to grow in the long term, when new technologies will replace many of the manual functions we have today.
“We have much to learn from the Estonian experience in building a successful digital ID, cultivating a vibrant start-up scene and creating the environment for globally recognised companies, like Skype and Transferwise.
“This visit has further strengthened bilateral relations between Jersey and Estonia, which is to be welcomed in a post-Brexit environment as we seek to ensure that our interests in the European Union are understood and protected.
“We will be using the success of this trip to enhance our partnerships with Estonian companies and bodies, to learn from their expertise in eGovernment and to build a mutually beneficial relationship.”
Deputy Wickenden added “While in Estonia, I had the opportunity to meet and speak with some of the world’s top thought leaders in secure digital IDs. There are great opportunities to learn from the successes in Estonia and I am looking forward to sharing this knowledge with colleagues in the eGov team.
“I have seen at first-hand how Estonia has delivered a wide range of cost-effective and user-friendly services online, making many aspects of life easier, quicker and simpler for their citizens.”
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