Subject: Re: [EXTERN] Re: Request in the context of a scientific study (University of Basel)
From: "Riho Kerge" <[email-masked]>
To: "Christian R. Ulbrich" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 30 May 2025 10:16:06 +0300

Dear Mr. Ulbrich,

Thank You for the information on the deadline. I´m certain we will have a 
lot of new developments before it is time to inform the next round of this 
study.

The architecture of the „Estonian information system 
<https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/107032023011?leiaKehtiv#:~:text=432.-,Riigi%20infos%C3%BCsteem,-(1)%20Riigi%20infos%C3%BCsteemi> 
“ (a legal umbrella-term used for the whole constellation of public sector 
information systems with their databases that are connected via the 
mandatory secure data lxchange layer X-tee and their support systems) as a 
whole is designed to be highly distributed (to avoid creating single points 
of failure or so-called super-databases in any single organisation for 
example) and at the same time has to be as citizen-centered and a 
service-based as possible.

Every estonian also has their unique state proivided personal code and an 
electronic identity with a legalised digital signature to match. Real world 
implementation of this logic poses certain challenges to all of the 
organisations as we aim to continue to foster trust (between and towards 
public sector) and accountability through transparency; keep it all 
technically, semantically and organisationally interoperable while also 
maintaining efficiency and usability.

Keeping all this in mind, while SAP, Oracle and other solutions are in fact 
widely used in certain domains, open source solutions and standards adopted 
and/or also backed by other EU member states are preferred over specific 
products by any one vendor when developing different state information 
systems. It holds true for X-tee (based on X-road developed by NIIS 
<https://www.niis.org/> ) and other solutions developed by the public sector 
(mostly developed in public-private partnerships), some of which can already 
be found here: https://koodivaramu.eesti.ee/explore/projects.

„Standardlahendus 
<https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/129122024015?leiaKehtiv#:~:text=%C2%A0%20(5)-,Standardlahendus,-on%20tarkvaraline%20lahendus> 
“ is not a mark of a tailor-made solution but actually just an estonian 
legal term that roughly translated marks any software solution (such as 
official document sharing platforms for public sector) that has been 
registered in the Estonian Information System Administration System (RIHA 
<http://www.riha.ee/> ) and can be used by any number of other institution 
or persons to carry out their official functions specified in law.

Hoping this helps set the stage a bit more and clarify a few things,

Best Regards

Riho Kerge

Head of Department

State Data Exchange Department

Estonian Information System Authority

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From: "Christian R. Ulbrich" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thursday, 29. May 2025 at 21:50
To: Riho Kerge <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: [EXTERN] Re: Request in the context of a scientific study 
(University of Basel)

E-kiri saadeti väljastpoolt RIA-t. Kui Sa ei tunne saatjat, siis ära ava 
linke ega manuseid!

Dear Mr. Kerge,

Thank you very much for reaching out to me!

Indeed, it unfortunately is too late to add additional information, as our 
study is already in the layout process.

On the other hand, Estonia is much more transparent regarding its 
activities, architecture, and institutions and does provide so much 
information, and in these days with the help of Google translate we could 
also dig through all the Estonian webpages and regulations which contain 
more information than the English ones, so that I am pretty sure that I have 
basic understanding of the Estonian digital environment.

Nonetheless, our study is planned as a monitor, these means, we will update 
it every year or every two years.

Hence, it would be great, if I could contact for the next round again!

Maybe one question, I would like to raise, where I couldn’t find too much 
information:

My impression is that SAP (ERP) and Oracle (databases) products are not 
playing an important role in the Estonian state ecosystem (at least not as 
important as in the other countries). Especially regarding databases you 
seem to use your own “standard solution” (Standardlahendus), instead. Or do 
I have got this wrong?

Thank you very much!

Best regards,

--

Dr. Christian R. Ulbrich | Director, e-PIAF

Forschungsstelle für Digitalisierung in Staat und Verwaltung

Universität Basel | Juristische Fakultät

Peter Merian-Weg 8 | Postfach | 4002 Basel | Schweiz

 <https://christian-ulbrich.de> https://christian-ulbrich.de

 <https://www.e-piaf.ch/> https://www.e-piaf.ch

Von: Riho Kerge <[email-masked]>
Datum: Donnerstag, 29. Mai 2025 um 08:57
An: "Christian R. Ulbrich" <[email-masked]>
Betreff: [EXTERN] Re: Request in the context of a scientific study 
(University of Basel)

Hello,

Unfortunately Your request for additional information did not reach me 
before the April 16th deadline had well passed and I have no way of knowing 
if you received any additional input from any of the original addressees. As 
I see it, a response also adequately reflecting the national policy level 
and not only my own domain would require me to reach out to people at the 
Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Affairs 
and Communications among others.

There have been a number of changes recently at the level of policy makers 
in Estonia but at the Estonian Information System Authority I am responsible 
for developing and maintaining a number of the technical platforms already 
covered in the attached document (Personal Data Tracker, X-tee ecosystem, 
RIHA, RIHAKE, Estonian Open Data Portal).

Have you already drawn your conclusions based off of the available 
information and reached the publishing stages or is your request still valid 
despite the original deadline?

Best Regards

Riho Kerge

Head of Department

State Data Exchange Department

Estonian Information System Authority

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teavet. Kui te ei ole selle kirja adressaat, palun võtke ühendust saatjaga 
ning kustutage e-kiri arvutist.
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Dear ladies and gentlemen,

At the electronic Public Institutions and Administrations Research Forum 
(e-PIAF) at the University of Basel, we are currently working on a study on 
the ‘Resilience of Democracies in the Wake of the Digital Transformation of 
the State’. As part of the study, we will also create a ranking with a 
cross-country comparison (CH, DE, EE, UK).

Our goal is to understand the effects of the entire digitalisation measures, 
especially their consequences for the established democratic system. The 
focus is on the consequences for the separation of powers, federalistic 
structures, the prevention of the concentration of power and state 
sovereignty. In short, we are addressing the question of how the digital 
transformation can succeed in a way that preserves existing democratic 
structures and institutions in the digital space as well.

The way in which the administration is digitally transforming plays a 
central role in the context of the resilience and longevity of democratic 
systems. This is because it is currently (in relation to the other powers, 
parliaments and courts) the front runner and driving force of state 
digitalisation. From our perspective, we are particularly interested in the 
development of IT standards and IT outsourcing. In the attached PDF 
document, you will find further information on the background to the study, 
a (short) questionnaire, and the publicly available information we have 
already collected.

Should you have any additional or supplementary answers to our 
questionnaire, we would be very happy to receive them. We would also be 
happy to conduct an interview if you would prefer that. If you participate, 
we would like to mention you by name as an expert. However, if you do not 
wish to be mentioned, we will of course respect your wish for anonymity.

To be able to include and evaluate your (additional) information in the 
study, we need to receive it by April 16th, 2025.

If you are unable to provide us with information yourself, we would be 
grateful if you could forward our request to the person responsible or 
provide us with relevant contact details.

We thank you in advance for your support. As soon as our study is published 
(presumably in early summer 2025), we will of course send you a copy.

I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Yours sincerely,

Christian Ulbrich

--

Dr. Christian R. Ulbrich | Director, e-PIAF

electronic Public Institutions and Administrations Research Forum

Universität Basel | Juristische Fakultät

Peter Merian-Weg 8 | Postfach | 4002 Basel | Schweiz

 <https://www.e-piaf.org> https://www.e-piaf.org