The Estonian Information Society Developments Since the 1990s

Since the 1990s Estonia has made remarkable successes in information society development. The current article describes achievements in key fields and discusses the main factors that have made such developments possible. It asserts that the major factors that have affected as well as contributed to the evolution of information society in Estonia include the economic factors, active role of the public sector, technological competency, and socio-cultural factors. It is argued that telecommunications and banking sectors are the cornerstones of Estonian information society developments; they are also behind major initiatives dedicated to computer training and awareness raising. Activities of the public sector have been also crucial in providing favourable legislative environment, but also in launching infrastructural projects and in implementing innovative e-services. Public sector developments have been strongly influenced by some non-governmental organisations. ICT skills and R&D competencies, a lot of which is Soviet inheritance, have been also crucial.