Estonia ICT Day Smart Digital Solutions for Sustainable Development

Friday, October 2, 2015 I Preston Auditorium 1818 H Street, Washington D.C.

In recent years has emerged as one of the leaders in the area of innovative digital initiatives, especially in digital public service delivery. Estonian government is one of the most tech-savvy governments in the world, including its X-Road interoperability platform, mobile ID, online voting platform, online tax filings, and, most recently, its unprecedented e-residence initiative.

This one-day, knowledge-sharing event titled “Estonia ICT Day – Smart Digital Solutions for Sustainable Development” will be an excellent opportunity to learn about Estonia’s digital transformation initiatives. The event will be preceded by a Keynote Speech from the President of Estonia, His Excellency . A presentation by the World Bank team that authored the World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends will help place Estonia’s experience in the global context, providing an overview of the report’s main findings. The event participants will also hear from Estonian government and private sector leaders, and discuss how the Estonian experience can be leveraged in the World Bank activities for the benefit of developing countries.

Given the timing of this event – scheduled shortly after the launch of the new Sustainable Development Goals 2030 at the UN General Assembly – and the emerging consensus that data-driven digital solutions are critical for their success, the wider objective of this event is to generate a discussion about what it means to become a digitally smart nation and how digital, data-driven solutions can help accelerate sustainable development.

This event is organized by World Bank Transport and ICT Global Practice in cooperation with the World Development Report 2016 and the Estonian Embassy (in the United States).

Agenda

Part 1. High Level Policy Roundtable

8:00 – 9:00 Registration and Coffee

High-Level Opening Keynote Session on Digitally Smart Development

Welcome by Pierre Guislain, Senior Director, 9:00 – 9:05 Transport and ICT GP, World Bank (Chair)

Opening Remarks by Cyril Muller, Regional Vice President, and 9:05 – 9:15 Central Asia, World Bank

Keynote Speech by His Excellency, President of the Republic of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves 9:15 – 9:30

“Why Digital Technology is Critical for Sustainable Development?”

WDR Presentation on the state of e-government in general and Estonia’s e-government progress in the global context

Speakers: Deepak Mishra, Co-Director, and Zahid Hasnain, Chapter 9:30 – 9:50 Author, World Development Report 2016 “Digital Dividends”

Discussant: Hans Timmer, Chief Economist, Europe and Central Asia, World Bank

9:50 – 10:10 Questions and Answers

10:10 – 10:30 Coffee Break

Presentation and Panel Discussion Session on Digital Transformation in Estonia

10:30 – 12:00 Presentation: “Digital Transformation in Estonia: Key Results and What Next”

Abstract: Estonia has become one of the global leaders in digital governance, developing innovative solutions for public services. Estonia’s modern digital ecosystem was born out of necessity, smart public-private partnerships, administrative flexibility and forward-

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looking decision-making. The speaker will talk about how Estonia has solved organizational and technical issues related to the management of the state information system, explaining the legislation and implementation practices that have contributed to increased interoperability, usability, cost-efficiency and transparency in citizen-state relations. Estonia has minimized privacy issues by giving citizens an overview of who sees their data and the ability to restrict access. A special focus will be given to “once only” principle in data management, that is delivered by a decentralized data exchange platform (X-Road) connecting all digital governance applications. A high level of digital development has also brought challenges for defending the digital way of life, therefore cyber security has a very special attention in Estonia since cyber attacks in 2007.

Speaker: Taimar Peterkop, Director General, Information System Authority, Estonia

Panelists: Stela Mocan, Manager, ITSDC, WB (former CIO of the Government of Moldova) Ryan Panchadsaram, U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer Carlo Maria Rossotto, Lead ICT Policy Specialist and ECA/MENA Regional Coordinator, World Bank

Moderator: Samia Melhem, Lead ICT Policy Specialist, World Bank

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

Part 2. Business Roundtable on Estonian Digital Solutions

This Roundtable will feature presentations and discussions on Estonian Digital Solutions by leading Estonian experts and high-level representatives from Estonian IT companies, followed up by discussion and Q&A.

1:00 – 1:05 Welcome by Satu Santala, Executive Director for Nordic-Baltic countries, World Bank

1:05 – 2:00 Session 1

Presentation 1: “Dissemination of Good Practice of Open Democracy and e-Government”

Speaker: Villem Alango, Head of Global Operations, Datel and Senior Expert of eGA (e-Governance Academy)

Abstract: E-Governance Academy is a kind of governmental non-profit organization which staff is mostly of political, governmental and scientific

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background with profound experience of transitions management and knowledge dissemination in different cultural contexts. We provide e- government developments with its political, legislative and sociologic expertise. When tangible practical results are required, we co-operate with technology partners. eGA has implemented a number of development co-operation projects (e.g. Afghanistan, Central Asia, Palestine and in different African countries to give some examples). E- Governance Academy has also introduced Estonian ICT solutions for delegations from the developing countries (e.g. Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia; etc.). In this respect we are co-operating closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With regard to the United States, we have been co-operating with USAID in the format of the Emerging Donors Fund (several projects in Central Asia).

Presentation 2: “Secure and Scalable e-Government Backbone Customs Engine – declaration Processing System for Customs Authorities”

Speaker: Arne Ansper, Development Manager, Cybernetica

Abstract: Cybernetica is a developer of the Estonian X-Road system that has been running continuously for 14 years and handles annually more than 400 million transactions. In addition to Estonia, has decided to build their governmental e-services backbone on the same platform. Our company has productized the technology and is currently deploying it in Namibia and Haiti. We have also developed Customs Engine - Declaration Processing System for Customs Authorities. It is a modular, web-based system for customs authorities for handling customs declarations and automatic customs processes. It offers also web-based interface for traders. It is currently used by Estonian Tax and Customs Board.

Presentation 3: “Software for efficient management control in tax collection”

Speaker: Kris Hiiemaa, Chief Executive Officer, ERPLY

Abstract: It is the duty of the government to narrow the excessively large gap between the planned tax revenue and revenue received. Therefore, it is of great importance to reform the fiscal system to establish sustainable tax return and ERPLY could be a tool to help carrying it through.

The implementation of ERPLY ́s GOV POS will ultimately tackle challenges in areas such as tax evasion, slow growth of tax base and traders not issuing tax invoices. ERPLY automatically transmits tax information to the government agency responsible for the intake of government revenue; it has irreversible date mechanism; it issues fiscal receipts which are uniquely identifiable; it can be used as a stand-alone and configured into a network; it automatically saves configured data and records on permanent fiscal memory and has tax memory. As a result, it is expected that the effective use of GOV POS in a country

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would revolutionize and modernize state’s fiscal systems and conclusively increase government revenue collections.

Presentation 4: “Business registry transformation in ; implementation of the latest healthcare data in ”

Speaker: Taavi Einaste, Director of Healthcare Business Area, Partner at Nortal

Abstract: Imagine a society in a state where everything just works. Where proper use of technology creates a perfect, continuous flow. Everything is orderly, logical and aesthetically consistent. ‘Quality’ is a word seldom uttered – it has become second nature to everything around us. The environment we have created and inhabit is seamless.

Discussant: Ana Milena Aguilar Rivera, Health Economist, Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank

2:00 – 2:15 Networking Break and Coffee

2:15 – 3:15 Session 2

Presentation 1: Cybersecurity in Digital Society

Speaker: Matthew Johnson, Chief Technology Officer, Guardtime

Presentation 2: “Secure and Easy Cross Border E-Signing & Authentication”

Speaker: Tiit Anmann, CEO and co-founder, SignWise

Abstract: SignWise provides trusted and secure cross-border integration infrastructure to authenticate and validate identities and e-Sign electronic documents. Basically it is one service implementation (several eID-s (Electronic Identities) from more different EU and other countries. It is fast and secure cloud-based digital signing solution giving legally binding equal to handwritten e-signature. It helpis to get e-Services and internel systems to be end-to end paperless (replacing paper based document processes). For this end one Web Browser Module is needed to get access to different eID tokens (smartcards, cryptosticks, etc).

Presentation 3: “Using Cloud-Based Mobile- and Web Solutions for different business areas (land use management & monitoring; real estate taxation; municipal permits issuance)”

Speaker: Villem Alango, Head of Global Operations, Datel and Senior Expert of eGA (e-Governance Academy)

Abstract: Every decision we make needs geospatial intelligence, the more data can be provided in a simple, clear format, the more effective we can be. We have taken web mapping to a new level, making GIS

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(geographic information system) simply a tool to make government services simpler, faster, and easier. From utility mapping to economic development and building permitting, location based information is all around us. Bring demographics, land value, emergency plans, utility routes, park locations and voter data to life. Cloud-based systems keep IT costs low as you no longer need your own servers and can access platform from any device with a web browser. Our solutions allow for easy integration with other e-Gov solutions and can produce electronic evidence of user activities, thus helping to develop governance practices towards transparency and observability.

Discussant: Natalija Gelvanovska, Senior ICT Policy Specialist, World Bank

Discussant: John Wille, Lead Private Sector Development Specialist, World Bank

Presentations will be followed by Open Discussion

Closing Remarks and Road Ahead 3:15 – 3:30 Samia Melhem, Lead ICT Policy Specialist, World Bank, and Andrus Viirg, Director of Enterprise Estonia, Silicon Valley

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Estonia ICT Day Smart Digital Solutions for Sustainable Development Friday, October 2, 2015 I Preston Auditorium 1818 H Street, Washington D.C.

Speaker Bios:

His Excellency, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, is the fourth President of Estonia, and he has been in office since 2006, elected for the second time in 2011. During his presidency Toomas Hendrik Ilves has been appointed to serve in several high positions in the field of ICT in the European Union. He served as Chairman of the EU Task Force on eHealth from 2011 to 2012. From 2012 to 2014, at the invitation of the European Commission, he was Chairman of the European Cloud Partnership Steering Board. He has been promoting Estonia's IT-development since the country restored its independence. From 1993 to 1996 Toomas Hendrik Ilves served in Washington as the Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the United States of America and Canada. During this time he initiated a program that helped connect all Estonian schools online. In 1996 – 2002 he H.E. Toomas Hendrik Ilves served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. His Excellency Toomas Hendrik Ilves is a co-chair of the World Development Report 2016 Advisory Panel.

Cyril Muller joined the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia region as Vice President on 1 July 2015. Previously, from 2011 to 2015, he was Vice President for External and Corporate Relations. Prior to that, he was the Director for Banking and Debt Management in the World Bank Treasury, responsible for modernizing the financial products available to member countries and providing public debt management advisory services. From 2005 to 2010, he served as the World Bank’s Special Representative for Europe, based in . His main responsibilities were managing the dialogue with European governments and institutions. Muller has held a range of positions across the World Bank since 1991, with an external Cyril Muller break in service from 2000-2005. He holds economics degrees from Neuchatel University in Switzerland and New York University.

Pierre Guislain, a Belgian national, is the Director of the joint Bank-IFC-MIGA Investment Climate Department (CIC), a role he has held since 2006. In this position, he also serves as IFC business line director for investment climate, Bank FPD global practice co-director for investment climate, and is in charge of the FIAS multidonor program, the Health in initiative and other global programs. He is also co-director at IFC for Fragile and Conflict Affected countries. Prior to this, Pierre was Manager of the Bank’s Global Telecommunications and ICT Sector division. He joined the Bank in 1983 as a consultant in the Western Africa Region; he also worked in the Bank's Legal department, the Asia technical department, and the PSD department, where he contributed to the creation of the private participation in infrastructure division. He established and managed a joint program with the European Commission on Private Infrastructure in the and North Africa. Pierre Guislain Pierre brings extensive experience in private sector development and infrastructure sector reform, including Transport and ICT, as well as a deep practice of partnership within and outside the World Bank Group. He is author and editor of publications on PSD, foreign direct investment, ICT, infrastructure reform and privatization. 7

Villem Alango is CEO at OVELA LLC, Senior Expert at e-Governance Academy, co-owner, founder at AS DATEL. Villem has been a partner with the e-Governance Academy since 2008 and joined its staff in January 2013. He works as a Senior Expert with a focus on the human aspects of e-society and on the use of modern methodologies to expedite practical results while transitioning towards e-governance. Since 1992, Villem worked to develop Estonia's e-government infrastructure, organizational practices and legislation. He has profound practical experience of project management, supervision, strategy planning and consultation. In recent years he has participated on several continents in visioning, planning and implementing successful projects on enhancing performance and transparency at the local government level through cloud solutions. Villem Alango

Tiit Anmann has extensive experience in Sales and Marketing in both B2B and B2G segment. He started his career as an Engineer and Product Manager, focusing later on Sales and Marketing. Mr. Anmann was Sales Director at Nortal, the fastest growing software development and IT consulting company in the Baltic’s, which has been featured by Deloitte as a top 25 fastest growing tech companies in Central Europe 2009 and 2012 and EMEA top 500 on 2009. Mr. Anmann has been actively participating in the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications meetings and activities, leading the Information Policy Advisory Board, which has a pivotal role in defining the industry. He also led the talks with the Estonian Government regarding establishing new e-Governance strategies and policies. Since January 2013 he is a full-time CEO of SignWise.

Tiit Anmann

Arne Ansper earned his MSc in Computer Engineering from Technical University in 2001. He is a consummate professional with extensive experience in software development, which includes designing and building security-critical distributed systems since 1995 and government information systems since 2001. Arne has managed the development of the “Barricade” firewall, “SSA” remote access software, and information system used by the Estonian State Registry of Certification. In addition, he designed the architecture and lead the development of the “Privador” VPN appliance, the Estonian e-voting system and Customs Engine CuE. One of his greatest accomplishments, Arne designed the architecture and managed the development of X-Road – a secure communication layer to connect Estonian governmental registries. The founding principles of X-Road were first described in his Arne Ansper MSc thesis and later refined and implemented in X-Road, which is by far considered the most successful e-Government project in Estonia. Furthermore, Arne contributed to the research and development of time-stamping technology. In 2013, Arne Ansper was bestowed the Order of The White Star Fifth Class.

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Taavi Einaste has been working in healthcare sector for the last 15 years. He joined the Estonian Genome Project Foundation during his studies at School of Economics in Riga, where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree, and moved on to a genetic diagnostics provider, Asper Biotech, during his undergraduate studies of Technology Management at Tartu University. Taavi left Asper having served in different roles, up to the CEO position, to start his own biotech company and was involved in investment projects across CEE. In 2010, he joined Nortal, the leading software solutions provider in the Baltic States, and has been leading Nortal’s healthcare practice since 2012. Taavi has experience in leading healthcare IT teams and projects in different European countries, and has presented the experience from Estonia and Lithuania to audiences across the EMEA Taavi Einaste region. Taavi is also a visiting lecturer at Tartu University where he teaches business administration to undergraduate students of life- disciplines.

Natalija Gelvanovska is a Senior ICT Specialist in the Transport and ICT Global Practice of the World Bank. She joined the World Bank in 2012 as a government secondee from the Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania where she is holding a position of Deputy Director for Electronic Communications. There, among other responsibilities, Natalija was leading annual assessments on reliability and robustness of national Internet infrastructure, was part of the drafting teams for national Cyber security and critical infrastructure protection (CIP) strategies and associated legal frameworks. She was a national contact point to European Critical Infrastructure Warning Information Network (CIWIN) and was working closely with European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) on number of Critical Information Infrastructure Protection and Resilience initiatives. Natalija was involved in Natalija Gelvanovska pan-European CIP exercises leading participation of Lithuanian telecom sector.

Prior to joining the Bank, Natalija was Chair of the Working Group on Technical Regulatory Issues at European Conference for Post and Telecommunications (CEPT) grouping over 20 European countries and over 100 regulatory experts to discuss and develop common approach for policy and regulation applicable to technical aspects of networks and service provision. In her capacity at the World Bank she is focusing on the telecom projects in the Europe and Central Asia and Middle East and North Africa.

Natalija studied Physics and holds Master of from Vilnius University, Lithuania. She speaks Lithuanian, Polish and Russian.

Zahid Hasnain is a Senior Public Sector Specialist in the World Bank His interests are in public financial management, public administration reform, open government, and political economy. He has published a number of working papers and journal articles on these topics. He has worked on Indonesia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, , and Vietnam He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago.

Zahid Hasnain

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Kris Hiiemaa founded Erply Ltd. in 2009 and has been its Chief Executive Officer since. Mr. Hiiemaa is an internet entrepreneur and business software (ERP) specialist with broad experience in all aspects of accounting, inventory, document and financial management. He has experience working with a variety of databases (Oracle, MySQL, MS Sql), in software consulting and with hosting facilities. He managed teams up to 200 members. "We have a powerful suite of tools that is much deeper than the point of sale. In the web-based space, there are not many provers who are taking it to that level," Hiiemaa notes. "Our back end is much more complex, including inventory management, customer databases and reports that are all combined into one and hosted in the cloud," he adds. Kris Hiiemaa

Matthew Johnson has over 15 years of experience of cyber industry leadership. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and a distinguished veteran of the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations, where he served as a SME focusing on cybersecurity, cloud, and related-security operations. Matthew also lead the innovation and incubation initiatives in data security, cyber- forensics, security information and event management, and active defense as a Director for CACI’s (NYSE: CACI) National Security Cyber Group.

Most recently he served as a Vice President of Strategy and Mission Assurance for Modern Technology Solutions Ltd in Alexandria, VA.

Matthew Johnson

Samia Melhem leads the Mainstreaming ICT Community of Practice, and leads ICT’s practice Knowledge and Learning program focusing on global capacity building on Digital Development. Her current operational advisory responsibilities at the World Bank’s Transport and ICT Global practice include investment operations, technical assistance and advisory services related to strategic use technology for transformation, growth and development. Samia has worked on ICT4D in several sectors: Telecoms policy, governance, education, gender, urban, in innovation and private sector development. Samia held several positions as regional coordinator in different regions such as Africa, Middle East and Europe and Central Asia and has experience in more than 50 countries. She coordinates her group’s partnerships and knowledge activities with ITU, UNDP, ESCWA, donors and private sector/academia. She has authored several working papers and policy notes on technology’s impact on development. She holds Samia Melhem degrees in Electrical Engineering (BS), Computer Sciences (MS) and Finance (MBA).

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Deepak Mishra is a Lead Economist at the World Bank and the Co-director for the World Development Report 2016 on Internet and Development. Prior to this appointment, he was the Lead Economist for the East Asia and Pacific region, overseeing the work on economic policy and management. He has served as a Country Economist for Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Sudan, and Vietnam, leading the Bank's policy and analytical work on economic issues in these countries. His research interests include economic growth, international trade, currency crises, foreign investment and sectoral transformation of economies. His research has been published in scholarly journals including the Journal of International Economics and Journal of Development Economics as well as in collected volumes.

In January 2001 Mishra was named the Economist, and in 2003 the Senior Economist, for South Asia Region— initially based in and later in Washington D.C. — Deepak Mishra where he worked on country strategy development and adjustment lending programs in India and Pakistan.

In December 2007 he became the Lead Economist for Africa Region and was based in the field office for a period two and half years, overseeing much of the Bank’s economic analysis in Ethiopia and Sudan.

Mishra holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA.

Stela Mocan joined the World Bank Group in July 2015 to manage the Identity and Access Management and Enterprise Monitoring Programs. During 2010 - 2015, Stela led

the set-up of the e-Government Center and served as 1st Government CIO since 2010, mandated by Moldova Government to drive digital transformation of government operations and public service delivery.

Prior to eGC, I served as an advisor to Moldova Prime Minister on governance and public administration reform, and managed governance and democracy building programs with UNDP, USAID, World Bank, international NGOs. Stela holds a Master degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Master in Political Sciences from the National School of Political and Administrative Stela Mocan Studies. In March 2015, Stela was designated as a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum.

Ryan Panchadsaram, the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House, works with the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT and the Department of Veterans Affairs on Blue Button. This initiative is designed to enable millions of Americans to easily and securely download their own health information. Ryan’s previous posts include a stint at Ginger.io, a spin-off from MIT Media Lab, using big data to transform health. He has been a Fellow at Rock Health. Pipette, the company he founded and incubated at Rock Health, was ultimately acquired by Ginger.io. Ryan has

also worked at Salesforce.com and at Microsoft, where he filed multiple patents. Ryan serves on the board of SeventyK, a young adult cancer advocacy group.

Ryan Panchadsaram

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Taimar Peterkop is Director-General of the Republic of Estonia Information System Authority (RIA). Previously, he served as an Undersecretary for Legal and Administrative Affairs of the Ministry of Defence and was responsible for the development of communications technology and cyber defence. Formerly, Taimar Peterkop has worked in various other positions at the Ministry of Defence. He has been the Defence Counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in the United States of America, a national defence teacher, and lecturer of international law. He has graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Tartu and obtained a Master’s degree from the United States Army War College. He is a reserve officer.

Taimar Peterkop

Ana Milena Aguilar is a health economist at Health Nutrition and Population in the World Bank. She has a doctorate in Global Health and Population from Harvard University. She worked previously for the WHO and Ministry of social development in Mexico. Her work ranges from quality of care in the Baltic States to reproductive health in East Africa. She is part of the health team working in the Europe and Central Asia Region focuses on improving quality of care, finding innovative solutions for service delivery and improved health outcomes. She is also a core member of the WB Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) team seeking to identify good practices in integrating CRVS and Identification Management systems. One of these cases is Estonia. She has several publications on women education and fertility, health systems financing, and human resources in health.

Ana Milena Aguilar Rivera

Carlo Rossotto joined the World Bank in 1998 and is the Regional Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa and Europe and Central Asia teams of the Policy Division of the ICT Unit. He is the Task Manager of several lending and technical assistance operations in the Middle East, North Africa, and East Asia and the Pacific regions. He has performed economic and regulatory analysis in several telecommunications related projects including the privatization and fiscal impact of sector reforms. Before joining the Bank he advised European ICT corporations on demand analysis, marketing, corporate strategy and regulatory affairs. He holds post-graduate degrees in Economics and Business Administration from Bocconi University Milan and in Financial and Commercial Regulation from The School of Economics. He speaks Italian, French and some Spanish. Carlo Maria Rossotto

Satu Santala is an Executive Director from Finland representing Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and since July 2013.

Prior to joining the WBG, Ms. Santala held several positions in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland, including: Deputy Director General, Department for Development Policy; Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Finland, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Finland, New Delhi, India.

Prior to her work within the Ministry, Ms. Santala held numerous positions with the Finnish Red Cross, including International Training Coordinator.

During the 2012-2014 Board term, Ms. Santala served on the Board's Committee on Development Effectiveness and the Committee on Human Resources. Satu Santala

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Hans Timmer, a Dutch national, became the Chief Economist for the Europe and Central Asia region of the World Bank on July 1, 2013. Mr. Timmer is a quantitative international macroeconomist and econometrician with 30 years of management experience in leading teams of modelers, forecasters, and policy analysts. His experience ranges from long-term structural analyses of the economic impact of environmental policies, trade policies, and tax reforms, to short-term monitoring of the business cycle and analysis of monetary and fiscal policies.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Timmer was Director of the World Bank's Development Prospects Group. Under his management, the Group produced the World Bank’s annual publications Global Economic Prospects, Global Development Finance, and Global Monitoring Report, in addition to a wide range of monitoring and forecasting publications.

Hans Timmer Before joining the World Bank in 2000, Mr. Timmer was head of international economic analysis at the Central Planning Bureau in the Netherlands. In this role, he oversaw global scenario studies and supervised the development of two world models. He has vast experience working with the European Commission, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as well as with the Indian Planning Commission and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He holds a Masters degree in econometrics from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and was a researcher at the University of Lodz in Poland and at the Netherlands Economic Institute.

Andrew Viirg is the Director of Enterprise Estonia, Silicon Valley - a representative office of a state foundation for business support and development (investment, trade

& innovation). Andrus is responsible for building up the network of contacts enabling Estonian tech companies to access the US market as well as promoting Estonia for foreign direct investment.

During the 1990s Andrus Viirg followed an international career heading the World Bank Group (IBRD, IFC) Office in Tallinn, Estonia (1995-2001); and with the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC (1992-1994), as an Assistant to the Executive Director. Andrus has also worked for the Bank of Estonia (central bank) on relations with international financial institutions. Andrus Viirg has graduated from the Tallinn University of Technology (1983) as dipl.engineer on automation and software engineering (Automaatika Teaduskond, LS) Andrew Viirg and the Estonian School of Diplomacy (1992) in foreign trade relations. He combines technical and economical knowledge with hands on experience in software development and electronics.

John Wille heads the ICT/eGovernment team in the Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice, providing technical support to advisory and lending project teams implementing G2B software applications to improve the business and investment environment in client countries. He has led or contributed to several innovative software development initiatives designed to improve access to business, investment and regulatory information and to move business registration and licensing processes online, thus increasing government transparency and accountability.

John’s academic background includes a MBA degree in finance from the University of Chicago, an executive development program at the Harvard Business School as well as a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University.

John R. Wille

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