Estonia and the United States Working Together to Help Tunisia Develop Open Governance and e-Governance

18.06.2012

Nr 174–E

Inc o-operation with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Estonian Foreign Ministry is supporting the development of open governance and e-governance in Tunisia. The Estonian partner in the project is the e-Governance Academy.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that Tunisia has shown its desire to become a more open and democratic state. “Tunisia’s government has chosen the path towards becoming more open and creating good contacts with its citizens. The country sees great potential in adopting information technology solutions for sharing information, offering public services, and involving citizens and other partners in the decision-making process. Therefore Tunisia has made it a priority to develop e-governance,” added Foreign Minister Paet.

The e-Governance Academy, which is implementing the project, is organising a training course in Estonia for 15 higher state officials from Tunisia, during which they will learn about Estonia’s experiences in modernising governance with the help of new technologies. The Tunisian representatives will get an overview of the development of e-governance in Estonia and the biggest projects carried out (X-Road, eID, etc.), and work will begin with Tunisian partners to develop follow-up e-governance projects.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet emphasised that the Foreign Ministry has been engaging in increasingly active co-operation with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). There is also a joint project right now to organise training sessions on e-governance, adopting internet-based solutions, and cyber security for members of civil society in Belarus.

The Estonian Foreign Ministry is supporting the Tunisia project with 29 617 euros.