European Science-Media Hub has published an article "e-Governance: the Estonian Case" by Rosanna Fanni. The article considers "e-Estonia, the world’s first digital nation" and features some opinions including that of the MEP Yana Toom.
The Estonian MEP Yana Toom (Renew Europe, EE), STOA Member and Member of the European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, also reconsiders the advantages of the e-Government programme regarding possible societal divide:
“[…] When we speak about innovation, there is always a catch. There are people who cannot cope with the use of new technologies, who do not trust them or simply do not have the appropriate digital skills. Looking at election results of the two biggest political parties, we can identify this group easily: while the e-votes go to one particular party, the paper votes go to the other. Elderly persons, Russian speakers (e-Estonia is not that convenient for those who do not speak Estonian) and people from the rural areas are still those who need to be integrated into the digital society. And this is a challenge, especially taking the ageing population into account. Therefore, upskilling and reskilling becomes more and more relevant as we move towards digitalisation.”