A total of 11,500 foreign visitors learned the e-Estonia story
In 2019, the e-Estonia Briefing Centre has told the unique story of e-Estonia to 11,500 people worldwide, setting the record for the highest attendance in its ten years of operation. This year, in addition to business delegations, the centre was visited by the Presidents of Georgia, Albania, and Ukraine, the King of Belgium, and the Governor-General of Canada. By country, people from Germany, Japan, the US, the Netherlands, and France have been the most active visitors during the year.
Head of the e-Estonia Briefing Centre Liina Maria Lepik said that the interest in getting to know e-Estonia through the centre is on the rise: “It is clear that the knowledge and practical experience of Estonia as a country in digitalization is still highly valued in the world. The growth in the number of delegations to the e-Estonia Briefing Centre has been around 20 per cent this year, indicating that other countries continue to find that there is a lot to learn from Estonia in this area.”
Opened in February, the e-Estonia Briefing Centre with a new concept focuses more on substantive collaboration. “The goal of the e-Estonia Briefing Centre is to use its messages to inspire other countries, following the example of Estonia, to change their way of thinking in favour of digitalization and to present our outstanding experience in building a digital nation that embraces the whole society. Of course, we also bring them together with Estonian companies that are ready to lead international projects,” Lepik said.
The e-Estonia Briefing Centre is engaged in the international introduction of e-Estonia and it supports the finding of contacts to help Estonian companies increase their exports. The main visitors of the centre are representatives from the authorities of other countries, business executives, international decision-makers and influencers, who are provided with an overview of the digital state, and meetings with the local companies are also agreed on.
In order to expand its international reach, the e-Estonia Briefing Centre has created digital solutions for telling the Estonian e-success story. For example, 360-degree virtual reality videos are available at https://vrestonia.ee/ that can be also watched at the third gate of Tallinn Airport. An interactive solution introducing Estonian companies will soon be released, along with video presentations and a chat bot.
The e-Estonia Briefing Centre of Enterprise Estonia is located in Ülemiste. As of February 2019, the e-Estonia Briefing Centre is the new name for the e-Estonia Showroom in English. Over a decade, the centre has been visited by more than 63,000 people, including King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, and presidents, prime ministers and high-level representatives of several other countries.
2019 in the e-Estonia Briefing Centre:
- On the busiest day, nine different delegations visited the e-Estonia Briefing Centre.
- The most distant delegation included the members of the New Zealand Government. With regard to exotic locations, Bhutan State Secretary and Prime Minister of Bermuda have visited the centre.
- The e-Estonia Briefing Centre was the most popular among German delegations (2,040 visitors per year), followed by Japan (1,169 visitors) and the US (820 visitors).
Photo gallery of the visit of the King of Belgium: https://e-estonia.com/king-philippe-of-belgium-e-estonia-briefing-centre/
Photo gallery of the visit of the President of Georgia: https://e-estonia.com/president-of-georgia-e-estonia-briefing-centre/