The Birth of Estonian E-government

Estonia thanks the old communist bureacrats in the ‘90s for its now world famous e-government. It’s worth noting that all post-communist countries were facing the same problem, but only Estonia (ok, maybe also Georgia under Mikhail Saakashvili) used the problem to their advantage:

But while the economic situation was improving, many Estonian state institutions and infrastructure were still in disrepair and there was a constant danger of backsliding. One of the greatest risks came from inside the bureaucracy which was still replete with Soviet-era holdovers. […] Political leaders desperately needed a way to both defeat corruption and increase state capacity, each of which would be a difficult task independently. Thankfully, the youth of Laar’s cabinet and the Estonian political elite worked in the country’s favor as political leaders embraced the potential of new technologies to solve the country’s most pressing problems. After all, as former President Toomas Hendrik Ilves is fond of saying, “you can’t bribe a computer.”

--- Joel Burke: Rebooting a Nation: The Incredible Rise of Estonia, E-Government and the Startup Revolution

EU and CPTPP

We all know the trick when the politicians implement some unpopular, but necessary measure and then blame IMF for making them do it. The same, to some extent, also happens with national governments and the EU.

Now, the EU itself needs some reforms badly, namely, as Draghi report suggests, relaxing the regulation, but there seems no political will to do that. At least, last time I’ve checked I have still seen those annoying “accept cookies” banners alive and kicking.

So why not use the political momentum created by American tariffs and an equivalent of the IMF trick to address the issue?

Politico comments on the idea of EU joining CPTPP that has been voiced lately:

It’s a plan leaders in Brussels and the 12-nation Indo-Pacific club have been turning over in their minds since Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs. As Trump’s trade war smashes the economic order globalization built into little bits: Why not band together?

But as LTLDR News report:

There are still quite a few obstacles in the way. Firstly, the EU generally struggles to sign free trade deals at the moment. The EU’s strict data protection laws, for instance, which are historically not compromised on in trade agreements, contrast with the CPTPP’s emphasis on freer data flow.

Can we use the IMF derangement syndrome for our good? You know: “Nobody wanted to cut those regulations, but CPTPP made us do it.” Bad, bad CPTPP!

Habemus papam

I know that Pope is not an exclusively European matter. However, he’s also a leader of the smallest European country. So, yes, it’s good to know we have at least one head of state who knows what the Bayes theorem is.

Also, when addressing cardinals after the election, the new Pope said:

“Today, the Church offers to all her treasure of social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and the developments of artificial intelligence.”

Feels a bit anodyne to me.

I am no catholic, but I would expect the emergence of technology capable of thinking would give Catholics a pause: When exactly does a machine qualify to have a soul? Having been trained on the Internet, with all its porn and everything, is the AI somehow, by contagion, burdened by the original sin? Did Jesus sacrifice himself also for the AIs? Should we expect them to know right from wrong? Will Sidney go to hell?

So many questions! But I guess even Pope can’t stray too far away from the Overton window.

Also check the evergreen post by Bruce Schneier on the security of the papal election:

The cardinals are in “choir dress” during the voting, which has translucent lace sleeves under a short red cape, making sleight-of-hand tricks [when casting votes] much harder.

Many more goodies in the article.

Problems with state capacity in Britain

It’s no secret that Britain has problems with state capacity, but wow, it looks worse than I though.

Archie Hall writes:

An old lady, Daphne, had fallen on the street, knocked her head, and was bleeding. I’d encourage you to read the whole thing, but I photographed an especially shocking passage in the print copy I was reading at the time.