Kaspar Korjus presenting e-Estonia: Q&A with Mr. Korjus

This article is written by Nardine B. M'barek, a Contributor Author at Startup Turkey.

While attending Startup Istanbul 2017, Kaspar Korjus gave us the honor of presenting to us e-Estonia, an innovative idea thanks to which entrepreneurship became much easier. With the digitized nation, everything is easier and cheaper. E- Estonia is named the most advanced digital society in the world by Wired 1. During the session, we had a Q&A session with Mr. Korjus in order to answer all your inquiries concerning e-Estonia, we will, therefore, provide you with answers within this article.

15 years ago, the goal of the government of the Republic of Estonia was to reinforce its relationship with its citizens, allowing them to enjoy more sophisticated services that are provided online through a digitized platform powered by the Republic’s government.

During Startup Istanbul 2017, we invited Mr. Kaspar Korjus, the manager director of e- Residency, in order to provide us with details and information regarding e-Estonia, and e-Residency. Mr. Korjus delivered an information session, in which he talked to us about e-Estonia. He talked about the nation’s main goals and aims at starting from giving the opportunity to not only Estonian citizens, but to people from all over the world to enjoy the services of the digitized platform, and to achieve successful results thanks to the companies they could establish and manage through the online platform. At the end of the session, we had a little Q&A session with Mr. Korjus, during which he answered the audience’s inquiries and questions. It furthermore clarified our idea about e-Residency, and allowed us to think about this initiative even more. Mr. Korjus first talked about the first US citizen that became an e-resident, who is Mr. Hamid Tahsildoost. Mr. Korjus stated that three years ago, there was an international interest given to the digitized nation of e-Estonia, which made the staff visit the United States of America. The latter also spoke about Mr. Tahsildoost, and how he really believed in the success of such a nation, how the money is transferred, and how the most important thing about this initiative was that no importance is given to the physical boundaries.

We have made our own researches on Mr. Tahsildoost and found a blog post that he posted back in 2014 when he was about to apply to become an e-resident. He stated that he travels a lot to Estonia and was very interested in the new program that was going to be launched by the government allowing citizens, and non-citizens to get legal identity cards, which would enable him later on to conduct business online 1 Wired is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and has been in publication since March/April 1993.

without the trouble of having to physically move from place to place. Mr. Tahsildoost made it clear to his readers that this is a revolution in the field of technology and entrepreneurship, and that everyone should try it.

Back to the Q&A session with Mr. Korjus, a guest from the audience gave us her feedback regarding e-Residency. She stated that It is easier to pay taxes, open a bank account and start a company, that’s why she chose it. It will be easier for her to manage her company, taxes, and legal stuff from the online platform instead of waiting for hours to do it.

Mr. Korjus added a few details about what makes e-Estonia great by stating that the community helps each other with the startups, which makes people interested in it, and helps grow the number of e-residents, and people who are ready to join e-Estonia in order to start making their lives better and easier.

1 Wired is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and has been in publication since March/April 1993.

References: Mr. Hamid Tahsildoost blog post: https://hamidtahsildoost.wordpress.com/2014/11/30/what- is-e-residency/

https://youtu.be/QU6nemlOOi0