OSOR has published an update to the Estonia Country Intelligence report, highlighting recent trends and developments in the use of open source software (OSS) in the country. You can find the report here and the factsheet here.
This update report outlines the evolution in the use of OSS by the Estonian public sector since 2021, examining how Estonia has reinforced its commitment to open source solutions as part of its broader digital strategy. In this update, you will observe how national policies have increasingly embraced OSS, as reflected in the Digital Agenda 2030 and amendments to the Estonian State Property Act which established that software developed with taxpayers' money should be published under an open source licence.
Estonia's Information System Authority (RIA), which resulted from the merger of various Estonian digital institutions, has been central to the implementation of OSS initiatives. The RIA maintains X-tee, the Estonian implementation of X-Road, which serves as the backbone of Estonia's digital infrastructure and enables secure data exchange between government departments. The RIA has also been involved in developing Bürokratt, an open source AI chatbot designed to facilitate citizen access to Estonia's digital public services and provide 24/7 information.
The role of international cooperation remains crucial in Estonia's OSS landscape. The Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS), founded jointly by Estonia and Finland, continues to manage and develop X-Road as an open source solution that can be adopted by other governments. This collaboration exemplifies Estonia's digital diplomacy efforts to promote interoperable "Govstack" modules that can be reused across different countries.
The Estonian government has also established Koodivaramu, a code repository for open source software that provides access to solutions developed by the public sector. While part of this repository is currently accessible only to individuals with an Estonian eID, there are plans to expand public access to all OSS as part of Estonia's continued commitment to open source principles.
This report has been produced with the contribution of key stakeholders in Estonia's OSS ecosystem, including representatives from the Information System Authority, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, and the Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions.
