Evaluating Estonian E-residency as a tool of soft power
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Evaluating Estonian E‑residency as a tool of soft power Anna Blue1 Revised: 9 March 2020 / Accepted: 31 August 2020 © Springer Nature Limited 2020
Abstract Estonia, a country well known for its digital savviness, introduced e-residency in 2014. The initiative, which allows foreign nationals to access the public and private services of Estonia with the use of a digital ID, is a positive example of how small states can build soft power. I argue that e-residency has attracted freelancers and entrepreneurs from around the world to state-projected values and beliefs, creating a network of individuals that admire and identify with Estonia. I also discuss how the concept and implementation of e-residency can undermine or boost a country’s influence. Keywords E-residency · Estonia · Soft power · Nation branding · E-governance · Digital services · Small states
Introduction and motivation for research This paper seeks to scrutinize the impact of Estonia’s e-residency program on the country’s soft power and to explore how the e-residency program may serve as a constructive model for other small states with constrained resources. Given that policymakers continue to praise e-residency as a success for Estonia in state propaganda, it is important to understand what the program has achieved in practice. Existing literature on e-residency has dissected the state-level motivations for the initiative, with few scholars writing about the real-time opinions of the e-residents themselves. Using data collected from an online survey of 177 e-residents, as well as qualitative analysis gathered through 25 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with e-residents, policymakers, and entrepreneurs, I assess whether the experiences of e-residents validate the narrative put forward by the Estonian government. Since the December 2018 release of “E-residency 2.0,” a white paper outlining 49 recommendations for revamping the initiative, the Estonian government has been open about their intentions to capitalize on the soft power potential of e-residency. The release of the 2.0 white paper, a signal that Enterprise Estonia is eager to repurpose the dynamic and flexible program, makes this investigation timely and
appropriate. Additionally, considering how the Estonian e-residency office has popularized e-residency and actively encouraged similar models like the one launched in Azerbaijan in 2018,1 it is essential to ask whether the foundational ideas underpinning e-residency 2.0 are realistic. The research presented in this article verifies that e-residency has increased the soft power of Estonia by attracting foreign nationals to the values and ideals projected by the program but has fallen short in achieving some of the desired national security benefits espoused by the Estonian government. The paper begins by contextualizing the rise of e-residency, a product of e-Estonia, and explaining the specifics of how the program functions. In “The benefits of e-residency: Financial impact and soft power projection” section, the paper co
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