Estonia, Germany, ITU, DIAL sign joint declaration of intent on digital cooperation

TALLINN - Estonia, Germany, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) at the UN Foundation signed a joint declaration of intent to cooperate on efforts to accelerate digital transformation and digitalization of governmental services for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) particularly in low-resource settings, said the Estonian Ministry of Econimic Affairs and Communications on Tuesday.

The collaboration will establish a global high-level framework for digital government cooperation to assist countries in implementing scalable digital services and applications in a cost efficient, accelerated and integrated manner, according to the ministry press release.

"Successful digital transformation efforts require cooperation across digital ecosystem actors," Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau, was quoted as saying. "ITU welcomes this opportunity to work with Estonia, Germany and DIAL to continue to advance ICT-related solutions that can power country-level action to achieve the SDGs."

Raul Siem, Estonian Minister of Foreign Trade and Information Technology, who was present at the virtual signing ceremony, said, "Estonia is always open to sharing expertise in digital transformation. Estonia has long-term experience in building a holistic digital society, from the technological standing point to putting in place proper legislation."

"This great partnership will provide the building blocks to enable and encourage digital transformation," said Norbert Barthle, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany.

"One of DIAL's main objectives is to connect, scale and support proven solutions that are necessary for digital transformation to be successful," said Kate Wilson, CEO of DIAL. "This partnership will support these efforts, expand upon our existing work with ITU and the SDG Digital Investment Framework, and learn from both Estonia and Germany to help other countries on their digital transformation journey."