ICT IN ESTONIA Märt Helmja Investinestonia.com

 Area: 45,227 km2 (similar in size to Denmark or Netherlands)  Population: 1.32 million (68% Estonians, 25% Russians), Capital Tallinn (401,000)  Official language: Estonian (belongs to Fenno- Ugric language group, similar to Finnish language)  Currency: EURO  Member of: EU, NATO and the Schengen zone  Country credit ratings:  Fitch A+  S&P AA  Moody’s A1  Time Zone: GMT+2 ESTONIA IS THE HEART OF THE BALTIC SEA. SMALL COUNTRY WITH A BIG PUNCH!

ESTONIA – THE PLACE WHERE SKYPE WAS BORN “Skype represents an ideal of what we think Estonia should be - a small group of people come together and come up with a really brilliant idea that becomes known all over.” Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia

ESTONIA IN RANKINGS 1st in International Tax Competitiveness Index 2014 Tax Foundation 8th in Index of Economic Freedom / 2nd in Europe 2015 Wall Street Journal / The Heritage Foundation 6th in Trading Across Borders 2015 World Bank 2nd in the Internet Freedom Freedom House th in Global Competitiveness Report 2015 World Economic Forum 26th in Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 Transparency International

POSSIBLE BENEFITS STRATEGIC LOCATION MODERN INFRASTRUCTURE COMPETITIVE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Strategic location Excellent location for business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) worldwide High availability location for Russia and Scandinavia Safe geological location – no volcanos, earthquakes, tornados Excellent fiber Good data connections to global networks Cost competitive Nordic climate and free cooling, reducing significantly CAPEX and OPEX Carbon neutral inexpensive energy, 20M€ cost savings compared to CEE over 10years Business competitive environment 0% corporate income tax on re-invested profits IT labour costs are 1/3 of EU27 average

There are also no thin capitalization rules in Estonia and the land tax is insignificant compared to the investments made. * On reinvested profits. 21% in case of distributing the profits ** On the assessed value of the land. Rate establihed by local government Source: Ministry of Finance 1,0% to 2,5% ** ESTONIA IS IDEAL FOR CAPITAL INTENSIVE INVESTMENTS – 0% CORPORATE INCOME TAX*

Low latency and proximity to Western Europe and Scandinavia makes Estonia a very attractive high availability location for companies having business operations there. PROXIMITY TO WESTERN EUROPE MAKES ESTONIA ATTRACTIVE FOR BUSINESS OPERATIONS LOCATED HERE Helsinki3ms Stockholm8ms St.Petersburg11ms Moscow21ms Amsterdam34ms Frankfurt40ms London42ms Source: Elion

ESTONIA IS WELL CONNECTED TO GLOBAL NETWORK WITH ONE OF THE BEST ICT INFRASTRUCTURES IN CEE Multiple international fiber routes to North, East and West of Estonia. Fiber optical backbone network connects all Estonian county centers. By 2015 all Estonian households, enterprises and institutions have access to the broadband network with data connection speed of up to 100 Mbit/s. Home connections with data connection speed of up to 400 Mbit/s are not uncommon in urban areas Main international fiber network Source: Elion

Under development Finished BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE

NETWORK MAP

 In 2008, NATO located its Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia. Other key actors in Cyber Security such as Symantec have selected Estonia as a location for their research centers.  In 2012, EU´s IT Agency located its Headquarter in Tallinn. Source: IMD world competitiveness yearbook 2015 ESTONIAN IT KNOWLEDGE IN CYBER SECURITY IS RECOGNIZED AS WORLD CLASS

In the Networked Readiness Index Estonia is the highest ranking CEE country.  100% of schools and government organisations have broadband connection  98% of bank transfers are performed electronically  94% of income tax declarations are made via the e-Tax Board  64% of total population participated on the census over e- channels in 2012  Digital signature legislation IN THE NETWORKED READINESS INDEX ESTONIA IS THE HIGHEST RANKING CEE COUNTRY

DIGITAL ID PROVIDES ACCESS TO Digital signature e-Elections e-School e-Tax Board e-Customs e-Health e-Police mobile parking mobile payments internet banking Citizen’s Registry and many more…

USE OF INTERNET AND E-SERVICES  100% of schools and government organizations are ICT equipped  Entire country is covered with a broadband connection  97% of businesses use computers  80% of homes have broadband connection  99.8% of bank transfers are performed electronically  95% of income tax declarations are made via the e-Tax Board  25% of votes were cast over the internet on 2013  66% of the population participated in the census via internet in 2012  More than 93% of the population has an ID-Card

ICT Support Centres  Global reach  Software testing  Support service for main business units  Customer support centres Data Centres  Energy efficient, climate based solutions  Re-use of waste energy to supply district heating grid E-Services  E-health and medicine  Everyday e-Services (e.g. e-Translation etc.)  M-payments using the mobile device as a debit/credit payment card  E-government - public services Research & Development  Software development  Telecom equipment R&D  Film and digital art development  Security software development  Online video collaboration Security and Fraud Detection  Cyber security centers  Security software development  Defence software and systems integration  Mobile security  Wireless security ICT SERVICES INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Growth areas:  ‘Horizontal’ IT  Health technologies and services  Efficient use of resources Tools:  Focus of support schemes for is R&D and people  Attracting top specialists  Cooperation - companies and universities : TECHNOLOGY & INFRASTRUCTURE 2014 – 2020: PEOPLE & ‘SMART ECONOMY’ GOAL: PRODUCTIVITY TO 80% OF EU AVG BY 2020 GOAL: PRODUCTIVITY TO 80% OF EU AVG BY 2020 ESTONIAN GROWTH STRATEGY

Digital Agenda 2020 By 2020, the number of people employed in the Estonian ICT sector will be doubled. Fact: We are seriously short of people. Digital Agenda 2020 By 2020, the number of people employed in the Estonian ICT sector will be doubled. Fact: We are seriously short of people. Alien’s Act has been amended to attract foreign top specialists -Visa allows to start working first and then apply for residence permit -Simplified residence permit process for top specialists, experts and consultants (processing time up to 2 months) -Applies also to families Alien’s Act has been amended to attract foreign top specialists -Visa allows to start working first and then apply for residence permit -Simplified residence permit process for top specialists, experts and consultants (processing time up to 2 months) -Applies also to families Advanced programming skills 8’000 Total ICT labour pool 18’000 Enterprise Estonia launched the Work in Estonia project to promote Estonia as a professional migration destination Creating „smart jobs“ and higher added value needs our attention from the aspect of tax policy ATTRACTING TOP SPECIALISTS IT SKILLS

Global IT companies are currently interested in creating software R&D centres in Estonia. Hiring expats – core teams with English and Russian speaking experienced top specialists and managers. Estonian Investment Agency manages such projects, provides „soft landing,“ comprehensive advice and contacts throughout the process. Cooperation with Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Economics and Communications, pertaining Embassies and Consulates, IT industry leaders, universities as well as private sector service providers. Global references will attract further investors and top specialists to Estonia. ATTRACTING TOPP SPECIALISTS IT SKILLS

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