"If you imagine what can be done in the country, a wide field of work for simplifying and optimizing the functions of the state opens up.
How can we achieve that the long-term development strategy is not a place for political rivalry, but a plan put together by experts?"

More than four years ago, the State Reform Foundation brought to the public its vision of how state management should be reformed in Estonia. Let's think about the last couple of years in the life of Estonia. Do we see that the country has moved in this direction?

Some state institutions have been merged, support services have been consolidated, and five percent cost cuts have been made in the public sector. According to the data of Eesti Pank, during the corona crisis, the number of employees in the government sector increased by 3,400. And, the top decision-makers of the country tell it should be increased more.

As an engineer, it bothers me that the state reform plans do not consider the opportunities offered by new technologies. The idea of reforms should be creating a framework and opportunities for smarter management decisions. Besides capable people, you also need data to make smarter decisions. And Estonia is one of the best-equipped countries in the world with data.

Data and big data.
The Estonian Statistical Office does a great job, but the data they collect is of very little use. This was repeatedly pointed out by the former head of the agency. 

Estonia is a full member of the European Space Agency. How much does the country use public big data collected by European satellites? We know that PRIA does this in its services, but there is no wider application to data from space yet. At the same time, the potential of satellite data is great for mitigating risks or for more precise targeting of services by the state. 

In general, the application of the possibilities of data analytics is regrettably low. In light of the crises of recent years, the state has processed large amounts of subsidies and hired separate people for this. Why don't we use data and make decisions automatically based on real needs?

Full article (in Estonian): Urmas Kõlli: reformimata riik | Arvamus | ERR