Open HSI menu
Subscribe Login

Home / Articles and Press Releases / Press Release / Lessons from Estonia

CATEGORIES

  • Latest Issue
  • Above The Neck Protection
  • Chemical Protection
  • Confined Space
  • Construction
  • Emergency Procedures
  • Energy, Oil and Mining Industries
  • Eye Protection
  • Fall Protection
  • Gas Detection
  • Hand Protection
  • Hazardous and Explosive Atmospheres
  • Health and Safety Awareness
  • Hearing Protection
  • Heat and Flame
  • Lighting and ATEX
  • Noise Monitoring
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Respiratory Protection
  • Safety Footwear
  • Safety Technology
  • Safety Training
  • Slips, Trips and Falls
  • Wellbeing at Work
  • Working at Height
  • Working Rights

MORE

  • Press Releases
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Magazines

COMPANY

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
Open HSI menu
Subscribe

Home / Articles and Press Releases / Press Release / Lessons from Estonia

CATEGORIES

  • Latest Issue
  • Above The Neck Protection
  • Chemical Protection
  • Confined Space
  • Construction
  • Emergency Procedures
  • Energy, Oil and Mining Industries
  • Eye Protection
  • Fall Protection
  • Gas Detection
  • Hand Protection
  • Hazardous and Explosive Atmospheres
  • Health and Safety Awareness
  • Hearing Protection
  • Heat and Flame
  • Lighting and ATEX
  • Noise Monitoring
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Respiratory Protection
  • Safety Footwear
  • Safety Technology
  • Safety Training
  • Slips, Trips and Falls
  • Wellbeing at Work
  • Working at Height
  • Working Rights

MORE

  • Press Releases
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Magazines

COMPANY

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Newsletter
  • Contact

CATEGORIES

  • Article
  • Press Release
  • Above The Neck Protection
  • Chemical Protection
  • Confined Space
  • Construction
  • Emergency Procedures
  • Energy, Oil and Mining Industries
  • Eye Protection
  • Fall Protection
  • Gas Detection
  • Hand Protection
  • Hazardous and Explosive Atmospheres
  • Health and Safety Awareness
  • Hearing Protection
  • Heat and Flame
  • Lighting and ATEX
  • Noise Monitoring
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Respiratory Protection
  • Safety Footwear
  • Safety Technology
  • Safety Training
  • Slips, Trips and Falls
  • Wellbeing at Work
  • White Papers
  • Working at Height
  • Working Rights

Press Release

Lessons from Estonia

By International Labour Organisation

| Read Bio

Published: June 10th, 2021

Share this article

High rates of informal employment remain a challenge in most of Eastern Europe and range between 20% for Ukraine and 56% for Albania. The large informal economy reduces tax revenues, leads to unfair competition and negatively affects the quality of jobs. A considerable share of the workforce has no access to labour rights and social security. A new ILO publication analyses how Estonia used modern information technology to promote the transition to formality. 

Known as a “technological tiger” and the “world’s most digitally advanced society”, over the past three decades Estonia has invested heavily to develop its IT infrastructure and support a digital culture among its citizens. Today, approximately 98 per cent of tax declarations are completed online and in a matter of minutes. In addition, 98 per cent of companies are registered online and these businesses can file their annual reports and update their own data through the e-Business Register. 
 
To formalize private person-to-person services, anyone can open an Entrepreneur Account at a bank and automatically have their taxes deducted from payments. Moreover, among its many accolades, Estonia was ranked first in entrepreneurial activity by the World Economic  Forum in 2017, first in start-up friendliness by Index Venture in 2018, and first among EU countries in the European Commission’s 2020 digital economy and society index. 
 
With the Covid-19 pandemic, Estonia navigated the shift to teleworking relatively seamlessly because of its already existing IT infrastructure and digital culture. With such wide-ranging measures and demonstrated success, Estonia is a prime case study to understand better how the usage of technology can play a role – both directly and indirectly – in encouraging the transition of unregistered workers and unregistered economic units to the formal economy. 
 
E-formalization took place in the context of the digital transformation in Estonia since its independence in 1991 where the online economy and technological innovation were considered as the road to development while still reducing government costs and improving the life of its citizens. The digitalization process addressed issues of corruption and informality with increased tax revenue for the Estonian government. The costs of being formal have been reduced for businesses with simplified compliance procedures. Formal registration of employment becomes easy and simple that provides workers’ access to medical insurance and pension. 
 
There are several insights to be gained from Estonia’s two decades of experience as a functioning digital society to promote policies of e-formalization. These lessons learnt are extendable to other countries that wish to put in place policies which can directly or indirectly promote the formalization of the economy. The ingredients for success fall roughly into five categories: 1) political will and public-private collaboration, 2) a digital spirit of society supported by data protection and used-friendly services, 3) digital foundations such as digital identification and a digital platform for exchanging data, 4) implementing e-services is not about the digitization of paper processes but rather about rethinking the whole process, regardless what the country inherited, and 5) e-services do not require overbearing financial investments, moreover they save money. The driver of the necessary IT application needs to be the policy-maker rather than the IT company, through small investments and public –private collaborations. 

Share this article

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

International Labour Organisation

The ILO (International Labour Organisation) brings governments, employers and workers of 187 member states together, to set the labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes that promote decent work for all women and men.

POPULAR POSTS BY International Labour Organisation

Istock 585058716 - hsi -

Press Release

WHO/ILO: Almost 2 million People Die From Work-Related Causes Each Year

Lessons from estonia thumbnail

Press Release

Lessons from Estonia

Istock 933292252 - hsi -

Press Release

World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2021

Wcms 763532 - hsi -

Press Release

ILO Governing Body Calls For Urgent Action on Seafarer COVID-19 Crisis

Wcms 741648 - hsi -

Article

Stop the Pandemic

Get email updates

Sign up for the HSI newsletter

Keep up-to-date through the power of email with Europe's largest audited safety magazine - delivering the latest news and products to satisfy all your occupational safety needs.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

FEATURED ARTICLES

Article

 Thameslink Traffic Management Programme

Press Release

‘Working At Height’ Remains Biggest Danger

Press Release

“Uncertainty and Ignorance” Risks More Asbestos Deaths

Advertisement

SOCIAL MEDIA

HSI on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/HSIMagazine/

Advertisement

SOCIAL MEDIA

HSI on Twitter

hsimagazine HSI Magazine @hsimagazine ·
25 Jan

Global gas sensing leader @ionscience has today formally announced the addition of a high-specification Particulate Matter (PM) sensor to its portfolio.

Read all about this exciting addition!
https://www.hsimagazine.com/press-release/worlds-best-performing-particulate-matter-pm-sensor-now-available-from-ion-science-ltd/

#hsimagazine #ionscience #particulatematter

Reply on Twitter 1618280038557970432 Retweet on Twitter 1618280038557970432 Like on Twitter 1618280038557970432 Twitter 1618280038557970432

Advertisement

SUBSCRIBE

Stay up to date with our newsletter

    • Keep up-to-date with Europe’s largest audited safety magazine

 

    • Delivering the latest news and products to satisfy all your occupational safety needs

 

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Subscribe

SUBSCRIBE TO HSI MAGAZINE

5 reasons to subscribe to our digital and print package

  • Stay up to date from anywhere in the world, with instant access to the latest issue straight from your phone, tablet or laptop.
  • Trust that you’re getting the best content from our range of internationally accredited authors.
  • Get full access to our archives and see how occupational safety has evolved with us over the years.
  • Enjoy our monthly newsletter curated with up-to-the-minute news and a selection of editor’s top picks.
  • Hot off the press and straight to your door – look forward to your own glossy copy of HSI, delivered five times a year
Subscribe View Subscription levels

STAY SAFE & INFORMED

Subscribe to the best health & safety articles, news, products and regulations

Find out more

Stay up to date with our newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

ABOUT

  • About HSI International
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

YOUR ACCOUNT

Sign In Register Account Subscribe to HSI

RESOURCES

Request Media Pack

CONNECT

ACCREDITATIONS

Copyright Bay Publishing 2023. All Rights reserved.

Designed & Built by:
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT