By Andres Raieste, Andri Rebane, Madis Tapupere, Keegan McBride
Government Resilience in the Digital Age
In a world increasingly defined by crises—from pandemics and climate disasters to escalating wars—governments that fail to build digital resilience risk crumbling under pressure.
For many governments, the COVID-19 pandemic was a wakeup call. Nearly 30% of governments in Europe had to postpone elections, education was disrupted, and many governments struggled to ensure the availability of their public services. As a result, policymakers are now making large investments into their digital capabilities to ensure the digital continuity of state functions during times of crisis. The future of resilient governance lies in building digital states that can operate and deliver services from anywhere, withstanding threats in both physical and virtual worlds.
This white paper, “Government Resilience in the Digital Age,” was published on 20 November, 2024 during a keynote presentation at the Tallinn Digital Summit by co-authors Dr Keegan McBride and Andres Raieste. The report draws on insights from experts at the Oxford Internet Institute, Nortal, the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, and the Estonian IT Centre.
The report argues that without robust digital infrastructure, states are vulnerable to collapse when faced with the next inevitable disruption. To help guide policymakers interested in building more robust and resilient digital states, the work provides several key policy recommendations intended to help build and strengthen the resilience of a state’s digital infrastructure.
First, states must adopt a digital-first approach to public services and registries related to the continuity of the state.
Second, states must start enabling the transition to public sector jobs that can operate in a remote-first or remote-enabled manner.
Third, states must prioritize the security of their digital infrastructure and services.
Fourth, states must ensure resilience in connectivity by viewing internet access as critical infrastructure.
Fifth, states must improve their resilience by reducing opportunities for physical damage to disrupt their digital operations.
Sixth, states must invest in the ability to manage third-party risk without limiting opportunities for technological innovation.
Seventh, governments must adopt a whole-of-government approach to developing digital resilience.
“States that adopt our recommendations will be rewarded with a resilient digital state that could run its core and critical digital services even if there was a temporary or more long-term loss of its physical territory due to a crisis,” said Dr Keegan McBride, Lecturer in AI, Government, and Policy, Oxford Internet Institute.
“This is something that is now only possible due to technology. It also represents the need to shift how we think about states in this new digital world where digital is no longer tied to the physical boundaries of a nation.”
Senior Vice President, Public Sector (Global), Nortal
Andri Rebane
Director of Information Security Department, Estonian IT Centre
Madis Tapupere
Chief Technology Officer, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (Estonia)
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