PARIS: There are three chapters to the agreement signed on March 19 by Mounir Mahjoubi, French Secretary of State in charge of Digital Affairs, and Urve Palo, Estonian Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology: digital governance, digital economy, and cybersecurity. It also mentions the possibility of “sharing existing technical solutions”, “organising [joint] events”, setting up “pilot projects” and increasing “expert visits”. Each country will have to appoint an advisor by the end of the month.
Estonia and France also want to develop “partnerships” between start-ups from both countries. They also claim to want to “coordinate” on European issues related to digital policy.In terms of cybersecurity, Palo believes that France and Estonia have every interest in joining forces. “Our whole system is based on trust: it is fundamental. If tomorrow citizens would come to fear that their information and personal data could fall into the wrong hands, they would stop using online services.” In 2007, in the midst of a dispute with Moscow, Tallinn came under massive cyberattacks that blocked several government sites and services.
