TALLINN – On May 23, leaders of the largest banks and telecoms (SEB Eesti Ühispank, Hansapank, Elion, EMT) as well as the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia signed a co-operation agreement to launch a nationwide „Computer Protection 2009” initiative, pledging to invest up to EEK 60 million to increase end-user PC protection and awareness in Estonia.

The “Computer Protection 2009” initiative, to be carried out by Look@World Foundation, aims at making Estonia a country with the most secure information society in the world by year 2009. To this end, a number of sub-projects will be launched, one of the priority fields being the promotion of ID card based authentication in the use of e-services.

“Promotion of the national ID card in the use of public sector e-services is vital in order to increase citizens’ trust for e-services and make them feel at ease in their communication with the state over the internet,” said Marika Priske, Secretary General from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. Estonia is the only country in Europe with a well-established practice in electronic identity based authentication and digital signing. At local government elections in October 2005, Estonian citizens could cast their votes electronically, using the secure ID card as an authentication mechanism. By 2009, the use of ID card in electronic authentication is expected to have grown 20 times. 

“Though the name of the project refers to computer protection, our approach is wider, covering the creation and protection of new economy and even society,” said Valdo Kalm, chairman of the board of Estonia´s largest mobile telecom company EMT.

As a first step, a gateway to PC protection related information and discussions at www.arvutikaitse.ee (currently only in Estonian) has been launched. The web environment provides information on how to protect one’s computer from cyber criminals and gives advice on how to be safe when shopping online and avoid falling victim to fraud. Future developments of the web portal include widening its content so as to add information and games for children etc.

Over the three years, the above-mentioned four companies will fund activities related to the project in the amount of 60 million Estonian kroons (3.74 million euros). However, other agencies, companies and organizations are welcome to join the initiative and contribute to it.

Look@World Foundation was established in 2001 by ten leading companies in Estonia with an aim to considerably increase the number of internet users, raising thereby the living standard of Estonians and the competitiveness of our economy in Europe. The projects carried out so far include basic computer and internet training for 100,000 people in Estonia, development and implementation of the eSchool environment and opening nearly 500 public internet access points in Estonia.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Mart ParveLook@World Foundatione-security project managerPhone: +372 5 660 4704mart.parve@vaatamaailma.ee