Our e-Estonia Developments

Estonia is well known worldwide as the Baltics’ Silicon Valley because of our fertile startup ecosystem and electronic public services. Thanks to our clever IT architecture and a forward-looking government, we have created an almost entirely digital e-State.

Exchanges between government, people, and companies are fully electronic, increasing accessibility and transparency and reducing red tape. For example, 95 percent of citizens’ and residents’ income tax returns are now filed online, and doctors now write 98 percent of their prescriptions in digital form. The pillars of the digital society are the secure data exchange channel, called the X-Road, and a unique digital ID for each individual. Almost entirely covered by fiber-optic lines and 4G broadband cellular network technology, the country is considered a world leader in Internet freedom.

The state continues to develop the accessibility and transparency of its public services underpinned by its electronic services and information systems. An increasing emphasis is being placed on service design because information systems are only one requirement for a functional e-service. The government’s goals for communication with citizens are

• efficiency,
• flexibility,
• security,
• and an ever-more innovative and flexible business environment.

How has Helmes helped create today’s e-Estonia?

For the last 30-plus years, Helmes has been one of the leading partners in building e-Estonia in areas such as the central government, e-voting, e-justice, security, social services, agriculture, e-health, utilities, and municipalities.

During this period, our clients have included several ministries and organizations, such as:

• The Estonian Centre of Registers and Information Systems (RIK)
• The Ministry of Rural Affairs  
• The Ministry of Social Affairs
• The Ministry of Finance
• The Ministry of Internal Affairs
• Enterprise Estonia
• The National Electoral Committee
• The National Audit Office of Estonia
• The Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund
• The national power grid operator, Elering
• The Tallinn City Office
• The Bank of Estonia
• The Estonian Central Depository for Securities

Helping to create the e-Estonia we all know today

Helmes has been involved with several important projects to facilitate the process of Estonia becoming one of the most competitive countries in the world. We have delivered services such as solution design, software development, testing, and support during the projects. A list of all our projects regards creating solutions for the e-Estonia can be seen below:

The Estonian Centre of Registers and Information Systems

e-Notary and State Heritage Register

Estonian e-Notary and State Heritage infosystems. It is integrated into the Population Register, Business register, national ID services, and similar systems through the X-Road.

Criminal Records Database

Management of the criminal records process by officials, integration of records data to e-File system, presenting records data in public e-File portal. It is integrated into the Population Register, Business Register, national ID services, and similar systems through the X-Road.​

Criminal Probation IS

Management of persons and processes of criminal probation by officials. It is integrated into the Population Register, Business Register, national ID services, and similar through the X-Road.​ Services delivered: Solution design, software development, testing, and support.​

Enforcement Proceeding Register

Register for persons (courts, bailiffs, sentences, etc.), proceedings, processes, and documents related to court enforcement proceedings. It is integrated with various other public registers through the X-Road.​

e-File

e-File allows procedural parties (for example, citizens) and their representatives to electronically submit procedural documents to courts and observe the progress of the related proceedings. Integrated into the Population Register, Business Register, national ID services, etc., through the X-Road.​

State Portal (eesti.ee)

Support & development of the State Portal, eesti.ee, which is the main gateway for accessing Estonian public e-services by citizens and businesses. The state portal is the single access point to the vast majority of public e-services provided by state and municipal bodies and private data handlers. It is integrated into hundreds of X-Road services. ​

READ: Simplifying Personal Data Sharing Through a Universal Consent Service

The Ministry of Rural Affairs

Agricultural and Food Control IS

The National IS manages public control functions and processes of the Agriculture and Food Board, including controls and audits, material tests, licensing, certifications, various applications, etc. It is integrated into its client portal, document management system (DMS), national ID services, etc.​

Agricultural Register and Information Board

Client Register IS

Creation of an information system (e-PRIA) for managing the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) clients, as well as their submissions, applications, and registrations that apply to all types of state and European support programs for businesses and private manufacturers in the agricultural sector. It is integrated into the Population Register, Business Register, national ID services, etc., through the X-Road.​

Application Management core module

Creation of an information system for internal management and processing of applications to all types of state and European support programs for businesses and private manufacturers in the agricultural sector. ​

Forest auctioning IS

The business process management IS and a register for state forest auctions. It is integrated into departments’ other systems, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), banks, national ID services, etc. ​

Forest resources and logging management IS

The Business process management IS for the state forest inventory management and timber logging processes. It is integrated into departments’ other systems, national ID services, etc.

Forest Maintenance Works IS

The business process management IS for the state forest maintenance procurement and monitoring processes. It is integrated into FMC, other systems, national ID services, etc.

Budgeting IS

Creation of a budget planning and monitoring system for the whole organization. It is integrated into ERP, national ID services, etc. ​

Ministry of Social Affairs

National Electronic Health Record IS

Creation of an Electronic Health Record system for use by all citizens of Estonia. Secure IS contains information about personal health records from different sources. It is integrated into the Population Register, national ID services, IS of health service providers, and other eHealth systems through the X-Road.​

e-Prescription

The new e-Prescription system was designed as a centralized and paperless system to be used by all doctors, patients, and pharmacies.

Just 15 months after launch, 84 percent of prescriptions are issued digitally. More than 95 percent of pharmacies are ready to process e-Prescriptions. According to a survey of citizens’ satisfaction with health and health care in Estonia, 97 percent of users of digital prescriptions are satisfied with the service.

READ: Project Highlights: Estonian e-Prescription Software Development

Ministry of Finance

Public servant’s Self Service Portal

Creation of a system for all public sector employees (roughly 30,000) for managing their HR-related issues (vacations, travel, training, fixed assets, inventory, etc.).

State Budget planning IS

Developed a system for planning and managing the state budget by all public budget subjects (e.g., ministries), applications, amendments, etc. ​

Ministry of Internal Affairs

Border Control IS

Creation of an information system that manages border crossing and border Control procedures (including a personal data check) at all international checkpoints in Estonia.

Financial Control module and Automated Traffic Light Cameras module of Public Proceedings System

Creation of a system for managing different levels (court, municipal, etc.) of issued penalties, precepts, etc. The system is integrated into various X-Road services. 

Police IS

Support and development of various police info-system components. We have integrated the system into various MIA registers and other X-Road services. ​

Road Patrol Proceedings System

Developed a system for managing different legal proceedings (warnings, penalties, etc.) by police patrols in cars and other moving workstations. We have integrated the system into various MIA registers and other X-Road services.

TEPLA Resource Planning IS

Created a system for time and resource planning tasks based on the project and financial data from the budget managed by the Ministry of Finance. ​

Enterprise Estonia

Applications Management Portal

Established a self-service and BPM portal for managing various state and EU support and grant applications by Estonian and applicant businesses. This portal included a number of integrations.​

​Estonian National Electoral Committee

e-Elections IS Information module

Worked on an information management and distribution system for the Estonian national e-Elections IS. The system is still used in all local and parliamentary elections.​

​​National Audit Office of Estonia

DMS and Intranet for National Audit Office of Estonia

Developed a document management system and integrated Intranet solution​.

Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund

Enterprise Service Bus solution

Created an ESB solution for managing data exchange between two core systems and a self-service portal. The system included a file repository in the Amazon cloud and integrations to various X-Road services.

Self-Service Portal for Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund

Developed a self-service portal for unemployed persons (applications, reports, employment requests, CVs, consultations, etc.), Fund employees (process management, interviews, reports), and employers (job ads, trainings). The portal was integrated into various X-Road services. ​

READ: Digitalization of the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund

National Power Grid Operator

DMS and Intranet for National Power Grid Operator

Developed an industry-specific document management system and integrated Intranet solution for the Estonian national power grid operator.​

Tallinn City Office

Tallinn International Cooperation Projects IS

Worked on a system allowing handling information (funding applications, documents, reporting, etc.) related to international cooperation and investment projects. Integrations to SAP, DMS, HR systems, etc. ​

NGO Support IS for the Tallinn City Office

Developed a system allowing handling information (funding applications, documents, reporting, etc.) related to municipal support and grants for NGOs. ​

Municipal Proceedings Register

Created a data register and process management system for municipal misdemeanor proceedings. Integrated the system to various other state and municipal registers and the X-Road​.

READ: Public-Sector Digitalisation: How the City of Tallinn Digitised the Processing of Fines

Bank of Estonia

Data exchange between the Bank of Estonia and the European Central Bank

Created a technical message exchange monitoring and management solution for all external financial data exchange services (ECB, CashSSP, SWIFT). ​

Estonian Central Security Depository

Message orchestration for CSD

Created an Enterprise Service Bus solution for data exchange services between internal solutions, including the Central Security Depository and Estonian financial and controlling institutions.