|
E-residency of Estonia (or virtual residency) is a status by which non-residents can gain a secure digital identity issued by Estonia, similar to those that are provided to permanent residents and citizens of Estonia by their ID card. This enables them to use the services provided by Estonian state agencies and private sector connected usually to the ID card. Estonia established e-residency on December 1, 2014. The first e-resident of Estonia was British journalist Edward Lucas from The Economist; the first one to gain e-residency through the usual process was Hamid Tahsildoost from United States.〔(President Ilves annab täna üle esimese e-residendi kaardi ) Estonian Development Foundation, 1 Dec 2014 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕〔(Eesti avab 2014. aasta lõpus oma e-teenused ülejäänud maailmale ) Majandus- ja kommunikatsiooniministeerium (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕〔(Milliste hüvede osaliseks saab Eesti esimene e-resident Edward Lucas? ) Eesti Päevaleht, 29 Nov 2014 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕〔 As of the end of January 2015, e-residents are able to make digital signatures, encrypt documents, use Estonia's state portal (eesti.ee ), found enterprises in Estonia, provide reports to Estonian Tax and Customs Board and E-Business Register, fill Estonian tax declarations on the Internet, and use Estonian online banking systems. It is thought that e-residency might be most useful for the entrepreneurs, as it is customary in Estonia to provide services and paperwork online, registering a new enterprise can be done quickly online and there is no income tax for enterprises.〔(E-residency – up against great expectations ) E-Estonia.com, 13.01.2015 (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕〔Hans Lõugas (Taavi Kotka: e-residentsus on üksnes vahend, vaja on paremat majanduskeskkonda ) Eesti Päevaleht, 14 Oct 2014 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕〔Rein Lang (E-residentsus kui uus võimalus arendada ettevõtlust ) MTÜ Liberalismi Akadeemia, 28 Jan 2015 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕〔(Which services can I use as an e-Resident? ) E-Estonia.com (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 E-residency is not equivalent to citizenship or permanent residency. It does not give the right to participate in elections, or to enter Estonia or the European Union without a visa. It has also been stated that e-residency is a privilege, not a right; therefore, Estonia will screen the applicants and reserve the right to refuse an application.〔〔(Isikut tõendavad dokumendid ja nende taotlemine ) Eesti.ee (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 E-residents gain a digital ID card issued by the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board. Application is made on-line, but issuance of the card requires that the applicant visit an office of the Police and Border Guard Board in Estonia or an Estonian embassy or consulate where they can be identified physically. As the digital ID card is not an accepted travel document, it does not have the owner's photo on it.〔(How do I apply? ) E-Estonia.com (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕〔Heikki Aasaru (Taavi Kotka: e-residentsus on hüve, mitte õigus ) ERR, 26.11.2014 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 The project of e-residency is led by Taavi Kotka, the vice chancellor of communications and state information systems in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, one of the founders of Skype.〔("Eesti infoühiskonna arengukava 2020" ), pp. 2, 15, 22 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 Although the idea of issuing ID cards to non-residents has been discussed at least from 2007 or 2008〔〔Kalev Kallemets (E-residentsus aitab välisinvestoreid Eestisse ) Läänlane, 18 Sept 2014 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 and proposed again in 2012 by Estonian cybersecurity expert Anto Veldre,〔Anto Veldre (Infoühiskonnast hereetiliselt ) Postimees, 9 Nov 2012 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 the concrete proposal ("10 million e-residents by 2025") was presented by Taavi Kotka, Ruth Annus, and Siim Sikkut on an idea contest by Estonian Development Foundation in 2014. The project was initiated with the prize money from the contest. It is developed by a state-owned foundation, Enterprise Estonia.〔Indrek Kald (Arengufondi ideekonkursil kolm võitjat" ) Äripäev, 12 June 2014 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕〔("10 miljoni eestlase" idee pääses Arengufondi konkursi kolme võitja sekka ) ERR, 12 June 2014 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 The leader of the project, Taavi Kotka has stated that while the further goal of the project would be to gain millions of e-residents, its practical purpose would be to increase the number of active enterprises in Estonia. For that, it will be important that private sector would develop concrete services on the legal and technical platform provided by e-residency, while the state would continue developing the legal framework according to the needs of the enterprises.〔〔Taavi Kotka (Kui seda ei tee Eesti, siis teeb seda keegi teine ) Memokraat, 13 Oct 2014 (in Estonian)(Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 It has also been discussed in Estonian media that e-residency could be used to spread knowledge about Estonian culture online to develop cultural export.〔Ülo Pikkov (E-residentsus ja Eesti virtuaalne kultuuriruum ) Sirp, 16 Jan 2015 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 By January 18, 2015, there were applications from 225 countries, most of them from Finland (224), Russia (109), Latvia (38), the United States (34) and Great Britain (22).〔(Kas e-residentsus toob rohkem venelasi Eestisse kinnisvara ostma? ) Äripäev (in Estonian), 06.02.2015 (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 In general e-residency project has gained positive reviews in the media, being recognized for its innovativeness and potential.〔Kaupo Kask (Mida kujutab endast e-residentsus? ) Advokaadibüroo Biin & Biin (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕〔(Üks küsimus ) Äripäev, 15 Dec 2014 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 Estonia's former Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi has noted that it is yet unclear how e-residency would bring capital to Estonia.〔(Ligi: on ebaselge, kuidas e-residentsus raha sisse toob ) Postimees, 6 Dec 2014 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 8, 2015)〕 It has also been warned by the legal experts that e-residency might create some risk of double taxation, as this is a completely new legal status that has not been considered in the framework of existing international agreements to avoid double taxation.〔Kärt Anna Maire Kelder (E-residentsuse varjatud karid ehk mis juhtub teisest riigist juhitud äriühinguga ) Eesti Päevaleht, 29 Nov 2014 (in Estonian) (Accessed on February 6, 2015)〕 There has been international interest in different countries, with the issue being covered by media in the United States (The Atlantic,〔Uri Friedman (The World Now Has Its First E-Resident ) The Atlantic, Dec 1 2014 (Accessed on February 8, 2015)〕 The Wall Street Journal,〔Liis Kängsepp (Estonia to Offer ‘E-Residency’ to Foreigners ) The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 21, 2014 (Accessed on February 8, 2015)〕 Ars Technica〔Cyrus Farivar (Estonia wants to give us all digital ID cards, make us “e-residents” ) Ars Technica, December 8, 2014 (Accessed on October 26, 2015)〕〔Cyrus Farivar (I’m now an Estonian e-resident, but I still don’t know what to do with it ) Ars Technica, August 22, 2015 (Accessed on October 26, 2015)〕), United Kingdom (The Guardian,〔Nabeelah Shabbir (Estonia offers e-residency to foreigners ) The Guardian, 26 December 2014 (Accessed on February 8, 2015)〕〔Anthony Cuthbertson (Estonia First Country to Offer E-Residency Digital Citizenship ) International Business Times, October 7, 2014 (Accessed on February 8, 2015)〕 Wired UK〔Ben Hammersley (Why you should be an e-resident of Estonia ) July 2015 (Accessed on October 15, 2015)〕), Finland (Helsinki Times〔), Australia (ABC〔Kirsten Drysdale (Estonia offers e-residency to allow non-citizens access to government services and business online ) ABC, 25 Nov 2014 (Accessed on February 8, 2015)〕), Italy (Wired.it〔Mila Ligugnana (e-residency: residenza virtuale e digitale, in Estonia è già realtà ) Wired.it, ottobre 17, 2014 (in Italian) (Accessed on February 8, 2015)〕) etc. In neighbouring Finland, it has elicited some fear that e-residency might give Finnish enterprises an urge to move to Estonia.〔Merle Must (Estonian e-residency attracts Finnish businessmen ) Helsinki Times, 12 Dec 2014 (Accessed on February 8, 2015)〕 ==See also== *Digital signature in Estonia *e-Estonia *E-Governance *E-Government 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「E-residency of Estonia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|