Can a group of Caribbean islands become the Estonia of the region, looked up to on digital transformation and service delivery? E. Jay Saunders thinks so – for both citizens and businesses. He is the former Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance, Investment, and Trade of the Turks and Caicos Islands. And at the 10th e-Governance Conference, by all rights took part in a panel on enlightened digital leadership.

In this episode, Saunders takes us through what digitalisation means for small countries in the area. Between breaking down barriers to better access digital markets, and providing citizens with a 24/7 experience of government that has nothing to envy from what they see in countries – on paper and volume of state revenue – with larger availability of resources and capital.

"2024 is the biggest election year in human history. Half of the world’s population – some 3.7 billion people – have the opportunity to vote this year across 72 countries.” So notes Merle Maigre, Head of Cybersecurity at e-Governance Academy, on host duties for this podcast episode on securing elections.“Voting is at the very heart of democracy, making it vital that we safeguard the integrity of elections.” October, being Cybersecurity Awareness Month, provides the perfect backdrop to discuss these issues. Maigre is joined in the conversation by Priit Vinkel, Senior Expert at e-Governance Academy and former head of the State Electoral Office, and Tonu Tammer, former head of Estonia's CERT and Associated Expert of e-Governance Academy.
Elections are no longer solely about paper ballots and polling stations with sliding curtains. So what to look out for, in order to safeguard them in the digital era?

In Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan is advancing fast in digital development. A series of initiatives in the last ten years significantly brought the country forward in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. However, the transformation does not stop there.

With support from both the population and high-level decision-makers, digital leaders in the country have the opportunity (and full legitimacy) to look further ahead. Nuria Kutnaeva, Minister of Digital Development of Kyrgyzstan, tells us in this podcast episode where the country is at – and where it is headed next.