Estonia to construct secure data exchange layer X-Road for Namibia

The X-Road will enable Namibian public sector institutions to make secure, Internet-based crossover use of data from different institutions and to develop e-services for the country’s residents and companies.

The agreement was signed by Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Bureau of Namibia Nangula Mbako and Hannes Astok, a member of the board of the e-Governance Academy. Involved in the development of the information system on the Estonian side will be the e-Governance Academy and Cybernetica AS, with input from a number of other technology firms.

 “It’s really gratifying that the SDSB technology Cybernetica developed, and which forms the basis of Estonia’s X-Road, is finding use in more and more countries, particularly when that’s in cooperation with the e-Governance Academy,” said Oliver Väärtnõu, chairman of the management board of Cybernetica AS.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs began showcasing the Estonian e-state in Africa several years ago. At a meeting of Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas and Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba in April the decision was taken to launch practical cooperation, which is being financed by the Namibian government. Estonia has also assisted in the development of an information system similar to the X-Road in Azerbaijan and is currently helping Palestine on this issue.

Established in 2002 with the support of the Estonian government, the United Nations Development Programme and the Estonian Institute for Open Society Research, the e-Governance Academy is a development and analysis centre for the information society. Its aim is to shape the ICT field into an analysis and competence centre in Europe and to ensure the sharing of Estonia’s e-state experience and the sustainable development of the information society through training, research and cooperation networks.