Arvo Ott joined the e-Governance Academy in November 2005. His main responsibilities include the e-governance studies and consultations (aspects of central e-government coordination), training programmes and general management.

Prior to joining the academy, Arvo served as the Head of Department of State Information Systems (head of e-government office) at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for more than 12 years. He was responsible for the Estonian information society and e-government strategy planning and implementation.

For the last several years Arvo has taken part in many international projects and programmes on e-governance – information society policy and e-participation advice, e-government interoperability aspects and more.

Arvo has been awarded the Estonian Order of Merit of the White Star IV Class (2014).

Arvo speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and Russian.

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Hannes Astok is an enthusiastic speaker for the information society, especially promoting the role of local governments and challenges of mobile governance and new technologies in government.

Hannes is Deputy Director for Strategy and Development at the e-Governance Academy. As a senior expert, he provides training and consultancy for governments in Central Asia, Caucasus, South-East Europe, Middle East, Africa and other transition regions. During the last years, he has been working closely with the governments of Ukraine, Namibia, Moldova, Palestine, Georgia, and Mauritius, among others.

Hannes served as Member of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) in 2007-2011, where he mainly dealt with the development of information society and issues related to regulation of intellectual property and electronic communication. Prior to that, in 1997-2005 Hannes worked for the City of Tartu as Deputy Mayor. Today Tartu is one of the world’s leading cities in e-governance, providing its citizens and businesses with a wide variety of Internet and mobile services.

In 2012-13, Hannes was Adviser to the President of Estonia on Information Society development.

He started his political career in Tartu, working for the decade for the City of Tartu as Deputy Mayor.  Today Tartu is one of the world’s leading cities in e-governance, providing for citizens and businesses wide variety of Internet and mobile phone based services.

Hannes holds a journalism and public relations degree from Tartu University.

Hannes speaks Estonian, English, Russian and Finnish.

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Linnar is one of the founders of Estonian e-Governance Academy and Programme Director of Smart Governance.

Linnar has advised Estonian and many other governments on ICT and innovation policy and is recognised as an IT visionary. He has been instrumental in the rapid development of Estonian computer and network infrastructure, as well as the Estonian internet voting and electronic signature projects.

Linnar lectures innovation management at Tartu University. In 2019, Linnar Viik elected Chairman of EIT Digital Council.

He’s a former executive at several mobile communications, broadband and software companies such as Skype and Fortumo, advisor at the Nordic Investment Bank, and Board Member of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology.

Linnar is co-founder and member of the board of the mobile services and software development company Mobi Solutions and the start-up Pocopay.

Linnar speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and Russian.

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Tõnis Mäe works at the e-Governance Academy as Programme Director of Technology. Tõnis has more than 15 years of experience as a project and business development manager in different IT companies. He has an excellent track record in managing complicated information exchange and interoperability projects and development of e-products in Estonia and in the Middle East region.

He was responsible for the Estonian National Health Information Exchange (HIE) implementation project (successfully implemented in 2008) and participated in the national e-health strategy development. Moreover, Tõnis managed the development of new e-health products based on the Estonian National HIE and the e-Ambulance solution.

Tõnis has significant experience in managing international IT projects. In 2014 – 2016 he led the Court Information System implementation in Iraq. The project was a turnkey solution, which comprised mapping business requirements and system analysis as well as infrastructure and software development.

He holds a Master’s degree in physics from the University of Tartu and complemented his management skills at Henley Management College (UK).

Tõnis speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and Russian.

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Kristina Reinsalu is Programme Director of e-Democracy at the e-Governance Academy. She has been involved in several local and international research and implementation projects related to open governance and the use of ICT in implementing its principles, focusing on e-participation and its implementation at the local level. She was also researcher and lecturer on social communication at the Institute of Media and Communication at the University of Tartu.

Kristina’s latest projects include promoting open governance in countries such as Estonia, Georgia and Moldova, consulting the City of Tartu on participatory budgeting, and working on the “Electoral Compass” produced for Estonia’s parliamentary elections. In addition, she has contributed to several publications, e.g. the “Situation Review on e-Democracy and Cyber Security in Eastern Partnership Countries.

Kristina holds an MA in Public Relations and a PhD in Media and Communications. Her articles have been published in various international scientific journals and newspapers.

Kristina speaks Estonian, English, Spanish, German and Russian.

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Epp Maaten is Programme Director of National Cyber Security at the e-Governance Academy.

Epp Maaten has 20 years of experience from Estonian public sector institutions. She worked as Advisor and Deputy Head of the Electronic Voting Committee.

She has advised the President of Estonia and the Chancellor of Justice on information society related matters. Previously Epp served at Estonian Information System Authority and managed governmental policy and projects concerning critical infrastructure protection and IT risk management. Epp has been also auditor at Eesti Energia and National Audit Office. Until 2007, she coordinated the IT projects of the National Electoral Committee, including Internet voting.

She is a certified IT auditor (CISA) and graduated from the IT College of Tallinn University of Technology as an IT systems administrator and reached a master degree in public administration.

Epp speaks Estonian, English and German.

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Annela Kiirats has been the Programme Director of e-Governance Trainings at the e-Governance Academy since 2004, sharing her knowledge on the workings of e-governance and e-democracy with senior specialists and managers from the public sector and politicians from various different countries, as well as with NGOs.

In addition to developing and conducting tailor-made training programmes and organising seminars both in Estonia and in beneficiary countries, she leads international cooperation projects and lectures on e-government and its components, as well as on e-services in the government.

In 2002-2003, Annela worked for the Estonian Newspaper Association.

Annela obtained her Master’s degree from the Department of Informatics at Tallinn University of Technology in 2005.

She speaks Estonian, English and some Russian.

Linnar is one of the founders of Estonian e-Governance Academy and Programme Director of Smart Governance.

Linnar has advised Estonian and many other governments on ICT and innovation policy and is recognised as an IT visionary. He has been instrumental in the rapid development of Estonian computer and network infrastructure, as well as the Estonian internet voting and electronic signature projects.

Linnar lectures innovation management at Tartu University. In 2019, Linnar Viik elected Chairman of EIT Digital Council.

He’s a former executive at several mobile communications, broadband and software companies such as Skype and Fortumo, advisor at the Nordic Investment Bank, and Board Member of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology.

Linnar is co-founder and member of the board of the mobile services and software development company Mobi Solutions and the start-up Pocopay.

Linnar speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and Russian.

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Mari Pedak joined the e-Governance Academy in September 2012. As a senior expert she is charged with the tasks of planning and implementing e-government and e-identity programme activities, participating in related international projects and consulting in the fields of e-government and e-identity in many countries and on many international programmes.

Previously, she was a leading civil servant in the Estonian government for 22 years, also working as Director General of the Citizenship and Migration Board for many years. Under her leadership and participation, Estonia’s identity and authentication policies were developed and a digital identity card was introduced in 2002. In 2007, the consolidation of the ICT services of the Ministry of the Interior was carried out and the largest ICT authority in the Estonian public sector – the ICT and Development Centre of the Ministry of the Interior – was created under her leadership.

Mari speaks Estonian, English and Russian.

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Katrin Nyman-Metcalf works as Senior Expert of Legal Framework at the Estonian e-Governance Academy and as Adjunct Professor of Communications Law at the Department of Law, School of Business and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology.

She is also involved in international consultancy, primarily in the area of information and communication technology law, including e-governance. Her projects include regular legal analysis of media and communications legislation for e.g. the OSCE and the European Commission; work on setting up regulatory systems and professional training, especially for post-conflict societies; and support for e-governance.

Katrin’s PhD in Public International Law (the law of outer space) (1999) and her Master’s degree (1986) are both from the University of Uppsala in Sweden. Her research interests include how law and technology meet, with a special emphasis on IT and communications, as well as outer space; international (global and regional) decision-making and the changing structure of governance; the implementation of human rights; and the rule of law. She has published widely on these and related topics.

Katrin speaks Estonian, English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish and some Bosnian.

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Tiina is responsible for managing eGA´s client relations and developing cooperation projects. She has also been involved as an expert in digital transformation projects, helping clients to find the best solutions for their e-governance roadmaps.

Previously, she has worked in different roles in both the private and the public sector – for sales and marketing activities, carrying out different cooperation projects and being responsible for event management.

Tiina has a BA degree in public administration from Tallinn University and an MBA in European economics and politics from University College Dublin. She speaks Estonian, English and Russian.

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Marit Lani develops and manages international cooperation projects at the e-Governance Academy. She has been involved in creating national digital governance roadmaps and implementing interoperability frameworks. She also manages the National Cyber Security Index database and coordinates communication with stakeholders.

In addition, she is responsible for the coordination of the quality management system (ISO 9001:2015) and the implementation of the document management system at eGA.

In her previous jobs, she gained a comprehensive understanding of European cooperation programmes. Working at the Ministry of the Interior, she was involved in preparing various European territorial cooperation programmes at the national level and was in charge of the related communication activities. Afterwards, she moved to Germany to work for the INTERREG IVC programme as an information point coordinator, providing advice to applicants on project development, assessing applications and monitoring approved projects. She also coordinated the e-government services project cluster and implemented the programme’s communication strategy.

Marit holds a Master‘s degree in Public Management from the University of Tartu.

Marit speaks Estonian, English and Finnish as well as some German and French.

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Merle Pormeister works as Client Relations Expert at eGA.

Tõnis Mäe works at the e-Governance Academy as Programme Director of Technology. Tõnis has more than 15 years of experience as a project and business development manager in different IT companies. He has an excellent track record in managing complicated information exchange and interoperability projects and development of e-products in Estonia and in the Middle East region.

He was responsible for the Estonian National Health Information Exchange (HIE) implementation project (successfully implemented in 2008) and participated in the national e-health strategy development. Moreover, Tõnis managed the development of new e-health products based on the Estonian National HIE and the e-Ambulance solution.

Tõnis has significant experience in managing international IT projects. In 2014 – 2016 he led the Court Information System implementation in Iraq. The project was a turnkey solution, which comprised mapping business requirements and system analysis as well as infrastructure and software development.

He holds a Master’s degree in physics from the University of Tartu and complemented his management skills at Henley Management College (UK).

Tõnis speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and Russian.

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Uuno Vallner has been the initiator of several key e-government projects for Estonia, including the X-Road, the eesti.ee state portal, internet elections and the open data portal. Several information policy documents have been drafted under his aegis, including interoperability frameworks and the green book on open data. He has represented Estonia in the e-government working group of the European Commission, in the working groups of the ISA European interoperability programme and in European working groups on open data. Uuno is TOGAF certified architect, member of Association of Enterprise Architects.

Uuno graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Tartu and received a degree in technical sciences from the Soviet Academy of Science in Moscow. He has worked in the Institute of Information, the Government Office and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

In 2017, the President of Estonia awarded Uuno Vallner the Order of the White Star for outstanding achievements in advancing Information Technology and e-government in Estonia.

He speaks Estonian, Russian and English.

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Kristina Reinsalu is Programme Director of e-Democracy at the e-Governance Academy. She has been involved in several local and international research and implementation projects related to open governance and the use of ICT in implementing its principles, focusing on e-participation and its implementation at the local level. She was also researcher and lecturer on social communication at the Institute of Media and Communication at the University of Tartu.

Kristina’s latest projects include promoting open governance in countries such as Estonia, Georgia and Moldova, consulting the City of Tartu on participatory budgeting, and working on the “Electoral Compass” produced for Estonia’s parliamentary elections. In addition, she has contributed to several publications, e.g. the “Situation Review on e-Democracy and Cyber Security in Eastern Partnership Countries.

Kristina holds an MA in Public Relations and a PhD in Media and Communications. Her articles have been published in various international scientific journals and newspapers.

Kristina speaks Estonian, English, Spanish, German and Russian.

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Liia works at the e-Governance Academy as a Senior Expert on e-democracy. In 2005-2015, she managed the e-democracy domain at eGA, which aims to improve and update the functional mechanisms of democracy in society and state governance with the help of ICT. Liia is actively involved in the Estonian civic society.

Liia has a PhD in Physics from Tartu University. She worked for 20 years as an astrophysicist at Tartu Observatory before transitioning from a scientific career to politics in 1990, when she was elected to both the Supreme Council and Congress of Estonia. She worked closely on issues related to the restoration of Estonian statehood as a member of working groups and was the chair of the editing committee of the Constitutional Assembly. She was elected as an Member of Parliament in the 7^th, 8^th and 9^th parliament of Estonia. From 1992 to 1995, she was the minister responsible for the implementation of ownership reforms.

Liia speaks Estonian, English and Russian.

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Jelizaveta Krenjova-Cepilova has been working at the e-Governance Academy since 2009. In the early years, she was involved in the preparation of project proposals, provided support for conducting international conferences, seminars and study tours for foreign delegations. In 2012-2016, she managed a large local government project in Ukraine, which focused on the strategic support to e-governance development and on the implementation of technical e-government e-solutions in four cities and one regional state administration in Western part of the country. Apart from the e-government projects, Jelizaveta is also involved in the work of e-democracy programme of e-Governance Academy, providing advice in the field of e-participation instruments.

Jelizaveta’s PhD degree is from the Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance at Tallinn University of Technology. Her research interests comprise participatory instruments at the local level, with a special focus on participatory budgeting. She writes and publishes articles on the applicability of the different models of participatory budgeting, and on the implementation of this participatory tool in Estonia. Her PhD thesis “Participatory Budgeting: Theoretical Models and Applicability in Estonia and Beyond” is available here.

Jelizaveta is a native Russian speaker, she is fluent in English and Estonian, and knows basic German.

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Epp Maaten is Programme Director of National Cyber Security at the e-Governance Academy.

Epp Maaten has 20 years of experience from Estonian public sector institutions. She worked as Advisor and Deputy Head of the Electronic Voting Committee.

She has advised the President of Estonia and the Chancellor of Justice on information society related matters. Previously Epp served at Estonian Information System Authority and managed governmental policy and projects concerning critical infrastructure protection and IT risk management. Epp has been also auditor at Eesti Energia and National Audit Office. Until 2007, she coordinated the IT projects of the National Electoral Committee, including Internet voting.

She is a certified IT auditor (CISA) and graduated from the IT College of Tallinn University of Technology as an IT systems administrator and reached a master degree in public administration.

Epp speaks Estonian, English and German.

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Radu Serrano develops and manages projects at the e-Governance Academy. His responsibilities include managing and updating the National Cyber Security Index database, and maintaining communications with its various stakeholders. He has also contributed to the establishment of an anti-corruption web platform in Moldova, and to the analysis of Moldovan governmental e-services for the private sector. In addition, he is responsible for providing translation and language localisation to various project documents and publications.

Previously, Radu served at the Panamanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, where he contributed to the content of international trade treaties, and assisted with the establishment of businesses in the Republic of Panama, respectively. He also worked as a Trade Specialist at the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AmCham), authoring multiple ‘Doing Business’ reports, and advising the private sector on all matters pertaining to Panama, the U.S. and their commercial relations.

Over the past years, he has researched e-government topics such as Internet voting and the use of artificial intelligence in the government. Radu holds a joint Master‘s degree in Public Sector Innovation and eGovernance from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, University of Münster and Tallinn University of Technology.

Radu speaks English, Spanish, French, Romanian and Italian.

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Annela Kiirats has been the Programme Director of e-Governance Trainings at the e-Governance Academy since 2004, sharing her knowledge on the workings of e-governance and e-democracy with senior specialists and managers from the public sector and politicians from various different countries, as well as with NGOs.

In addition to developing and conducting tailor-made training programmes and organising seminars both in Estonia and in beneficiary countries, she leads international cooperation projects and lectures on e-government and its components, as well as on e-services in the government.

In 2002-2003, Annela worked for the Estonian Newspaper Association.

Annela obtained her Master’s degree from the Department of Informatics at Tallinn University of Technology in 2005.

She speaks Estonian, English and some Russian.

Triinu Raigna helps arrange e-Governance Academy training programs and organises e-Governance Conference. Moreover, she provides support for the implementation of e-Governance Academy’s international cooperation projects.

Previously she worked for over 10 years in the ICT sector as sales manager and project manager in the field of training and conferences, where she mediated different topics for ICT specialists and government officials.

Triinu has a diploma in psychology from the University of Tartu and has furthered her knowledge in the field of accounting and project management.

She speaks Estonian, English and Russian.

Anneli Piirat works as Project Manager at e-Governance Academy. She helps to arrange e-Governance Academy’s trainings and organise the e-Governance Conference.

She has worked in different roles in both the private and the public sector, helping to establish business contacts between Estonia and Germany and organising various events.

Anneli has a BA degree in German language from Tallinn University. In addition, she has studied business administration and accounting.

Anneli speaks Estonian, German and English.

Monika Lekić has been with the e-Governance Academy since 2004. Her main responsibilities regard the development of projects. She is the co-author of several handbooks in the field of e-government which provide guidelines and advice to government institutions, at both the central and local levels, on how to accomplish reform agendas through the use of ICT.

Monika has extensive skills and knowledge in the field of training needs assessment and the development of e-government training curricula for senior government officials.

In addition, Monika has been on several shorter and longer-term assignments as an e-government and capacity-building expert on foreign cooperation projects funded by various donors (the EU, World Bank, USAID, UNDP, SIDA, etc.). She obtained her MBA from Tallinn University of Technology.

Monika speaks Estonian, English and Serbian as well as basic German and Russian.

Margareta works as a Project Development Expert at eGA. She has 20 years of business development, sales, training and partner management experience in the IT industry. In addition, she has worked as a freelance translator and localized software.

Margareta has studied at the Estonian Institute of Humanities, where her major was British studies. She has also participated in many extensive sales and management training programmes.

Margareta speaks Estonian, English, Finnish, Swedish and Russian.

Anu Vahtra-Hellat is the Communication Manager at the e-Governance Academy. She is responsible for media relations, external and internal communication and brand communication.

Anu has more than ten years of experience in communication and PR, mainly from the field of telecommunications and finance, and more than six years of experience and practice in internal communication.

Previously, she was a senior consultant at the Tallinn office of Hill and Knowlton, advising clients on corporate communication. For four years, Anu managed the communication activities of the insurance company ERGO Kindlustus, where she consulted the management, coordinated the company’s pan-Baltic internal communication projects and media activities and managed internal communication.

In 1999-2007 Anu worked at the Estonia’s leading telecommunications company Eesti Telefon (later Elion Ettevõtted). During her time there, she worked first as spokesperson, then as editor of the customer journal, and later, for four years, as the Internal Communication Manager.

She holds a Master’s degree in Communication Management from the University of Tartu.

Anu speaks Estonian, English, Finnish, Russian and basic German.

Helen Aasa is responsible for keeping our partners updated with the latest news via videos, photos and graphics and developing our communication channels. Helen’s previous experience is diverse — she’s been a news reporter and programme producer in a radio station, done direct sales in the United States of America, managed creative projects in youth organisation AIESEC and in an ad agency, and been involved in organising culture events in Estonia.

Helen has a BA degree in Journalism and Communication from the University of Tartu.

She speaks Estonian and English.

Aile Kullerkupp works as Chief Financial and Administrative Officer at e-Governance Academy since 2007. Aile has many years of experience in the financial management and accounting of non-profit organisations.

Previously she spent eight years as the Finance Manager of the Estonian Institute for Sustainable Development (the Tallinn-based centre of the Stockholm Environment Institute) and as an accountant with the Estonian Association for Environmental Management. In the e-Governance Academy she is responsible for everyday accounting and deals with financial management, budgeting, project reporting and financial supervision. She also drafts offers, manages projects and talks to financiers, auditors and other project parties.

Aile has worked with various financiers, including the European Commission, the Office of Development Cooperation of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Information System Authority of Estonia, Enterprise Estonia, the Open Estonia Foundation and the UNDP.

Aile is a graduate of the Estonian Business School and Tallinn Secondary School of Commerce. She is fluent in Estonian, English and Finnish and speaks conversational Russian.

Maarja Ulman works as Project Financial Manager at e-Governance Academy. Her tasks include preparation of financial reports, project budgeting and supervision.

Maarja obtained her Bachelor’s degree in accounting and business management at the Tallinn College of Tallinn University of Technology. She has also studied biology at Tartu University and cultural management at Tallinn University, and is a certified professional secretary.

Maarja speaks Estonian and English.

Liis Saat is responsible for projects financial management at the e-Governance Academy. Her tasks include preparation of financial reports, project budgeting and supervision. Liis has prior work experience in accounting in the real estate sector.

Liis has a BA in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Tartu and has improved her professional skills by attending several accounting and financial courses.

Liis is speaks Estonian and English.

Evelin Sõluste is responsible for HR and the day-to-day management of the e-Governance Academy’s office.

Siim Raie is the Director General at National Heritage Board of Estonia. Previously he worked as Director of the Office of the President of the Republic of Estonia and before that led the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Paul Timmers is the Member of eGA’s Supervisory Board since 2019. He is visiting research fellow at the University of Oxford, visiting professor at Rijeka University, Senior Advisor to the European Policy Centre and Chief Adviser to the European Institute of Technology and Health.

Until 2017, he was director at the European Commission for e‑government, digital health & ageing, smart cities/mobility/energy, cybersecurity and digital privacy. He was interim member of the EC’s impact assessment board and cabinet member of European Commissioner Erkki Liikanen.

In 2003, he led the work on the first European e-Government strategy.

Paul was manager in a large ICT company and co-founded an ICT start-up.

Paul holds a PhD in physics from Nijmegen University, NL (1985); an MBA from Warwick University, UK (1998); an EU fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill (2009); with executive cybersecurity education at Harvard, USA (2014).

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Andre Krull is the Member of the Supervisory Board. He works as a Senior Partner and a member of the Executive Management Board at Nortal and has been with the company since its early days in the beginning of 2000s. As a business unit manager and COO formerly, he has played an integral role in shaping Nortal into a multinational strategic change and technology company operating in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the U.S. Andre has been personally involved in the build-up of many transformational Estonian e-government projects, the healthcare systems in Estonia and Lithuania, and delivery of public finance management projects internationally.

Margus Kolga is the Member of eGA’s Supervisory Board since 2019. He is an Estonian diplomat and the Head of the UN Security Council Campaign Task Force at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia.

From 2010 to 2015 he served as the Permanent Representative of Estonia to the United Nations.

From 2007 to 2010 Margus worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia as the Director General of the 1st Political Department (Security Policy and International Organisations).

From 2006 to 2011 he held the post of Academic Director for the Estonian State Defence Course.

From 2003 to 2007 he worked as a senior research fellow in the Baltic Defence College and was responsible for the organising and support of the newly established Higher Command Studies Course (HCSC).

From 1992 to 2003 Margus worked in Ministry of Defence of Estonia in different positions and was actively involved in Estonia’s NATO integration process and headed the Governmental Interagency Task Force for NATO membership.

He graduated from Tartu University‘s Faculty of History in 1992.

Margus Kolga is decorated with the Order of the White Star Fourth Class and the Service Cross of the Ministry of Defence First Class.

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