Meet the team
The digital transformation of a country requires teamwork at the highest level.
At eGA you have access to expert professionals from government, academia and the private sector. Work with eGA on your digital transformation challenges and you will discover a support team with extensive international experience of the issues you face today: planning, implementing and managing various digital transformation initiatives.
Your team will include former senior Estonian government decision-makers: people with significant expertise in digital transformation, gained since the creation of e-Estonia. You will be working with hands-on digital transformation practitioners with a remarkable track record.
View our digital transformation success stories
In addition to our in-house team, eGA engages experts from a range of fields including the modernisation and automation of public sector fiscal administration; land administration, public tenders, mobile ID implementation, cyber security, e-government services and solutions implementation, and so on.
If you are ready to move forward on the path to more effective and transparent governance, then we are ready to share our expertise and best practice in digital transformation with you.
Let’s talk. Contact an eGA expert for an initial discussion about your challenges.
Supervisory Board
Dr. Christine Leitner is Senior Advisor and co-founder of the recently established Centre for Economics and Public Administration (CEPA) in London.
Since 2013 she has been a Senior Policy Advisor at the Austrian Ministry of Science Research and Economy in Vienna in the field of export and investment policy.
From 2006 to 2013 she headed the Center for European Public Administration (CEPA) at Danube University, Austria, where she focused on innovation in the public sector and international good practice exchange.
From 2002 to 2010 she was the Director of the European e-Government Awards, a ‘lighthouse’ project initiated and funded by the European Commission.
From 1997 to 2006 she was Senior Lecturer at the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht. Previously, she headed the European integration unit at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
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 Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
M: + 372 508 2121 / E: ivar.tallo@gmail.com / S: ivartallo
Ivar Tallo
Independent Consultant
Founder of e-Governance Academy
Member of the Supervisory Board
Ivar Tallo is one of the founders and a Member of the Supervisory Board of the e-Governance Academy. In the latter role he has promoted the use of information and communication technologies to public sector leaders in Central and Eastern European countries, the Balkans, the CIS, Arab countries and Africa. He has given e-government lectures to the presidents of Kazakhstan and Armenia, the cabinets and ministers of Uzbekistan, Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Northern Cyprus, Palestine, Namibia and Rwanda, and speakers and MPs from Macedonia, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan.
Ivar Tallo has been a Member of Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament) and Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He has also worked as a lecturer on public policy and public administration at Tartu University.
Mr Tallo is the author of the Basic Principles of Information Policy of Estonia, Code of Conduct for Civil Servants and co-author Public Information Act.
Ivar Tallo has served as a regional ICTD advisor for the Bratislava Center of the UNDP and been seconded by Estonian government to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research where he was the manager for the e-governance programme.
He initiated a transfer of highly successful Estonian educational ICT programme Tiger Leap to Georgia after the Rose revolution with the financial help of the US Embassy in Tallinn and Estonian MFA.
Most recently Mr Tallo was a team leader of the EU funded twinning project Strengthening e-Governance in Georgia II.
Ivar speaks Estonian, English, German and Russian.
Mait Heidelberg is Advisor to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia.
Management Board
Arvo Ott (PhD)
Executive Director
Chairman of the Management Board
Arvo Ott joined the e-Governance Academy in November 2005. His main responsibilities include the coordination of central e-government domain, e-governance studies (aspects of central e-government and e-democracy), 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 with the Estonian Order of Merit of the White Star IV Class (2014).
Arvo speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and Russian.
Hannes Astok
Director for Development and Strategy
Member of the Management Board
Programme Director of Smart Cities and Regions
Hannes Astok is a enthusiastic speaker for the information society, especially promoting the role of local governments and challenges of the mobile governance and new technologies in government.
Hannes is a senior expert and Deputy Director for Strategy and Development in Estonian e-Governance Academy, providing 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 governments of Ukraine, Namibia, Moldova, Palestine, Georgia, Mauritius, among others.
Hannes is a former Member of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) 2007-2011 and Deputy Mayor of Estonia’s second largest city, Tartu 1997-2005. As an MP he dealt mainly with the development of the information society and issues related to the regulation of intellectual property and electronic communication issues.
2012-13 Hannes was Adviser to the President of Estonia about the 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 the degree from Tartu University in journalism and public relations.
Hannes speaks Estonian, English, Russian and Finnish.
Programme Directors
Linnar Viik
Co-Founder
Programme Director of Smart Government
Linnar is one of the founders of Estonian e-Governance Academy and Programme Director of Smart Government
Linnar has been advising Estonian and many other governments on ICT and innovation policy and recognised as 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.
He’s a former executive at several mobile communications, broadband and software companies like 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 mobile services and software development company Mobi Solutions and start-up Pocopay.
Linnar speaks English, Finnish and Russian.
Hannes Astok
Director for Development and Strategy
Member of the Management Board
Programme Director of Smart Cities and Regions
Hannes Astok is a enthusiastic speaker for the information society, especially promoting the role of local governments and challenges of the mobile governance and new technologies in government.
Hannes is a senior expert and Deputy Director for Strategy and Development in Estonian e-Governance Academy, providing 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 governments of Ukraine, Namibia, Moldova, Palestine, Georgia, Mauritius, among others.
Hannes is a former Member of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) 2007-2011 and Deputy Mayor of Estonia’s second largest city, Tartu 1997-2005. As an MP he dealt mainly with the development of the information society and issues related to the regulation of intellectual property and electronic communication issues.
2012-13 Hannes was Adviser to the President of Estonia about the 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 the degree from Tartu University in journalism and public relations.
Hannes speaks Estonian, English, Russian and Finnish.
Kristina Reinsalu (Phd)
Programme Director of e-Democracy
Kristina Reinsalu is currently the Programme director of e-Democracy domain at the e-Governance Academy. She has been involved in several local and international research and practical projects related to open governance and the use of ICT in implementing its principles, focusing in particular on e-participation and tools for its implementation at the local level. She has also been researcher and lecturer on social communication at the Institute of Media and Communication at the University of Tartu.
Kristina’s latest projects include `Situation Review on e-Democracy and Cyber Security in Eastern Partnership Countries`, `How Good Governance Works in Practice: New e-Governance initatives in Georgia`, ‘Open governance in Estonian local governments’, ‘Implementation of the principles of open government in engaging citizens in decision-making processes in Moldova’, ‘Participatory budgeting in the City of Tartu’, ‘eCitizen II – Towards citizen-centred e-government in European cities and regions’ and the ‘Electoral Compass’ produced for Estonia’s parliamentary elections.
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.
Raul Rikk
Programme Director of National Cyber Security
Raul Rikk is the founder of the National Cyber Security Index and contributes to the development of it. He works as the Director of National Cyber Security Programme at the e-Governance Academy and is engaged in strategic cyber security development in many countries and international programmes.
Previously, he was one of the founders of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, leading its establishment in 2004-2008. Raul has worked in the field of national defence and security since 1994. He has been part of the Estonian Cyber Security Strategy Working Group since 2007. He has also been working on national cyber security capacity-building in Georgia, Moldova, Albania and other countries for many years.
Raul holds a Master’s degree in Military Science from the Finnish National Defence University and a Master’s degree in Management of Information Technology from Tallinn University. He is also a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College.
He is a member of the Cyber Defence Commission of the Estonian Academy of Science and a member of the Estonian Cyber Defence League.
Raul speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and basic French.
Katrin Nyman-Metcalf, PhD
Programme Director of Research
Katrin Nyman-Metcalf is the Programme Director of Research and Legal Aspects at the Estonian e-Governance Academy and the Head of the Chair of Law and Technology at Tallinn Law School, which forms part of 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.
Annela Kiirats (MA)
Programme Director of e-Governance Trainings
Annela Kiirats has been the Programme Director of e-Governance Trainings at the e-Governance Academy for more than 13 years, 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. In addition to developing and conducting tailor-made training programmes and organising seminars, she leads international cooperation projects and participates in the drafting of analyses and project reports.
Previously, Annela coordinated the visits of international journalists to Estonia for the Estonian Newspaper Association and assisted in its administrative activities.
Annela obtained her Master’s degree from the Department of Informatics at Tallinn University of Technology in 2005. She speaks fluent Estonian and English and speaks intermediate level Russian.
Experts
Arvo Ott (PhD)
Executive Director
Chairman of the Management Board
Arvo Ott joined the e-Governance Academy in November 2005. His main responsibilities include the coordination of central e-government domain, e-governance studies (aspects of central e-government and e-democracy), 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 with the Estonian Order of Merit of the White Star IV Class (2014).
Arvo speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and Russian.
Hannes Astok
Director for Development and Strategy
Member of the Management Board
Programme Director of Smart Cities and Regions
Hannes Astok is a enthusiastic speaker for the information society, especially promoting the role of local governments and challenges of the mobile governance and new technologies in government.
Hannes is a senior expert and Deputy Director for Strategy and Development in Estonian e-Governance Academy, providing 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 governments of Ukraine, Namibia, Moldova, Palestine, Georgia, Mauritius, among others.
Hannes is a former Member of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) 2007-2011 and Deputy Mayor of Estonia’s second largest city, Tartu 1997-2005. As an MP he dealt mainly with the development of the information society and issues related to the regulation of intellectual property and electronic communication issues.
2012-13 Hannes was Adviser to the President of Estonia about the 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 the degree from Tartu University in journalism and public relations.
Hannes speaks Estonian, English, Russian and Finnish.
Mari Pedak
Team Leader
U-LEAD support project EGOV4UKRAINE
Digital Identity Expert
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, including 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.
Katrin Nyman-Metcalf, PhD
Programme Director of Research
Katrin Nyman-Metcalf is the Programme Director of Research and Legal Aspects at the Estonian e-Governance Academy and the Head of the Chair of Law and Technology at Tallinn Law School, which forms part of 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.
Kristina Reinsalu (Phd)
Programme Director of e-Democracy
Kristina Reinsalu is currently the Programme director of e-Democracy domain at the e-Governance Academy. She has been involved in several local and international research and practical projects related to open governance and the use of ICT in implementing its principles, focusing in particular on e-participation and tools for its implementation at the local level. She has also been researcher and lecturer on social communication at the Institute of Media and Communication at the University of Tartu.
Kristina’s latest projects include `Situation Review on e-Democracy and Cyber Security in Eastern Partnership Countries`, `How Good Governance Works in Practice: New e-Governance initatives in Georgia`, ‘Open governance in Estonian local governments’, ‘Implementation of the principles of open government in engaging citizens in decision-making processes in Moldova’, ‘Participatory budgeting in the City of Tartu’, ‘eCitizen II – Towards citizen-centred e-government in European cities and regions’ and the ‘Electoral Compass’ produced for Estonia’s parliamentary elections.
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.
Linnar Viik
Co-Founder
Programme Director of Smart Government
Linnar is one of the founders of Estonian e-Governance Academy and Programme Director of Smart Government
Linnar has been advising Estonian and many other governments on ICT and innovation policy and recognised as 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.
He’s a former executive at several mobile communications, broadband and software companies like 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 mobile services and software development company Mobi Solutions and start-up Pocopay.
Linnar speaks English, Finnish and Russian.
Liia Hänni (PhD)
Senior Expert on e-Democracy
In 2005 – 2015, Liia Hänni has managed the e-Governance Academy’s e-democracy domain, which aims to improve and update the functional mechanisms of democracy in society and state governance with the help of ICT. Now she works as senior expert of e-democracy. Also, she is actively involved in civic society.
Liia graduated from the University of Tartu in Physics and has since gone on to earn a PhD. After university, she spent 20 years working as an astrophysicist at Tartu Observatory, but made the transition 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 MP in the 7th, 8th and 9th parliaments of Estonia. From 1992 to 1995, she was the minister responsible for the implementation of ownership reforms.
Liia speaks Estonian, English and Russian.
Uuno Vallner (PhD)
Senior Expert on Interoperability
Uuno Vallner has been the initiator of several key e-government projects for Estonia, including the X-Road, the eesti.ee state portal, i-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 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 with Order of the White Star for outstanding achievements in advancing Information Technology and e-government in Estonia.
He speaks Estonian, Russian and English.
Raul Rikk
Programme Director of National Cyber Security
Raul Rikk is the founder of the National Cyber Security Index and contributes to the development of it. He works as the Director of National Cyber Security Programme at the e-Governance Academy and is engaged in strategic cyber security development in many countries and international programmes.
Previously, he was one of the founders of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, leading its establishment in 2004-2008. Raul has worked in the field of national defence and security since 1994. He has been part of the Estonian Cyber Security Strategy Working Group since 2007. He has also been working on national cyber security capacity-building in Georgia, Moldova, Albania and other countries for many years.
Raul holds a Master’s degree in Military Science from the Finnish National Defence University and a Master’s degree in Management of Information Technology from Tallinn University. He is also a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College.
He is a member of the Cyber Defence Commission of the Estonian Academy of Science and a member of the Estonian Cyber Defence League.
Raul speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and basic French.
Jelizaveta Krenjova-Cepilova, PhD
Project Manager
Jelizaveta Krenjova-Cepilova has been working at the e-Governance Academy since 2009. She was involved in the preparation of project proposals, provided support for conducting international conferences, seminars and study tours for foreign delegations. Since 2012 she was managing a long-term local government project in Ukraine that 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 comprised 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.
Annela Kiirats (MA)
Programme Director of e-Governance Trainings
Annela Kiirats has been the Programme Director of e-Governance Trainings at the e-Governance Academy for more than 13 years, 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. In addition to developing and conducting tailor-made training programmes and organising seminars, she leads international cooperation projects and participates in the drafting of analyses and project reports.
Previously, Annela coordinated the visits of international journalists to Estonia for the Estonian Newspaper Association and assisted in its administrative activities.
Annela obtained her Master’s degree from the Department of Informatics at Tallinn University of Technology in 2005. She speaks fluent Estonian and English and speaks intermediate level Russian.
Agu Kivimägi
Senior Expert on Cyber Security
Agu joined eGA’s cybersecurity team in 2017 and contributes to the development of national cyber security index (ncsi.ega.ee) and other cyber security projects.
He has more than 10 years of expertise in cybersecurity and development of national IT systems. He coordinated and managed the development of the national health information system at the Estonian eHealth Foundation. He also managed, coordinated and supervised the activities of the cybersecurity department at the IT and Development Centre of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior. He has also worked as Deputy Director General at the Citizenship and Migration Board of Estonia.
He has excellent knowledge and hands on expertise in the development of e-health systems, Estonian ID card (personal identification smart card) project; visa information system (VIS), Schengen information system (SIS), EURODAC and other related information systems. Moreover, he is an experienced lecturer in cybersecurity and IT infrastructure.
He holds a Master’s degree in physics from the University of Tartu and has worked as a scientist in the National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics.
Agu speaks Estonian, English and Russian.
Support unit
Aile Kullerkupp
Finance Manager
Aile Kullerkupp has many years of experience in the financial management and accounting of non-profit organisations. She has worked as Finance Manager of the e-Governance Academy for 10 years. 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
Accountant
Maarja works with management of the e-Governance Academy’s finances. As the Bookkeeper, her tasks include bookkeeping, financial accounting, and preparing project reports.
Maarja has studied biology in Tartu University and cultural management in Tallinn University. She is also a certified professional secretary. Currently, she studies accounting at the Tallinn College of the Tallinn University of Technology.
Maarja speaks Estonian and English.
Liis Saat
Accountant
Liis is responsible for accounting in the e-Governance Academy. Her tasks include everyday accounting, preparation of financial reports, project budgeting and supervision. Liis has prior work experience in accounting in 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 fluent in Estonian and English.
Anu Vahtra-Hellat (MA)
Communication Manager
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 the senior consultant at the Tallinn office of the 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 management, coordinated the company’s pan-Baltic internal communication projects and media activities and managed internal communication.
From 1999-2007 Anu worked at Estonia’s leading telecommunications company Eesti Telefon (latterly Elion Ettevõtted). During her time there, she worked first first as spokesperson, then as editor of 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
Communication Assistant
Helen is responsible for keeping our partners updated with the latest news by creating content and developing our communication channels. She has previous experience in reporting news for a radio station, direct sales and managing projects in a creative agency.
Helen has a BA degree in Journalism and Communication from the University of Tartu and she is fluent in Estonian and English.
Tiina Viiderfeld
Client relations manager
Tiina is responsible for managing eGA´s client contacts, as well as developing relations for cooperation projects. Previously she has been working in different roles in both, private and 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 MBA degree from University College Dublin. She speaks Estonian, English and Russian.
Monika Lekić (MBA)
Head of Project Development
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 also 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’s working background includes a number of 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 et al). She obtained her MBA from Tallinn University of Technology.
Monika speaks fluent Estonian, English and Serbian and basic German and Russian.
Marit Lani (MA)
Project Manager
Marit Lani manages international cooperation projects at the e-Governance Academy. Currently, she manages the National Cyber Security Index database and coordinates communication with stakeholders.
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 and is working to improve her intermediate skills in German and French.
Triinu Raigna
Project Manager
Triinu helps arrange e-Governance Academy training programs and events. Moreover, she provides support for the implementation of 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.
Evelin Sõluste
Assistant of the Management Board
Evelin is responsible for the regular management of the e-Governance Academy office. She has a diploma in Personnel Management from the Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences and Tallinn University. Since, she has worked for several international companies. Evelin speaks Estonian, English and Russian.
Associated experts
Aare Lapõnin
Associated Expert
Aare Lapõnin is a project manager at the e-Governance Academy. He is a recognised expert in the modernisation and automation of public sector fiscal administration organisations. He is also an experienced software development and software product development manager.
From 2005 to 2014, Aare was the leading solution architect on Public Financial Management (PFM) projects in Nortal. There, he was responsible for the development and implementation of PFM software and IT solutions for budgeting, treasury, public sector accounting and revenue administration. Together with his teams he implemented nationwide software solutions for the governments of various countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.
In 2004, Aare managed the IT Development Division of the Hansabank Group (now part of Swedbank) in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. From 1994 to 2003, Aare served as Deputy Director General of the Estonian National Tax Board, where he was responsible for IT and modernisation.
Aare has demonstrated outstanding communication skills in the implementation of projects through his ability to make links between business and technology and find quick solutions. With all of this, he has been able convey the relevance of his proposed solutions to the senior management of public administration institutions.
Aare has been awarded with the Estonian Order of Merit of the White Star IV Class (2006) and the Estonian Decoration of the Tax and Customs Board I Class (2008).
Aare speaks Estonian, English and Russian.
Markko Künnapu
Expert
Markko Künnapu works at the e-Governance Academy as an expert on national cyber security. He is currently a member of the Bureau of the Convention Committee on Cybercrime (T-CY), which supervises the implementation and general management of matters related to the Convention on Cybercrime. From 2010 to 2014 he served as Chair of the Committee.
Markko works as an EU affairs adviser at the Ministry of Justice. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Tartu in 2001. He then worked in the Tallinn Police Prefecture as a criminal investigator and in the Legal Department of the Ministry of Interior as an adviser. Since 2005, he has worked at the Ministry of Justice. Until 2014, he worked as an adviser in the Criminal Policy Department. He has been involved in drafting several legislative proposals, including legislation on cyber security, cybercrime, identity theft, and aspects of criminal procedure.
Markko participated in the drafting of the Estonian Governmental Cyber Security Strategy and is also a member of the Cyber Security Commission of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. He has been a speaker at international workshops and conferences on cybercrime and cyber security.
Markko speaks fluent Estonian, English and basic Russian, German and French.
Tom Annikve MA (engineering), BA (law), MBA (finance)
Associated Expert
Legal and Procurement Advisor
Tom Annikve contributes as a legal and public procurement advisor for eGA. He served as a Deputy General Director Estonian of the Public Procurement Office, Estonia. He is a Member of Board of Estonian Public Procurement Centre and of Estonian Purchasing and Supply Chain Management Association, also Manager of the law firm Eurohelp Ltd. He has worked as a legal, procurement and business expert under several EU and other international projects in Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, etc.
Tom has a MA in Engineering (electronics) from the Tallinn Technical University; BA in Law and MBA (finance and personal management) from the University of Tartu.
Tom speaks Estonian, English, Russian and Finnish.
Sandra Roosna (MBA)
Associated Expert
Since summer 2016 Sandra is leading the eID implementation project in Cyprus. Previously she helped to develop cooperation between leading entities in Norway and Estonia within the areas of e-governance, cyber security, innovation, and business development.
Before joining eGA, she worked for leading electronic identity provider SK ID Solutions, that develops digital signature software, Mobile-ID service and issues qualified certificates. The department under her management in tight collaboration with Cybernetica developed the Smart-ID concept, now widely used across Baltic countries, and piloted Mobile-ID in Ukraine
Sandra has been leading different high-level international projects for over 10 years. In 2012 she compiled the cost-benefit analysis of digital signing and launched the digital signature cost-profit calculator .
She is one of the authors of eGovernance in Practice, firstly published in 2016.
Sandra has Executive MBA in strategic management. She speaks fluent Estonian, Russian and English.
Villem Alango (PhD)
Associated Expert
Villem Alango has been a partner with the e-Governance Academy since 2008 and joined its staff in January 2013. He works as a Senior Expert with a focus on the human aspects of e-society and on the use of modern methodologies to expedite practical results while transitioning towards e-governance.
Since 1992, Villem has worked to develop Estonia’s e-government infrastructure, organisational practices and legislation. He has profound practical experience of project management, supervision, strategy planning and consultation. In recent years he has participated on several continents in visioning, planning and implementing successful projects on enhancing performance and transparency at the local government level through cloud solutions.
Villem speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and Russian.
Tõnis Mäe
Project Manager
Tõnis Mäe 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 Middle East region.
He was responsible for Estonian National Health Information Exchange (HIE) implementation project (successfully implemented in 2008) and participated in national e-health strategy development. Moreover, Tõnis managed the development of new e-health products based on Estonian National HIE and of e-Ambulance solution.
Tõnis has great experience in managing international IT-projects. In 2014 – 2016 he led the Court Information System implementation in Iraq. The project was a turnkey solution comprised of mapping business requirements and system analysis as well as infrastructure and software development.
He holds a Master’s degree in physics from University of Tartu and complemented his management skills in Henley Management College (UK).
Tõnis speaks Estonian, English, Finnish and Russian.
Margus Püüa (DI)
Associated Expert
Margus has spent more than 12 years working in different positions related to the development of e-Government services at the Information System Authority, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the IT and Development Centre of the Ministry of the Interior.
Over the course of his career, he has managed the development of central components (the X-Road platform and the services portal) of the national information system, coordinated the development of the national information system, supervised the strategic planning of the information society and e-Government as well as the planning of ICT service strategies in the area of government of the Ministry of the Interior.
He is a graduate of the Tallinn University of Technology in the field of systems engineering.
Margus speaks Estonian, Russian and English.