Estonia is helping DR set up its digital identity

[Dolores]

The Presidential Office of Information and Communication Technologies (Optic) is working closely with experts from Estonia to simplify Dominican red tape, new director Pedro Quezada told El Caribe. He said one of the achievements is the Customs Agency’s program to dispatch freight containers in 24 hours recently launched by the government.

Quezada expects to attract foreign investment by reducing the paperwork to invest and do business in this country. He sees this as a way to achieve transparency, reduce trafficking of influence and corruption.

When you look at and measure Central America and the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic is in the fourth position, he explains. “But obviously, because of the characteristics that we Dominicans have, we should be number one. And that is the goal for these four years of government and the implementation of e-government. We are working...

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[CristoRey]

"Quezada says one of the objectives is that Dominicans have a digital identity that consolidates the ID, driver’s license, health insurance, driver’s insurance, work card, etc."

People should be asking what the ect is.
The more things go "digital" the easier it becomes for others to control and or ruin people's lives. Not good for society.

 

[Michael DR]

One could easily pick a worse place to live than Estonia but like NA you have winter to deal with but there are many advantages which Google is happy to point out and explain


I'll take somewhere warmer and without snow

 

[windeguy]

"Quezada says one of the objectives is that Dominicans have a digital identity that consolidates the ID, driver’s license, health insurance, driver’s insurance, work card, etc."

People should be asking what the ect is.
The more things go "digital" the easier it becomes for others to control and or ruin people's lives. Not good for society.

So true, they might even be able to find those living illegally, etc..

 

[CristoRey]

So true, they might even be able to find those living illegally, etc..

They are more than capable of doing that now.

 

[windeguy]

They are more than capable of doing that now.

I know..

 

[scotia]

IMO this would be another great step forward. I watched an interview, 'Estonia: the Digital Nation' with the former Estonian president, a couple of years ago and was impressed by what they had done. watchhttps://www.tvo.org/video/estonia-the-digital-nation

When I first started visiting the RD in 2004/2005, I remember going to various government offices in SD, Higuey and Hato Mayor and being gobsmacked by how unorganized everything was and the noise and chaos in trying to get to the front of the line or served. The large open office we visited, at the Secretaria de Trabajo in Higuey, had dozens of desks with file folders piled high and typewriters on each desk. It was calm and peaceful there but I couldn't imagine trying to find something in all those folders and I felt I had gone back in time.

 

[Eugene_A]

Most people who work in IT in Estonia are Russians. So in fact, they just hired Russian programmers and experts from Estonia.

 

[Michael DR]

Most people who work in IT in Estonia are Russians. So in fact, they just hired Russian programmers and experts from Estonia.

Says who? Got links?

 

[Eugene_A]

Says who? Got links?

I say that. I know Estonia pretty well, I travel there sometimes for business, I have bank accounts there for my business so I deal with their banks and other organizations, I have friends there who work as programmers (I am in IT business myself). As well you can say for sure that all taxi drivers in Tallinn are Russian, all programmers there are Russian too. That's a known fact.

I bet that all those 'Estonian' programmers who will work on that system for DR have Russian names and surnames.

 

[Michael DR]

I say that. I know Estonia pretty well, I travel there sometimes for business, I have bank accounts there for my business so I deal with their banks and other organizations, I have friends there who work as programmers (I am in IT business myself). As well you can say for sure that all taxi drivers in Tallinn are Russian, all programmers there are Russian too. That's a known fact.

I bet that all those 'Estonian' programmers who will work on that system for DR have Russian names and surnames.

Yet you can't or won't backup your opinion, err claims. Gotcha

 

[Eugene_A]

Yet you can't or won't backup your opinion, err claims. Gotcha

I don't need to back up my opinion with links. Unlike you, I only talk or write about things I have seen myself and about places I've been to. And when you post a link, it's not your opinion, it's an opinion of somebody who wrote something there. You can post a hundred links about Estonia, but if you can't find it on the map, never been there and have no idea what it's all about, the value of your opinion and your post is zero.

 

[Eugene_A]

"Quezada says one of the objectives is that Dominicans have a digital identity that consolidates the ID, driver’s license, health insurance, driver’s insurance, work card, etc."

People should be asking what the ect is.
The more things go "digital" the easier it becomes for others to control and or ruin people's lives. Not good for society.

Well, you know, they are asking for the birth certificate when you go to get a passport, why? You give them a cedula anyway, and there is data about Registro de Nacimiento printed right on the back of your cedula. So they can easily pull that info from the database just by entering that number printed on the back of the cedula. And on top of that, if they could link that info directly to the cedula number, so they don't need to see your cedula phisycally to read that number printed on the back side. And, to continue, the cedula number is linked to your fingerprint anyway, so why the hell ask for any documents at all, if they can just scan your finger?

So the point is to link all those databases together so there will be less paperwork and less wasted time.

 

[playacaribe2]

I say that. I know Estonia pretty well, I travel there sometimes for business, I have bank accounts there for my business so I deal with their banks and other organizations, I have friends there who work as programmers (I am in IT business myself). As well you can say for sure that all taxi drivers in Tallinn are Russian, all programmers there are Russian too. That's a known fact.

I bet that all those 'Estonian' programmers who will work on that system for DR have Russian names and surnames.

For those unaware, Estonia, a Baltic country, formerly occupied by the Russians, is one of the most digitally wired countries in the world.....and has been for many years. The DR would do well to pay attention to them in setting up its digital identity system, though I disagree with the concept of too much big brother.

That having been said, Russians are second class citizens and treated as such in the country. While they may work at IT.........they do not work in IT for the government because they have no identity as Estonian citizens with an Estonian passport, unless they were born in Estonia before 1940. The rest carry a grey passport that identifies them as non-citizen residents and restricts them from working in any sensitive government jobs.

The long standing dislike for Russians became even more exacerbated after Estonia announced its independence from Russia in the 1990's and established Estonian as the official language to be used. A language most Russians residing in the country could not and still do not speak. Further, Russian hackers inside and outside Russia in 2007 brought the entire country of Estonia down for weeks.

So as it has always been since independence, in order to work in the government you must be a citizen and speak Estonian (an extremely difficult language to master).

They are amazingly enough one of the most computer savvy/wired countries in the world..........and the DR picked a good partner for this project.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

 

[Eugene_A]

That having been said, Russians are second class citizens and treated as such in the country. While they may work at IT.........they do not work in IT for the government because they have no identity as Estonian citizens with an Estonian passport

You interpreted it a bit incorrectly. Yes, all the directors, managers, PR staff are usually Estonians. But all programmers, all people who actually make those systems work, are Russians.

And actually, Estonian citizenship has nothing to do with all of that, I have a Russian friend who lives there with a resident permit, and he is one of a lead programmers of one of the biggest Estonian companies, they hired him from Russia where he lived before.

I guess your opinion is based on Google search and Wikipedia too, right? Ever been to Tallinn?

Or you think that Estonian Government officials will do the programming and work on databases?

 

[Eugene_A]

DR picked a good partner for this project.

The project will fail for the same old reason: DR Government can't trust their employees. They could cross-link all databases of Pasaportes/cedulacion/registro civil/etc long time ago. It could be done without any Estonian help at all, actually. The problem is that once they give their employees access to anything, they get corrupted and issue fake documents and put them into database. That's why they now require additional waiting time for issuing or renewing a passport for naturalized citizens, that's why they cancelled thousands of cedulas and birth certificates again this year, that's why all the previous staff at Registro de Armas was fired, that's why all documents are required to be 'legalized' in Procuraduria, etc... Once Dominicans have access to anything, they steal whatever they can steal, sell whatever they can sell and fake whatever they can fake.

I think Estonians were chosen to make some corruption–proof database this time, but as there's no such level of corruption in Estonia, I think they will fail as they have no idea what they are dealing with.

 

[CristoRey]

So it's not just that you can't but that you refuse to.

Here's a link I think you will find helpful.
You can thank me later.
"Why Do I 'Troll' People on the Internet and How Can I Stop? - GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog" https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/dear-gt/why-do-i-troll-people-on-the-internet-how-can-i-stop/amp/

 

[playacaribe2]

You interpreted it a bit incorrectly. Yes, all the directors, managers, PR staff are usually Estonians. But all programmers, all people who actually make those systems work, are Russians.

And actually, Estonian citizenship has nothing to do with all of that, I have a Russian friend who lives there with a resident permit, and he is one of a lead programmers of one of the biggest Estonian companies, they hired him from Russia where he lived before.

I guess your opinion is based on Google search and Wikipedia too, right? Ever been to Tallinn?

Or you think that Estonian Government officials will do the programming and work on databases?

I have far more knowledge and connection to the Baltics than you will likely ever know. And yes I have been to Tallinn and Riga, and Vilnius and a whole host of other cities in all three Baltic countries.

So please spare me your guesses as one side of my family originates from the Baltics and one relative was ambassador to the US and another ran for President.

And Estonian citizenship has everything to do with it in government.........which is exactly who the DR is engaging for this project.

Again, they are quite literally the most digitally wired country in the world and the DR picked a smart/savvy partner.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

 

[Eugene_A]

I have far more knowledge and connection to the Baltics than you will likely ever know. And yes I have been to Tallinn and Riga, and Vilnius and a whole host of other cities in all three Baltic countries.

So please spare me your guesses as one side of my family originates from the Baltics and one relative was ambassador to the US and another ran for President.

And Estonian citizenship has everything to do with it in government.........which is exactly who the DR is engaging for this project.

Again, they are quite literally the most digitally wired country in the world and the DR picked a smart/savvy partner.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

Man, if you know that much about Estonia, you might know that Estonians are a bit 'slow-witted' people, as Russians always say... They are just not good at programming at all. You keep talking about Estonian citizenship and Government positions, but it's not the Estonian Government officials who will be sent to DR to do the programming. Actually, do you know how this kind of things work in DR? It's the same like when Orange and Tricom became Altice and programmers from Israel and Russia there were sent here to work on databases...

Regarding that you say that Estonian Language is impossible to learn for Russians... It's the same like thousands of Dominicans and other latinos live in US without being able to speak a single word in English... they just don't give a f@ck. The same with Russians in Estonia, but the ones who need it, learn it quickly and pass all the tests needed for citizenship etc. And programmers are actually the ones who can do it the best way.... or you think persons who can learn programming languages, can't learn another language to speak? Lol. Unfortunately, it's vice versa, many Estonians are too dumb to learn Russian even when they need it, there's tons of jokes about that there.

You can continue to argue just for the sake of arguing or because you are so proud that your family is so BIG in Estonia, whatever.... Anyway, the project will be just a waste of time, and I explained why in one of my posts above.

 

[playacaribe2]

Man, if you know that much about Estonia, you might know that Estonians are a bit 'slow-witted' people, as Russians always say... They are just not good at programming at all. You keep talking about Estonian citizenship and Government positions, but it's not the Estonian Government officials who will be sent to DR to do the programming. Actually, do you know how this kind of things work in DR? It's the same like when Orange and Tricom became Altice and programmers from Israel and Russia there were sent here to work on databases...

Regarding that you say that Estonian Language is impossible to learn for Russians... It's the same like thousands of Dominicans and other latinos live in US without being able to speak a single word in English... they just don't give a f@ck. The same with Russians in Estonia, but the ones who need it, learn it quickly and pass all the tests needed for citizenship etc. And programmers are actually the ones who can do it the best way.... or you think persons who can learn programming languages, can't learn another language to speak? Lol. Unfortunately, it's vice versa, many Estonians are too dumb to learn Russian even when they need it, there's tons of jokes about that there.

You can continue to argue just for the sake of arguing or because you are so proud that your family is so BIG in Estonia, whatever.... Anyway, the project will be just a waste of time, and I explained why in one of my posts above.

Not an argument at all.

Just a correction to some poor guessing on your part.

Enjoy your evening...........and if you need more accurate information on any of the Baltics........please let me know.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2