[plankers]

I'm paraphrasing from this article in the New Yorker [1] that I read some months ago, but it seems the trick to getting bona fide technologists to work in government is to offer competitive pay and benefits, as well as making the job "sexy" by offering a chance to work on a truly revolutionary project that will make life better for your countrymen. That's what's working in Estonia, at least.

I'm holding out some hope that Estonia will be able convince their fellow EU member states to pick their game up now that they have the rotating presidency of the EU council [2].

But one thing Estonia has going for it (or working against it, depending on perspective) is its close proximity to a technologically advanced hostile nation. Estonia's rapid progress has been spurred in large part by the necessity of protecting itself from Russian cyberattacks, a Big Issue if I'm remembering the New Yorker article correctly.

[1] https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/18/estonia-the-di...

[2] https://www.visitestonia.com/en/why-estonia/estonia-is-takin...