WASHINGTON, USA – Last week, US Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo participated in the Tallinn Digital Summit and addressed the importance of building a shared digital future by establishing a framework for trusted connectivity. Secretary Raimondo is the first senior official from the Biden administration to visit Estonia and the first Cabinet-level official to visit since 2019.
Secretary Raimondo also held bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis. She also met with Estonian foreign minister Eva-Maria Liimets and minister of entrepreneurship and information technology, Andres Sutt.
During each meeting, she emphasized the strong partnership between the US and Estonia, especially on issues related to digital development and shared efforts to support global economic growth, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic.
During her keynote address at the Tallinn Digital Summit, Secretary Raimondo addressed the need to develop a global economy that emphasizes a shared digital infrastructure, including affordable access to high-speed broadband. Secretary Raimondo also praised the government of Estonia as a model for global digital transformation providing almost all its government services to citizens and residents online.
“The creativity and skills that underpin Estonia’s transformation into a global tech powerhouse are exactly what we need to address the dangerous infrastructure investment gap facing low- and middle-income countries,” said Secretary Raimondo.
She also highlighted the role that initiatives such as the Build Back Better World Partnership (B3W) can play in closing the infrastructure and connectivity gap, and how the global community must come together to bridge differences and implement mutually beneficial solutions.
“At president Biden’s direction, we are leading the effort, along with our G7 partners and the EU, to close this gap across a range of areas – including healthcare and digital technology – through the Build Back Better World (B3W) Partnership.”
During her remarks, Secretary Raimondo also addressed data flows and stressed that governments need cross-border data for trade and commercial relationships, financial market stability, public health, criminal investigations, and national security.
At the end of the day, Secretary Raimondo participated in a panel discussion with several governments of Estonia officials along with representatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission.
“The core aim of the B3W Partnership will be to offer local communities in low- and middle-income countries help to build infrastructure needed to prosper in the 21st century.”
