Trusted Connectivity will be the key of the Tallinn Digital Summit discussions today

Today, 7 September the fourth iteration of the Tallinn Digital Summit (TDS), an annual event hosted by the Prime Minister of Estonia, will take place in Tallinn. The focus of this year’s Summit is building Trusted Connectivity, highlighting the nexus between cross-border infrastructure, geopolitics, and digital technologies.

The Summit will bring together political leaders, policy innovators and prominent entrepreneurs to discuss the digital transformation. The opening speech will be held by Estonian Prime Minister and keynote addresses will be given by Charles Michel, President of the European Council, Mathias Cormann, Secretary General of the OECD, Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission and Gina Raimondo, US Secretary of Commerce. The Prime Ministers of Australia and Poland will also take part in the high-level panel discussion over videoconference connection.

According to Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, major challenges facing the international community include the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. “Trust should be key to meeting these challenges, both in technology and in our political and legal systems. This is why the Tallinn Digital Summit this year will focus on a new concept – Trusted Connectivity – how to develop a global infrastructure based on openness, transparency and protection of individual rights in cooperation between democracies and the private sector, ”said Kallas. “Data must be protected and the secure free movement of data must be ensured. I look forward to the joint discussions and cooperation at the summit in resolving the shared challenges, ” said the Prime Minister.

According to Kallas on the way to building better world states should invest in the infrastructure even more. “Trusted Connectivity is rooted in the idea that we need a framework for financing international infrastructure projects based on a common set of values. To achieve this, we must protect data and allow it to move freely. Effective data and cyber security create trust. And trust is integral to attracting private sector investments. I am looking forward for the joint discussions at the Summit and working together in solving common problems” Prime Minister said.

Establishing continuity with the recent G7 Summit’s Build Back Better World initiative, the TDS will present the first opportunity for a multi-stakeholder discussion of recent infrastructure initiatives at the highest level.

Prime Minister Kallas also has bilateral meetings with Charles Michel, President of the European Council, Mathias Cormann, Secretary General of the OECD, Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President of the European Commission, Gina Raimondo, US Secretary of Commerce, and Oliver Dowden, UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.