Digital Government Podcast

The topic of data protection spans the entire spectrum of the internet, from when users surf the web to when they benefit from efficient online services as citizens.Cookie banners, privacy policies, GDPR compliance notices – all and more. And yet, for how practical the concept and its implications are, it still remains quite abstract for many. The rules exist, across the globe, actually, but the reality of what happens to your data most often stays invisible.Estonia has taken a different approach. Through the Data Tracker, every Estonian citizen can log in and clearly see who has accessed their personal data in government registers, when it was accessed, and for what purpose.In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we speak with Maarja Kirss, Head of Cooperation at the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate (DPI), about what happens when transparency becomes a working system for the government.Dive in! 

We sit down with Eeva Hellström, Senior Lead in Foresight and Training at the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, to explore one of today’s most urgent questions: how do we value what we cannot see?Eeva explains why traditional economic models overlook the “invisible” factors that increasingly shape our economies. And why failing to recognise them leaves policymakers with critical blind spots.We discuss:✅ Why digital transformation shouldn’t be measured only by short-term ROI.✅ The environmental and social costs of we rarely consider.✅ What “post-growth” means for high-income countries.✅ Why governments need new indicators of well-being and long-term public value.Tune in! 

In this episode, governance expert Margus Sarapuu cuts through one of the biggest myths in government transformation: that digitalisation and public administration reform can happen separately. Spoiler: they can’t.From Estonia and Ukraine to Moldova, Bangladesh, and Kosovo, Sarapuu shares why digital reforms often stall and how governments can avoid the trap of layering shiny tech on top of unreformed bureaucracy. If you’re looking at how to build resilient, future-proof governance systems, this episode is a must-listen.Tune in now and join the conversation about what it really takes to make government work in the digital age.

Governments worldwide are eager to harness AI — yet many remain stronger on ambition than readiness. In this episode, “The Learning Curve for Effective AI in Government,” we talk with Piret Hirv, Head of the Data Management Competence Centre at the e-Governance Academy, about what it takes to turn AI pilots into lasting impact in public services.We also speak with Oscar Del Campo Barxias, Deputy Director General for Entrepreneurship of the Community of Madrid, who shares the lessons learned for implementing AI in public services in the Madrid region. Tune in! 

In this podcast episode with Dr. Lili Milani, Head of the Estonian Biobank and Professor of Pharmacogenomics at the University of Tartu, we discuss how Estonia’s national biobank has become a trusted platform where science, ethics, and personal agency meet. The Estonian Biobank began as a research initiative focused on the genetics of disease, but over time, its purpose has deepened and broadened. “The original goal was to understand how genes relate to diseases so we could improve care,” Milani explains. As more participants joined and the scope of available data expanded, the Biobank grew into a national tool for real, tangible benefits to people’s personal lives. Tune in!