Countries

Digital Snapshot – Key Policies and Laws

Estonia’s digital policy framework is structured around the Estonian Digital Agenda 2030, which explicitly groups priorities into digital state, connectivity, and cybersecurity. In international benchmarking, the UN E-Government Survey 2024 ranks Estonia 2nd globally, reflecting high scores across online services, telecom infrastructure, and human capital.

On AI governance, Estonia’s main national reference point is the Data and Artificial Intelligence White Paper 2024–2030, which frames AI development alongside data governance and public-sector modernisation. The AI legal framework aligns with EU-level requirements, notably GDPR and the EU AI Act, while Estonia’s practical approach emphasises public-sector use cases and capacity development through short-cycle implementation planning.

For cybersecurity, Estonia’s current national framework is the Cybersecurity Strategy 2024–2030, which targets resilience of digital services in a deteriorating security environment and rapid technological change. In parallel, data protection is governed by the GDPR and the Estonian Personal Data Protection Act, and supervised by the Data Protection Inspectorate. Estonia also operationalises transparency through tools like RIA’s Data Tracker, which lets people see how their personal data is used across public systems.

What is a ‘data embassy’?

Estonia’s Data Embassy is essentially an ‘off-site backup’ for the digital state. Instead of keeping all critical copies of government data and systems only inside Estonia, the country arranged to store and run selected systems in a high-security data centre abroad, so key public services can be restored quickly if a major incident, such as a cyberattack, natural disaster, or large-scale outage, disrupts infrastructure at home. The best-known setup is with Luxembourg, based on a bilateral agreement signed in June 2017 and later ratified by Estonia’s parliament, which provides the legal and practical rules for this cross-border continuity arrangement.in 2018. The agreement defines ‘premises’ as dedicated data-centre space for hosting Estonian systems, and frames the setup as a legal and operational basis for cross-border continuity rather than routine outsourcing. In policy terms, the Data Embassy is notable because it treats digital public infrastructure as critical state capacity, raising practical questions about governance: (what is hosted, who can access it, how it is audited, and how it complements cybersecurity and cloud strategy), while also illustrating how small states can pursue resilience through trusted international partnerships.

Delivery of digital public services is built on interoperable infrastructure and a legally robust e-ID. The X-tee data exchange layer, run by Estonia’s State Information System Authority, RIA, is the core mechanism for secure data sharing across institutions. Estonia’s digital ID ecosystem supports digital signatures that are legally equivalent to handwritten signatures, which underpins remote transactions for both residents and e-residents. Estonia has also used internet voting with binding results since 2005, making elections a long-running test case for secure digital public services.

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On connectivity, cloud, and digital infrastructure, Estonia’s Broadband Plan 2030 is the implementation plan for nationwide high-speed networks. It includes measures to address market failure areas and to ensure continuous 5G coverage along key corridors. Public-sector cloud delivery is anchored by Riigipilv (Government Cloud) and the State IT Centre (RIT), which states it manages the government’s private cloud and brokers public cloud services from major international providers. Resilience concerns also extend to international links, as illustrated by repeated incidents involving the Finland–Estonia undersea cable and subsequent repairs/investigations.

In the digital economy and e-commerce, consumer behaviour data points to substantial uptake: Estonia’s central bank reported that online stores accounted for 24% of everyday purchases in 2024, above the euro-area average in the same survey. This demand-side trend aligns with Estonia’s broader ‘digital state + connectivity’ policy approach, where identity, payments, and service access are treated as mutually reinforcing parts of the digital ecosystem.

Estonia’s permanent mission to the UN:

Estonia’s Permanent Mission to the UN Office and other international organisations in Geneva represents Estonia in Geneva-based multilateral diplomacy, including work related to human rights and the Human Rights Council, humanitarian affairs, disarmament, and international economic organisations (e.g. WTO-related issues). The Mission is headed by Ambassador Riia Salsa-Audiffren, who presented credentials as Permanent Representative in August 2023, and it coordinates Estonia’s positions and statements across relevant UN and international bodies in Geneva.

Official UN website: https://www.ungeneva.org/en/blue-book/missions/member-states/estonia

Twitter/X: https://x.com/EstoniaGeneva

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Austria ranks near the regional frontier on several practical digital enablers. It operates a dense interconnection hub in Vienna via the VIX internet exchange, which anchors low-latency peering for ISPs, CDNs and clouds across Central Europe. National policy targets symmetrical gigabit networks by 2030 under the Broadband Austria 2030 strategy, and regulators continued to expand 5G capacity with a 2024 auction of 3.6 GHz and 26 GHz spectrum.

On cloud and data infrastructure, Austria is among a small set of the EU countries with an in-country hyperscale cloud region: Microsoft Azure ‘Austria East’ launched in August 2025 with three availability zones around Vienna, complementing Vienna’s long-standing colocation campuses. That strengthens options for low-latency workloads and data-residency needs.

Public-sector digitisation is also comparatively advanced. The EU’s Digital Decade country assessment notes Austria’s progress on connectivity and enterprise cloud uptake, while ID Austria provides single-sign-on to hundreds of services and surpassed 4.1 million users in 2025, a high penetration for a country of ~9 million. Together, these indicators, interconnection density, an in-country hyperscale region, and high digital-ID adoption, place Austria among the stronger performers in its region, even as it continues to push gigabit coverage deeper into rural areas.

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​Digital Snapshot – Key Policies and Laws

Ireland’s digital profile is strongly shaped by its role as an EU regulatory hub for large tech firms, alongside steady investment in ‘digital government.’ In the EU benchmarking, Ireland has regularly placed near the top of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), reflecting strengths across connectivity, skills, business digitisation and e-government.

On rights and accountability, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) is a central actor: under GDPR’s one-stop-shop, it often leads cross-border cases while working through the EU coordination and dispute-resolution via the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). That EU-facing role was most visible on 22 May 2023, when the DPC concluded its Meta inquiry with a €1.2bn decision on E to US data transfers, following an EDPB binding decision, highlighting how Irish enforcement can influence global data flows.

Ireland’s DPC, a key enforcer of EU’s GDPR

Ireland sits near the centre of Europe’s digital rule-making because many major tech firms base key operations there, making the Data Protection Commission (DPC) a frequent EU ‘lead regulator’ under GDPR’s one-stop-shop system and in close coordination with other authorities and the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). That role became especially evident on 22 May 2023, when the DPC issued a €1.2bn decision against Meta and required changes to EU→US data transfers, underscoring how cross-border enforcement can affect global business models and people’s privacy. Ireland’s remit has also widened beyond data protection: under the Digital Services Act 2024, Coimisiún na Meán is the national Digital Services Coordinator, helping oversee platform transparency, systemic-risk processes, and accountability mechanisms, with the consumer authority (CCPC) involved for online marketplaces. Looking ahead, Ireland has opted for a multi-regulator approach to the EU AI Act, naming 15 competent authorities across sectors and planning a National AI Office to coordinate, build expertise, and support controlled experimentation. Together, these steps show a governance model that is increasingly “whole-ecosystem”: privacy, platforms, and AI supervision, balancing innovation aims with rights, safety, and regulatory consistency.

Ireland has also expanded its digital governance toolkit beyond privacy to include oversight of platforms and content. Under the Digital Services Act 2024 (signed into law in February 2024), Coimisiún na Meán is designated as Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator, with the CCPC designated as a competent authority for online marketplaces, which is essential given the concentration of major platforms’ EU operations in Ireland.

For AI governance, Ireland has opted for a sector-based enforcement model. In September 2025, it designated 15 ‘competent authorities’ for the EU AI Act and announced plans to establish a National AI Office to coordinate oversight, build expertise, and support controlled experimentation, including a sandbox approach.

On digital public services and inclusion, the Government’s Digital Ireland – Connecting our People, Securing our Future (to 2030) provides the overarching strategy, while the Digital Public Services Plan 2030 sets delivery ambitions for user-centred services (often implemented in practice via shared building blocks such as MyGovID). Inclusion policy is framed through Digital for Good, aimed at reducing barriers of access, affordability and skills.

Ireland’s ‘hard infrastructure’ agenda combines domestic connectivity targets with international links. The Digital Connectivity Strategy targets gigabit coverage by 2028 and 5G in populated areas by 2030, alongside resilience of international connectivity. This matters because Ireland is also promoting itself as a subsea cable gateway; the IRIS cable (Galway–Iceland) was presented by the government as increasing the capacity and diversity of Ireland’s routes to Northern Europe.

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Latvia’s public-sector digital infrastructure is robust and widely utilised. National e-ID and qualified e-signature tools (eParaksts) were used 22.4 million times in 2024, representing a 60% year-on-year increase, indicating to strong uptake of trusted digital identity in everyday services. In the EU monitoring for the Digital Decade, Latvian respondents also report high satisfaction with digitalisation (75% say it makes life easier). Together with GDPR enforcement by the Data State Inspectorate and an updated cybersecurity framework, this underpins a mature, EU-aligned governance model.

On infrastructure, the state-owned operator LVRTC operates a nationwide optical backbone and data centre network, known as the ‘Baltic Data Hub’. Its Riga TV Tower colocation site is listed in PeeringDB as the largest and most connected facility in Latvia and the Baltics, and the country maintains an active internet exchange footprint (LIX-LV tracked by Internet Society Pulse). These assets help keep traffic local and resilient while providing diverse paths to Nordic cloud regions.

In emerging technologies, Latvia stands out regionally for defence-grade 5G experimentation: NATO’s multi-year DiBaX campaigns have been hosted at the Ādaži test range, trialling 5G, drones and LEO satcom at scale. In AI, Riga-based Tilde won the European Commission’s Large AI Grand Challenge (2024), securing EuroHPC compute to build multilingual models, an EU-level recognition that places Latvia on the map for language-technology research and development.

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Romania stands out in Europe for the quality of its fixed digital infrastructure. It is consistently ranked at or near the top in fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) coverage, with around 95–97% of households passed by fibre networks, one of the highest rates in the EU. This extensive fibre footprint underpins very high fixed broadband speeds, which regularly place Romania among the fastest countries globally in independent speed tests, while retail prices remain relatively low by the EU standards. A dense network of Internet exchange points (InterLAN, RoNIX and others) keeps a large share of traffic local, improving performance and resilience.

The country also performs strongly in terms of data centre and interconnection capacity, relative to its size and GDP. Bucharest has emerged as a regional connectivity hub in South-Eastern Europe, with multiple carrier-neutral facilities and diverse fibre routes to neighbouring markets. Such an environment supports a growing cloud and content ecosystem and makes Romania an attractive location for regional hosting and transit. Combined with high fibre coverage, this positions the country as a strong infrastructure base for emerging services such as AI, cloud computing and content delivery.

On the skills and innovation side, Romania is recognised for its strong pool of ICT specialists and competitive labour costs, which fuel a vibrant software and digital services sector. The country has produced globally visible tech companies (for example, in automation and AI-related fields), and its engineering workforce is frequently cited as one of the strongest in Central and Eastern Europe. While overall digitalisation indicators (such as e-government use or SME digital uptake) still trail the EU average, Romania’s top-tier connectivity, robust interconnection fabric and solid ICT talent base make it one of the regional leaders on core digital infrastructure and technical capabilities.

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Internet governance in Croatia encompasses a comprehensive regulatory framework, policies, and practices that oversee the use and development of the internet within the country. The primary legal framework regulating internet services is the Electronic Communications Act, which ensures compliance with EU directives and promotes competition and consumer protection. The Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) oversees the telecommunications sector, including internet services, ensuring fair competition and safeguarding consumer rights.

In terms of digital infrastructure, Croatia has made significant strides. The National Plan for Broadband Development 2021–2027 aims to provide all households with download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and public institutions with symmetric connections of at least 1 Gbps. As of early 2025, median mobile internet download speeds reached 93.63 Mbps, while fixed broadband speeds stood at 80.78 Mbps, reflecting significant improvements over the previous year. The country is also progressing in 5G deployment. A1 Croatia has been actively expanding its 5G network, with plans to achieve 90% population coverage in urban areas and 25% geographical coverage in rural regions by the end of 2025. The rollout has primarily focused on major cities such as Zagreb, Split, and Rijeka, with gradual expansion into smaller towns and rural areas.

Croatian stakeholders are active participants in various internet governance forums and initiatives at the regional and global levels. Croatian stakeholders participate in the annual South Eastern European Dialogue on Internet Governance (SEE+) and Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) events, which bring together stakeholders from the region to discuss digital policy-related issues and challenges. At the global level, Croatia is a member of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Croatia also has a national internet governance initiative called Croatian IGF, which was established as a bottom-up, multistakeholder platform for discussing internet-related public policy issues.

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The digital economy in Italy is experiencing significant growth, driven by advancements in technology and strategic investments. The country’s digital market is projected to reach approximately $2.77 billion in 2024, with significant contributions from sectors like security services, cloud computing, and AI. AI, in particular, is expected to add substantial value to the Italian economy, potentially contributing up to €312 billion annually, equivalent to 18% of the GDP​.

In the Italian context, AI is expected to play a pivotal role in key sectors such as retail, financial services, healthcare, education, and the ‘Made in Italy’ industries, including agri-food, tourism, and manufacturing. These sectors are uniquely positioned to benefit from AI, leveraging its capabilities to preserve and enhance Italy’s competitive advantages on the global stage.

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Burundi has steadily built its digital infrastructure foundation, anchored by the Burundi Backbone System (BBS), a 1,245 km national fiber-optic network launched in 2013–2014 that links all 18 provinces and provides high-speed connectivity to government institutions, universities, banks, and ISPs. Mobile networks cover most of the population, with 2G reaching ~97%, 3G ~50%, and 4G around ~34% as of 2025, though rural areas still experience significant gaps. Recent efforts include solar-powered towers and satellite broadband (e.g., SpaceX Starlink) to enhance resilience and access in underserved areas.

Adoption remains modest: approximately 1.78 million internet users (~12.5% penetration) and 8.04 million mobile connections (~56.6% of the population) in early 2025. Digital literacy and advanced ICT skills are limited, with much of the population remains excluded from transformative digital services.

Institutions like MINCOTIM/SETIC and ARCT, alongside the World Bank–backed Digital Foundations Project (PAFEN), 1are steering digital expansion via policy, regulation, and rural connectivity programs. Nonetheless, the country’s digital economy is described as ‘nascent,’ with regulatory gaps, particularly in e-commerce, data protection, and digital trade, limiting full-scale digital integration and economic potential

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Malta has established a growing presence in the field of digital diplomacy, leveraging its position as a small but influential state within the European Union. Its digital diplomacy efforts are focused on advocating for a rules-based digital order, promoting data privacy, and supporting the responsible use of emerging technologies like AI and blockchain. Malta actively participates in international forums that discuss internet governance, cybersecurity, and the digital economy, often aligning its diplomatic efforts with EU policies. Malta has made digital cooperation a core aspect of its foreign relations, working closely with international partners to enhance cross-border digital trade and the regulation of digital platforms.

Malta shows a good performance in research and innovation framework conditions, consistently outperforming the EU average in several key indicators, particularly in digitalisation. Notably, the country ranks first for high-speed internet access and 9th for the share of individuals with above basic overall digital skills, reflecting its effort in enhancing its digital infrastructure and digital literacy among its population. To support the further adoption and development of digital technologies, Malta has allocated a significant part of its recovery and resilience plan to digitalisation

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Hungary’s strongest digital headline is connectivity. Gigabit-capable fixed broadband already reaches most households (around 84% in 2023). FTTP is also widely deployed, placing Hungary well above the EU average and among Central Europe’s leaders for fibre reach. These figures come from the European Commission’s annual Broadband Coverage in Europe study and datasets for the 2023 reference year.

On payments and transaction infrastructure, Hungary is an early mover: nationwide instant account-to-account payments went live on 2 March 2020, operating 24/7/365 and designed as a mandatory rail for domestic credit transfers (with rules issued by the central bank). The launch places Hungary among the first countries globally to implement an always-on instant payment system at a national scale, with the Magyar Nemzeti Bank documenting the regime and its legal underpinnings.

Regionally, Budapest also punches above its weight as a peering hub. The Budapest Internet Exchange (BIX) lists more than 130 networks and reports >1.4 Tb/s peak public traffic, anchoring diverse paths to neighbouring capitals and major European hubs, an important complement to Hungary’s high fixed-line coverage and improving mobile footprint tracked in the regulator’s annual State of the Open Internet report.

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