Estonia opens the first electronic "embassy" in Luxembourg

Considered the country that uses the Internet the most in the world, Estonia has taken another step in this direction, deciding to open in 2018, in Luxembourg, the first electronic embassy to store its data banks.

The server room, with high security measures, will hold important electronic information of the Estonian government, which will be accessible even if the system in the national territory is down.

"Data security and cyber security are of fundamental importance from the point of view of trust in people and the functioning of services," Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas said last month.

"This is part of what we call everyday e-hygiene in our increasingly computerized society," he added, in a statement released after signing the Estonian data collection agreement with his Luxembourg counterpart, Xavier Bettel.

"This is the first electronic embassy in the world," said Ratas, whose country, with 1,3 million inhabitants, is also called E-Estonia because of its high attraction to new technologies.

After five decades of Soviet occupation ended in 1991, Estonia focused on high-tech development and is at the forefront of the EU, which it joined in 2004.

Most public services are accessible via the Internet, while Internet voting came into effect in 2005. Tallinn is also home to one of NATO's cyber defense centers, where experts from Western Europe and North America strive to ensure the security of 29 countries of the Alliance.