Ok, I’m a fan of Estonia. The president of that small country was recently here in Tampa, and while I didn’t get to see him talk, I was impressed with what I heard of the country.
Of course, there’s the extraordinary flat tax system (which actually goes down every year). I can only envy it from afar…
And, the country runs like a well-oiled machine compared to other democracies. The country is heavily online, with about 95% of all government activities done through the Internet. There’s no luddite Series of Tubes nonsense going on over there. These people are very hip to the Internets and The Google.
There’s a darker side: About a year ago, the country was nearly brought to its knees by a massive cyberwar. They fought back successfully, and the result is that the country is to become the center of a seven nation NATO cyberdefense center. I can’t think of a more perfect location, frankly.
So on that note, friend and colleague Gadi Evron wrote a detailed analysis of what happened last April. Recommended reading, and you can find it here.
Go Estonia.
Alex Eckelberry
Update: Counterpoint/debate here.