Smartmatic, world leader in electronic voting, and Cybernetica, the Estonian R&D lab that built the original Internet voting system used in Estonia, recently announced the creation of a centre to further develop remote online voting.
This multidisciplinary centre of research and development is focused on improving Internet voting by approaching it from a wide assortment of viewpoints: user friendliness and convenience, ergonomics and accessibility, security and auditability among the most important.
As a global company, Smartmatic will provide the necessary reach so Estonia can share its successful experience governments all over the world.
Based in Tallin, Estonia, the centre will be specialized in the implementation of Internet voting in Government elections.
Estonia has been pioneering Internet voting since 2005. In the recent EU parliamentary elections, one third of voters chose to cast their ballot online. The data shows that Internet voting in this country has slashed costs and improved efficiency, making voting easier for many. So far, Estonia is the only country that has conducted national elections allowing its citizens to decide whether to vote online, or to cast a ballot in person.
According to a study conducted by the ONG Freedom House, Estonia ranked first in the world for Internet Freedom. Such recognition is not a mere accident. It is the result of a systematic and comprehensive approach to e-Government that has taken this 1.3 million people nation to lead the digital government revolution worldwide.
