Digital Nomads:
As the pandemic surges into 2021 digital borders are opening. Is Estonia’s e-Residency the future of remote work for freelancers and founders?
On December 1st, 2014 Estonia launched a virtual residency program known as e-Residency. At the end of 2014 I allocated my cocktail waitressing money for a Nordic and Estonian winter. The night of my flight I waitressed until 3:00 am and caught a solo flight to Helsinki hours later.
When pandemic news infiltrated the Twitter cycles of 2020, I speculated Estonia was one of the most digitally prepared nations in the world for a remote reality. My assumption had a past.
In the concluding weeks of 2014 when I landed in Finland I felt the bliss of confusion. Within a six month radius I wrote for a Silicon Valley reporter through a cold email I sent. Away from the search engine of capital G, I wrote with a pseudonym.
"I've never heard of anything like this before."
When I lost the angle I passively watched Rolling Stone/NY Times mimic the beat as the copyright domino effect continued on.
“That was fast.”
Spooked as a response I bought my first Wordpress Domain. I was gracious for the byline. I declined further media writing and went ghost.
In hindsight I experienced a fantastic lesson on the substantial risks of freelance journalism. The narrative, mystery, and significance of my first pseudonym changed as time passed. A memory clock of a euphemism and sensationalist stock image.
Paradoxically the original story-line I predicted came true including the emails I wrote.
During early shocks of the pandemic Estonia consumed my thoughts as we braced ourselves for a remote world of shifting norms in our personal and professional lives including the psychosomatic effects of long term physical isolation.
We travel imaginatively when crossing physical borders isn’t a reality for many. The pandemic intensified the notion what happens when everyone moves online without a sense of closure.
Recently I noticed Twitter/Clubhouse idealism on Estonia’s e-Residency model with relatively little historical reference. With crisis there is opportunity so the saying goes. Sometimes it’s best to quietly build under the radar. Estonia never left my mind.
Synchronicity is the belief that meaningful coincidences occur with no causal relation.
In 2014 technology was arcane to me in Helsinki. After the circuit feeling of virality I couldn’t breeze through concepts of exposure. I saw the consequences of tech as a detriment towards those who had barriers of access to technology.
I was unresponsive for the latest gadget. I saw the numerical values of expensive tech tease the teenagers. Whether it was big tech, finance, media, or Hollywood, the 2010s shaped our internet discourse for societal advancement and unknowable outcomes of social media. No one is bias-proof from influence.
SLUSH —
Opening the curtains in Helsinki concepts of tech and startups seemed synthetic to me during this milieu — illusive and unreachable. Jaded, and admittedly unrealistic on how to optimize my curiosity without validation. I wasn’t chasing lingo seagulls. In the land of “Angry Birds” I questioned whether tech was a gentrification villain.
My perspective remained temporarily narrow as the psychology of virality changed how I observed. I understood the sensitivity of how one could have their world turned upside down with unforeseen consequences. It was the beginning of conceptualizing my views on privacy.
“Who is your viral self in the gaze of the masses?”
The practice of harm reduction captivated me.
Virality inclines people to go untraceable.
Pseudonym virality is when a ghost knows their actions could be watched while contemplating how to time their presence to the world.
Our current predicament of journalism is what happens when we understand the aesthetics of what we do while we bear in mind the formulas of outcomes for ourselves and others. Some think people have created artificial towers of simulated narratives that cannot be easily undone in a changing world of storytelling. Others want to hire us to craft a message. On the extreme end is cancelling, harassment, and censorship.
A pseudonym is a delineation with the mainstream— notably when reporting by and with contentious or marginalized populations. Speaking, writing, and listening with people who dealt with social exclusion or loss, we spoke the same language. If there was an independent streak, we spoke the same language. We knew our dual lives held true power, experience, and knowledge.
I knew I wasn’t alone. Unintentionally I encountered people who had their lives overhauled for making an impact. We bonded over institutional giants suppressing our stories or revealing our private lives to the world. We stood our ground. Journalists in my family learned their craft through witnessing historical conflict and war. I had a moral obligation to trust my instincts, reject formal training, seek unconventional mentors, and cultivate my resources.
A common theme of observation is how people often refuted, dodged, or challenged mainstream gazing either blending in or refusing to do so. Privacy is one of the most precious resources we do not know we have. No characters were the same bonded by a common thirst for curiosity, change, and risk.
We feared not reaching our potential ♢
Technology and innovation is one of the most significant exports in Finland. 1
Tech did seem second-nature to Finns. People weren’t distant or sensitive to collaboration. It was admirable. Any previous hostility towards thinking about the social exclusion factors of technology lightened into a hotbed of ideas. A thriving room is when minds would gather. A Helsinki university was a non-stop hub. A learning incubator. What struck me was collective eagerness to solve societal problems together. The practice was less individualistic. My shell came down.
In the Nordics people seemed less stressed. People were approachable. I questioned whether Nordic safety nets created a culture where one was more compelled to take more risks. Even social enterprises and environmental policies would be in explicit view at a supermarket.
In Helsinki I never saw a visibly homeless person. Beyond the Economist byline of Helsinki’s Housing First approach it made me question why Vancouver at times felt aloof, distant, and awkwardly bureaucratic with collaboration.
Finland had the additive of “what if?”
At the time I was searching for “what was?”
The hostel room in Estonia was covered in European newspapers on the walls. December mornings were crisp. Instead of a cup of coffee, elk soup was more appropriate for breakfast. “Good morning” on the intersection of Suur-Karja was Soviet style flea markets and cathedrals on antiquated roads. Tallin is a well-preserved medieval town — a town of history and pioneering digital infrastructure. The specter of Soviet architecture was center-fold. As night falls, clubs for Russians. Clubs for Estonians. One turn into quarry buildings filled with silent eyes of hipsters dressed in black.
As the clock hit midnight champagne flooded the streets. Instead of happy new year they would scream “Independence!” vis-a-vis 1991. Tallin had captured me with it’s historical charm of an incredibly nuanced post-Soviet past.
“Blockchain” didn't have an introduction to my thoughts yet. Exhalation of ideas sometimes emerge when we least expect.
Estonia is one of the earliest adopters of blockchain. A distributed unchangeable way of recording online transactions that is peer-to-peer and censor proof. Visually: A blockchain transaction is hashed with strings alphanumerically often appearing in zeros. I like to think of these numbers as part of the chain. Once the blockchain transaction is approved the work remains unmoved. This is called “proof of work.”
Mathematically, the storage of data on blockchain cannot be faked making it nearly impossible to gain control of the network hence the critical component of developers setting up nodes. Blockchain nodes are open-source and allow developers to create services. For investing, running a node contributes to network security for users seeking to validate their own transactions to ensure investments are safe. No third party is what people mean by “decentralized”
For everyone, and no one.2
On January 26th 2021, Estonia’s government hosted Satoshi’s white paper on Bitcoin.3 Not surprising. Estonia experienced first-hand the collateral damage of data leaks and widespread cyberwarfare in the early 2000s. Estonia’s response after the vicious cyber attack involved transforming their online network architecture by building a digital republic to protect data from ransomware, bad actors, and cyber-breaches — inception of Estonia’s usage and exploration of centralized and decentralized blockchains increased to protect future security issues.
Estonia’s digital government sought to alleviate technology barriers for citizens including the adoption of e-Residency. Besides marriage, divorce, and real estate people are empowered to organize their lives digitally. For years Silicon Valley giants hyped or undervalued Estonia’s enticing digital society as citizens self-sufficiently managed their lives online. Global awareness of Estonia’s role in pioneering blockchain changed when the pandemic hit,
we can pinpoint here why:
2007:
Estonia is often regarded as one of the first sovereign states in the world to experience a major cyberwarfare act which lasted weeks. 4
Estonia’s sovereignty was independently recognized from the Soviet Union in 1991. During the 2007 cyber attacks, the alleged cyber perpetrators were linked to Russian IP addresses which triggered an international response on network security.
The entire banking system, media conglomerates, and government were in a state of communication paralysis. Email and state communication halted as outlets couldn't deliver the news.
In the early Spring of 2007, Estonia erupted into two nights of rioting. Periodically in 2012, Estonia was the first nation-state in the world to adopt blockchain technology known as Keyless Signature Infrastructure [KSI] to prevent data leaks to combat future acts of cyberwarfare:
“KSI Blockchain is designed to protect the networks, servers and database in Estonia from being attacked, ensure the integrity of data-at-rest, and enable the detection of any intentional or unintentional data modification. This technology has been integrated into many important government registries, such as business registry, succession registry, property registry, digital courts database, etc.” 5
Globally military intelligence around the world evaluated the importance of secure networks after Estonian cyber attacks.
Effectively Estonia implemented in their constitution internet usage as a human right for all.
Estonia continued to invest in cybersecurity protocols to enhance digital defense.
Once Estonia established stronger data infrastructure embracing innovation was the next step to becoming a digital nation.
In 2014, Estonia was the first country in the world to implement e-Residency for anyone who wished to access Estonian services.
During the pandemic Estonia lead by example as a digitally resilient nation.
With most Estonians accessing services online I entertained the possibility Estonia is *likely* one of the most digitally prepared spots in the world to experience a pandemic shift towards entrepreneurship with access to over 600 e-services. Anyone anywhere in the world can have a digital ID card to access Estonian services once their application approves.
E-Residency6 is an option to become a digital citizen of Estonia without visiting the country. People can even start a business. Although not a passage of citizenship, e-Residency is EU backed meanwhile the website has a visually appealing interface for freelancers and founders to get started with tutorials and modules.
The fee is approx. 130 euros and e-Residency lasts five years.
Far-reaching crypto implications of e-Residency is directed services for people to become more digitally inclined including access to DAO [Decentralized Autonomous Organizations] based e-services.
Integrated e-Residency courses on DAOs signify a sharp position towards “if” to “when” traditional fin and business structures will slowly decline in relevance in the next decade as businesses reconsider centralized or decentralized blockchain-based software protocols. Additionally Estonia is seeking to expand e-Residency’s program to over 20 countries while increasing decentralized finance resources on how to start a company.7
Last winter, e-Residency experienced it’s first notable PR crisis with over 500 crypto companies being revoked due to ICO [Initial Coin Offering] scams. Estonia is notably forward-thinking about crypto— yet it remains unclear how strong of a legal regulatory approach Estonia will take on crypto assets after Danske Bank.
A main point of contention is why crypto startups are rapidly losing their licenses. An obvious learning curve is how to resolve regulatory risks in the future. Nevertheless Estonia continues to strengthen international ties as a digital anomaly willing to help others with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi publicly affirming innovative support between Estonia and India.
On April 10th 2021, Sanjay Phadke wrote: “Can digital currencies and crypto investors help close India’s SME financing gap?” which discusses the rise of crypto investors driving financial impact towards small and medium size enterprises [SMEs] in India. Days earlier Coinsbit a crypto exchange in Estonia launched Coinsbit India on April 9th, 2021.
Global awareness of Estonia’s influential role in pioneering blockchain applications became apparent when the pandemic changed every societal aspect of our lives.
Estonia secured it’s reputation as a rising digital anomaly that could withstand a pandemic with two co-factors: Data resilience and public trust of government. Increased social trust of government provides a more harmonious outcome to deploy technological solutions to improve people’s lives.
“A disruptor” is an action or play that no one sees coming. People often don't pay attention to a critique proof smooth-talking story. In a remote world we've become more intelligible knowing one form of innovation is delocalizing and decentralizing power. Health privacy is the next wave of international concern with the pandemic.
One question is to ask, who in society lacks trust with the system and how do we restore trust? Estonian model of digital agency over ones medical records ensures greater privacy and less discrimination. Often marginalized and targeted people in society need autonomy over their data. When data is excessively controlled by institutions people remain entrenched within the confines of systemic discrimination.
Paradoxically this creates dependency on the systems that monitor and control individuals agency. Decentralizing power reboots a democratic shift towards individuals having power over their lives.
Analyzing the Estonian model helps uncover a basic hidden premise: Government trusts citizens with managing their lives digitally. Here lies the unanswered questions on the humanitarian potential of blockchain influence internationally.
Digital solutions are a forecast. We never know how much impact is involved until we understand the scale of catastrophe or event. During the pandemic opening digital borders became a lifeline as physical borders remain closed.
To boost potential opportunities freelancers and founders may need to take on a more direct, cosmopolitan, and globalized strategy in a remote world including the mental stamina to shift through the political, philosophical, economical, legal, and contentious topics in Bitcoin, blockchain, digital currencies, and dare I say, “NFTs”
While cryptocurrency has an imperfect history including sustainability concerns when examined critically we hear stories emerge with the recent Coinbase IPO discussing the era of crypto and cypherpunk values being relatively obscure, stigmatized, and taboo. People who took significant risk were sensible to guard their process.
I view Estonia as a reckoning point in how a nation defended their sovereignty using technological means to protect their citizens. An Estonian digital nation equipped people for an ambitious future which reduced initial shocks of remote transition in a pandemic.
As Estonia’s e-Residency model continues to be exported globally the field will level for smaller entrants to freelance remotely, start businesses, build digital community ties, and grow network diversity. How one diversifies career interests in a new business landscape is part of a changing remote creative economy. Robust remote programs such as e-Residency offer a long-term plan for freelancers and founders looking to scale their services and products in novel learning environments and markets.
With rising COVID variants economic recovery remains unclear. When glancing over one’s shoulder, 2020 hopes of V-shaped recovery appears naively optimistic. Taking stock of the moment it’s worthwhile to encourage people to think about global offshore options for community building which includes exploring commerce of digital currencies. Crypto is a multifaceted phenomenon with plenty of ways to learn or engage whether one has a technical or non-technical background.
Crypto is by no means one dimensional in terms of technological and ethical implications — A wild west of people, identity politics, and culture who are not only investing but building projects to sharpen their imagination on the future of digital currencies, crypto, and commerce. As previously mentioned, Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin has multi-purpose usages beyond crypto such as supply chains, finance, creative industries, clean energy and climate action8, business analytics, and information technology.
The ingenious case for centralized and decentralized blockchains to improve data integrity will remain an unavoidable reality. Igor Pejic author of Blockchain Babel summarizes our current predicament:9
“Blockchain spells the erosion of national boundaries; its global ledger does not discriminate according to jurisdiction, and the costs are the same, whether you send money to your neighbour next door or to a web shop on another continent.” - Chapter six: Business-Model Evolution - The Arrival of the IT Paradigm p. 162
“Banking is already witnessing the first waves of the digital revolution; digital banks and the closure of bricks-and-mortar branches are testament to this, but the major catalyst will be blockchain technology.” - Also see Chapter six p. 151
The reality of an increasingly remote work world we may see revised versions of an e-Residency model increase as governments explore how to build blockchain infrastructure while navigating the collusion between suits traditional finance, fintech, decentralized finance, and crypto culture:
“If banks manage to harness the technology and squeeze it into the corset of current regulation, all the bad aftertaste of the deep web would be swallowed and the blockchain could become a force for good. [This is not to say, however, that bitcoin and other decentralized applications should be banned] Canada’s light-touch approach is a better way to deal with the problem.” - Chapter seven: An Unparalleled Promise… For Some p.168
While Canadian mainstream adoption is a spark point of conversation my focus is driven towards Estonian digital values of empowering people to have agency and control over their own lives with less government interference. Our current world is increasingly rampant with financial collapse which spawns social distrust. Social trust is a democratic value. A democratic government encourages new innovative methods to increase privacy and autonomy to ensure greater trust between people and their digital lives. 10
People can no longer rely on one source of creative risk. Freelancers and founders have a right to protect their work when economic conditions are volatile. We need not fear thriving in this new chapter of the decentralized web. In simpler terms less worry over intermediaries and more options for ownership of work. The previous freelance binary of a “win” or “lose” outcome if writing doesn’t land a major byline is proving to be disastrous in terms of time, reputation, and payment options as layoffs surge accompanied by crumbling business models.
The decentralized web is how our current generation is looking towards the next circus of speech, expression, and human rights that remains relatively unexplored in questioning centralized power. 11
Navigating the ‘what ifs’ of being digitally nomadic is complex. An accessible world is a powerful world. Big fish tech and Valley giant narratives tend to generate a wide range of thoughts, opinions, or emotions depending who you ask.
My sense of optimism is creatives accessing new remote learning opportunities — a freshly invigorating pursuit for a new wave of storytelling which challenges the ethos of *clicks* and viral algorithmic outrage.
Besides print I plan to sell my book on a decentralized domain as an additional step of self-insurance while exploring my curiosity.
If we conceptualize the internet as a human right we have an existing framework to create a more inclusive, equitable, and accessible society including how we learn, communicate, and change tools.
Blockchain is by no means a silver bullet ‘one size fits all’ solution — yet, Estonia is a powerful lesson on the merits of digital transformation during a pandemic.
Thank you for swimming with my thoughts.
- T
<dox!>
Tirades of content for voyeurism.
Dreams of exploring transformative potential of human-kind.
I wondered if we lived as one-click wonders.
Internet echo chambers,
Stories never passing
barb wired algorithms of acceptance.
“No where to be found”
“No where to be engaged with”
print: ([cat_and_mouse_PR_[x])
Assert:
“the search query you won't think of”
Recall:
Over-researched,
Encoded.
Capital V land
Return:
Under-banked
from the perspective of the red pen that ticks right.
Wait:
We weren’t futurists in their eyes.
Survival mode of the slow thinking outcasts.
Hold:
Unsupervised learners,
misconstrued ambitious exiles.
We built networks of complexity
empires on the margins,
Biometric marginality:
Ready to dive?
Stigma is over.
Taylor Simone is a freelance journalist and techie crewing for Vancouver’s motion picture industry specializing in conflict resolution, privacy, and reporting.
She’s dispatched for Supernatural, Riverdale, Batwoman, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Nancy Drew, DC Legends, Superman & Lois, Firefly Lane, Zoeys Extraordinary Playlist, Away, Mighty Ducks, Jurassic World: Dominion, The Adam Project, & more…
Her book If At First You Don’t Succeed is slated for early 2022.
Sig. taylorsimone@protonmail.com
References:
Why Estonia Hosted the White Paper - Decrypt News 01. 26. 2021.
Lina Network: Estonia and KSI blockchain
Republic of Estonia: e-Residency
Kim S-K, Huh J-H. Figure 2.3 on blockchain. Blockchain of Carbon Trading for UN Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability. 2020;
Pejic, I. (2019). Blockchain Babel : the crypto craze and the challenge to business . Kogan Page Limited. See footnotes on Chapter 6, 7.