The Estonian Nation Branding
The concept of ‘nation branding’ refers to the establishment of an image and a reputation for a country. Geoffrey Wiseman, an American professor, describes it as ‘the application of corporate marketing concepts and techniques to countries, in the interests of enhancing their reputation in international relations[1]’. In short, nation branding is a subcategory of soft power using cultural, political and social values. Countries use it to diffuse a particular image of themselves around the world. This concept comes from the marketing world and designates the capacity of a country to ‘sell’ its personal brand to the world and make it as accepted, appealing and welcoming as the other countries. This long process is only centred on crafting a good reputation[2].
Nation branding is the path Estonia took after the 2007 cyber-attacks. The country has illustrated itself in the fast and successful development of cyber defence and cybersecurity organisations, and legal frameworks, protecting both public and government systems.
The process was made possible thanks to the involvement of the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Economy and Telecommunications which permitted for an efficient system to be put in place. Furthermore, under the command of the Ministry of Economy, the ‘Riigi Infosüsteemi Amet’ (RIA), the Estonian Information System Authority established in 2011, is in charge of the country’s security, and is in charge of maintaining Estonia’s critical infrastructure[4]. The RIA is supported by the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), responsible for responding to potential attacks and scanning networks for potential vulnerabilities. In addition, the Estonian process is characterized by the establishment of a cyber self-defence group in 2007, the ‘küberkaitseliit’ whose main specificity lies in its integration into the army corps, although it is a civilian and voluntary organization[5]. Moreover, to ensure its leadership in the field of innovation and digital technology, Estonia has been working to export its e-democracy system and solutions such as X-Road[6] to Finland, Azerbaijan and the Faroe Islands[7]. This service represents a force of Estonian influence abroad. Thus, cyber and the new technologies in general are the main domains that allow Estonia to be notable at the European and international levels.
On the other hand, the country has embarked on a media strategy by talking publicly about the innovative projects being conducted in Estonia. The first example of this strategy was in 2012, when the country started making headlines around the world and fascinated TV cameras about its ‘little tigers’, children who are learning to program. The explosion of the ‘tigers’ case’ marked the beginning of a media hysteria for Estonia and its innovations[8]. Thus, the media game in which Estonia has engaged, in addition to its strong presence in the field of innovation, e-services and international security, has offered it a role as a model and innovative country.
[1] Geoffrey Wiseman, ‘Diplomacy in a globalizing world: theories and practices’, (2013), page 354
[2] Melissa Aronczyk, ‘How to Do Things with Brands: Uses of National Identity’, (2009), page 294
[4] Republic of Estonia Information System Authority, ‘State information system in Estonia’ (2007), https://www.ria.ee, accessed on March 16th, 2021
[5] Kadri Kaska, ‘The Cyber Defence Unit of the Estonian Defence League’ (2013), https://ccdcoe.org/uploads/2018/10/CDU_Analysis.pdf, accessed on April 12th, 2021
[6] X-Road: software and pillar of e-Estonia. It allows the nation’s various public and private sector e-service information systems to link up and function in harmony. It ensures secure transfers by encrypting and logging data.
[7] E-Estonia, ‘Interoperability Services’, https://e-estonia.com/solutions/interoperability-services/x-road/, accessed on April 13th, 2021
[8] Ibid. 35