Thanks to an explosive growth in personal computer ownership, today more than one in 10 Estonians use the Net a higher rate, in relative terms, than in France or Italy. Thanks to a state crusade led by Estonia s President, Lennart Meri, the whole country is being wired from the National Library in the capital, Tallinn, to the most remote pastoral corners. UNDP led the drive, opening the first four public access points. A total of 300 are planned by the year 2002. In 1997, Meri helped to create the Tiger Leap Foundation, an effort that united the Ministry of Education and Estonia s computer companies.
Human capital is their greatest strength.
The framework document became the basis for the country s new telecommunications law. The sign, just one of many that dot the island, reveals the proximity of one of Estonia s first public access points. Life on Hiiumaa population about 12,000, territory just under 1,000 square kilometres has never been leisurely. The island s history of farming and fishing dates back to the 13th Century. But Estonia s first years of post-Soviet sovereignty have not been terribly kind to Hiiumaa.