Cabinet Office
The UK handed over the presidency of the D5, a group of the worlds most digitally advanced nations, to Estonia. The handover took place during a bilateral meeting between the Estonian and UK prime ministers on 9 October.
The D5 was set up by the UK in 2014. It brings together the worlds most digitally advanced nations to explore and share new and better ways of providing excellent digital government services. The members of the group, the UK, Estonia, South Korea, New Zealand and Israel, all have a record of excellence in digital government, including designing services around users needs and sharing open source solutions.
The 2 prime ministers used the bilateral to discuss how the 2 governments can continue to work together to advance digital government. They also discussed important issues such as defence spend, supporting Syrian refugees, and the UKs EU renegotiation.
Minister for the Cabinet Office Matthew Hancock said:
The D5 is a very special international collaboration. It shows how different nations can work hand in glove to solve shared problems and advance the common good. Im thrilled to now pass the mantle on to Estonia, which is at the cutting-edge of digital government.
Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rivas said:
Estonia is honoured to take over the chairmanship of the D5 and host the upcoming summit in Tallinn in November. We thank and commend the UK for initiating this valuable network for exchange of world-class digital government practices and stewarding its first year.
The inaugural D5 summit was held in London last year. This years summit will be held in Tallinn, Estonia, on 19 and 20 November. The network will once again come together to discuss how digital technology can make government more efficient, better serve the needs of citizens and prepare future generations for the digital age.
A new project, UK Estonia TechLink, will also be announced at the summit.This is designed to create and support public and private partnerships between the 2 countries in technology, innovation and science. The project will focus on areas such as financial technology, cyber security, digital government, biotech, smart city development and education.