Taavi Kotka became Estonia’s first ever Chief Information Officer in 2013 to oversee the country’s development as an advanced digital nation. He previously worked in the private sector, starting his career as a programmer before rising to be the CEO of the region’s largest software development company Nortal. During this time, Taavi was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year. As Estonia’s CIO, Taavi introduced a number of new ideas that have come to define the concept of ‘e-Estonia’ as a digital nation and these best practises are now being copied and implemented by other governments around the world. This includes the e-Residency programme, data embassies, country-as-a-service (CAAS), the no-legacy policy, VAT fraud detection, and others. As a result of his work in the public sector, Taavi was named European CIO of the Year 2014. 2016 Computerworld named Taavi as on of the 100 Premier technology leaders 2018 Apolitical's  World’s named Taavi as one of the 100 most influential people in digital government 2018 Financial Times named Taavi as one of the 12 leading individuals among the Europe's 100 digital champions Taavi is now back in the private sector- consulting enterprises and governments (India and Reliance Jio).