Taavi Kotka
— a premier Tech Conference Keynote Speaker

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Entrepreneur and first CIO for the Government of Estonia. Pioneer of e-Estonia, the world’s most advanced digital nation, and cofounder of the world’s first e-Residency programme.
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Watch a keynote:
Digital Dialogue 2017
European CIO of the Year
ICTSPRING, 2014
Premier 100 Technology Leaders
COMPUTERWORLD, 2016
Entrepreneur of the Year
EY, 2011
The Order of the White Star III class
PRESIDENT OF ESTONIA
Thinkers 20: The Brightest Business Minds in Northern Europe
NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT, 2016
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Taavi Kotka
— a premier Tech Conference Keynote Speaker

Book Now
Entrepreneur and first CIO for the Government of Estonia. Pioneer of e-Estonia, the world’s most advanced digital nation, and cofounder of the world’s first e-Residency programme.

Taavi 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, Webmedia (now 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, which has placed Estonia at the epicentre of the global tech community, as well as innovations such as 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 and received Estonia’s prestigious White Star III Class Order in 2016.

Taavi is now back in the private sector, helping startups develop and consulting large enterprises and governments on digital transformation. He is also a very popular and visionary speaker at large conferences around the world.

Taavi is also now a special advisor to European Commission vice-president Andrus Ansip on European Digital Single Market.


In personal life:

Passionate about piano lessons, chess, snowboarding and family.

Education:

Master of Science of Engineering (focus: ICT) cum laude, PhD Studies in Tallinn University of Technology.

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The first step in considering Taavi to speak at your event is to simply tell us a little bit about it and to see if the date is available. Please fill out the form and we will contact you soon!

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Important booking information

We book Taavi out one year in advance so the check of his availability is the first important step and should be done as soon as possible!

His calendar fills up at ultimate speed!