Seminar #10. ‘The Citizen-Engineer: Conceptions of the Digital State in Estonia, 1990-2010‘ in NordAI’s series The Past and Future of AI: Tales, Tropes and Speculations is held on  September 22, 16:00–17:30 (CEST) on Zoom.

At this seminar, Aro Velmet (USC Dornsife, US) presents work on the origins of hype around digital technology, and situates it in early 1990s Estonia when it was treated as a break with the old, corrupt (Soviet) past and the coming of a promising future for Estonia as a ‘digital state’ (a concept adopted by other Nordic countries since). His presentation is followed by a discussion with Katrin Tiidenberg (Tallinn University in Estonia).

On image: Linnar Viik – visionary of the early digital state – demonstrating the potential of wireless internet from the roof of his house.