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Estonian Government Aims to End Paperwork

Three-day-old Oskar Lunde sleeps in a small bed at an Estonian hospital. Across the room, his father turns on a laptop computer. “Now we will register our child,” Andrejs Lunde says, as he lifts his identification card into the card reader. His wife, Olga, looks on.

And just like that, Oskar is Estonia’s newest citizen. No paper. No time spent standing1 in a line.

Estonia has launched a project to make government administration completely digital. The goal is to reduce the size of the government work force, open up the decision-making process and fuel economic growth.

As more countries turn to online government services, Estonia’s experiment provides a look at how interacting with the state might be for future generations.

Need medicine? Reach for a computer and send an email or text message to a doctor. Need help from the local government? There are no lines on websites. As for education, parents can see whether their children’s homework was done on time.

Estonia has created a single system that supports electronic authentication2 and digital signatures. It provides paperless communications for both the government and private industry.

There are a few things that one cannot do electronically in Estonia: marry, end a marriage or buy and sell property. That is only because the government has decided3 it was important to show up in person for some big life events.

This spring, the government aims to take additional steps. If Oskar had been born a few months later, he would have been registered electronically, with his parents receiving an email welcoming him into the nation.

Marten Kaevats is Estonia’s national digital adviser4. He says the goal is a government that supports its citizens while staying out of the way.

Other countries have a lot to learn, says Siva Vaidhyanathan. He is director of the Center for Media and Citizenship5 at the University of Virginia.

Estonia took time to build security and privacy into its online model. “It made sure that state accountability is part of the process,” Vaidhyanathan said.

Estonians largely seem to have welcomed the new system, while people in other countries are more concerned about attacks on computers.

At a demonstration6 of the digital system, project manager Indrek Onnik stood beside a large picture of his computer profile. It showed his high school records from 10 years ago and driving record. If he had a dog, its vaccination7 record also would appear there. Citizens can follow their personal data and see if any government or private organization looks at it.

The system is supported by a software program called X-Road, a data exchange system that links computer databases. Outgoing records are digitally signed and recorded, and all incoming data is confirmed and noted8.

Push for digital came with independence

When Estonia declared independence from the former Soviet9 Union in 1991, it had to build a new economy. Government leaders looked for an industry where the country could compete. They decided on information technology and the internet.

When the poor country needed to replace a 1930s phone system, former President Toomas Hendrik Ilves rejected the offer of a free analog10 system from Finland and argued for a digital one.

“The only way we could do really well was to go digital,” Ilves told the Associated Press.

The project, which began in 1997, led the way for Estonia’s technology industry. The government built computer labs for young students in schools. And Microsoft bought Estonia’s most famous high-tech11 export, the video calling service Skype, for $8.5 billion in 2011.

Last year, information and communications accounted for 5.9 percent of the economy. The government hopes to increase that figure with an “e-residency” program that lets entrepreneurs around the world register their businesses in Estonia and gain a presence in the European Union. More than 51,000 people from 167 countries have registered at a cost of 100 euros, or $114 each.

The government also has a plan to re-establish digital services in the event of invasion or severe cyberattacks. The plan would set up what are being called data “embassies” in other countries like Luxembourg. Like a traditional embassy, the servers are considered Estonian territory and would give the government a chance to set up somewhere else, if needed.

Will this work in larger countries?

Zvika Krieger is head of technology policy and partnerships12 at the World Economic Forum13. He wonders if Estonia’s system can be used in countries, like the United States and India, with more people and more governments at the city, state and local levels.

Krieger said, “Estonia is a good first test case. And now the question is whether other countries will find Estonia’s success compelling enough to take the risk to try it at a larger scale.”

Estonia sees its system as a design for modern democracy as compared to authoritarian14 use of technology to control citizens.

Ilves, the former president said, “Estonians hate their politicians just as much as everyone else…But at least since the administration of the state works extremely well and efficiently15, people trust the system.”

Andrejs Lunde is among those who trust the system.

He says digital government makes life so much easier that it is worth the risk. He points out that personal information can be stolen from paper-based systems as well.

“If someone really wants my information, they will get it anyway,” said Lunde. “If they can get Hillary’s emails, they can get mine.”

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

digital – adj. relating to computer technology, especially the internet

online – adj. connected to or involving a computer or telecommunications system

authentication – n. officially confirmed as real or true

accountability – n. being responsible for what you do

profile – n. a description of something that contains all the most important or interesting facts about it

entrepreneur – n. person who attempts to make a profit by starting a company or by operating alone in the business world

compelling – adj. forceful and convincing


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
2 authentication jO5yS     
鉴定,认证
参考例句:
  • Computer security technology includes mainly:Authentication,Encryption,Access Control,Auditing and so on.计算机网络安全技术主要有: 认证授权、数据加密、访问控制、安全审计等。
3 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
4 adviser HznziU     
n.劝告者,顾问
参考例句:
  • They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
  • Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。
5 citizenship AV3yA     
n.市民权,公民权,国民的义务(身份)
参考例句:
  • He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生,但没有瑞典公民身分。
  • Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后,她选择了澳大利亚国籍。
6 demonstration 9waxo     
n.表明,示范,论证,示威
参考例句:
  • His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
  • He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。
7 vaccination bKGzM     
n.接种疫苗,种痘
参考例句:
  • Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
  • Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。
8 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
9 Soviet Sw9wR     
adj.苏联的,苏维埃的;n.苏维埃
参考例句:
  • Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
  • Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。
10 analog yLDyQ     
n.类似物,模拟
参考例句:
  • The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
  • The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行,而是连续地进行量度。
11 high-tech high-tech     
adj.高科技的
参考例句:
  • The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展,这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
  • The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。
12 partnerships ce2e6aff420d72bbf56e8077be344bc9     
n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 );合伙人身份;合作关系
参考例句:
  • Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
  • It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句
13 forum cilx0     
n.论坛,讨论会
参考例句:
  • They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
  • The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。
14 authoritarian Kulzq     
n./adj.专制(的),专制主义者,独裁主义者
参考例句:
  • Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
  • The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。
15 efficiently ZuTzXQ     
adv.高效率地,有能力地
参考例句:
  • The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
  • Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

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