Taavi Kotka (born 21 January 1979) is an IT visionary and previously the chief information officer of the

Estonian Government , image = , date = 24 February 1918 , state = Republic of Estonia , address = Rahukohtu 3, 15161 Tallinn, Estonia , appointed = President of Estonia , leader_title = Prime Minister of Estonia , ...

known for leading e-residency program. Between years 2005-2012, Kotka was the CEO of Nortal (then named Webmedia), one of the largest software development companies in the Baltic states. Taavi Kotka (alongside Ruth Annus, and Siim Sikkut) proposed "10 million e-residents by 2025" on idea contest by Estonian Development Fund in 2014. In April 2015, the Vice President of European Commission,

Andrus Ansip Andrus Ansip (; born 1 October 1956) is an Estonian politician, a member of the European Parliament, the former European Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice President of the European Commission, in office from 2014 until 2019. Previo ...

, assigned Taavi Kotka to be his Special Adviser on

Digital Single Market On 6 May 2015, the European Commission, led at the time by Jean-Claude Juncker, communicated the Digital Single Market strategy which intends to remove virtual borders, boost digital connectivity, and make it easier for consumers to access cross ...

issues and

e-Governance Electronic governance or e-governance is the application of information technology for delivering government services, exchange of information, communication transactions, integration of various stand-alone systems between government to citiz ...

. In 2021, together with Ivo Mägi and Antti Perli, he founded the start-up company KOOS.io. In April 2022, 4 million euros were involved. The new investment round was led by the fund Taavet + Sten, among the investors were Markus Villig, Kaarel Kotkas, Triin Hertmann, Jevgeni Kabanov, etc. In addition to the Estonian funds Superangels, United Angels and Lemonade Stand, British LocalGlobe also joined this circle.

Biography

Kotka started his career as a programmer, rising to be a Managing Director of the largest software development company in the region – Webmedia (now

Nortal Nortal is a Multinational corporation, multinational Strategy, strategic Social change, change and technology company headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, with operations in the United States, US, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Nortal provid ...

), one of largest software development companies in

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

. As an engineer, he has been the brainpower behind many

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n e-government innovative initiatives like e-residency (digital citizenship), data embassies, country in the cloud, no-legacy policy, VAT fraud detection etc. He is also a special advisor to

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

vice-president

on European Digital Single Market.

Education

Master of Science of Engineering (focus:

ICT ICT may refer to: Sciences and technology * Information and communications technology * Image Constraint Token, in video processing * Immunochromatographic test, a rapid immunoassay used to detect diseases such as anthrax * In-circuit test, in ...

) and PhD Studies in

Tallinn University of Technology Established in 1918, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech; et, Tallinna Tehnikaülikool) is the only technical university in Estonia. TalTech, in the capital city of Tallinn, is a university for engineering, business, public administratio ...

. He was the president of the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL) and he was elected as an Entrepreneur of the year in 2011.

Awards

*In 2015,

Computerworld ''Computerworld'' (abbreviated as CW) is an ongoing decades old professional publication which in 2014 "went digital." Its audience is information technology (IT) and business technology professionals, and is available via a publication website ...

awarded Kotka with the One of the Most Important Technology Leaders title *In 2014, Estonian Association of Information and Telecommunications awarded him with the Man of The Year title *In 2014, ICT Spring awarded Taavi Kotka with the European CIO of the Year 2014 title *In 2011,

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

awarded him with the Entrepreneur of the Year title

Honours

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star ( et, Valgetähe teenetemärk; french: Ordre de l'Etoile Blanche) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic ...

, III Class, awarded by the President of Estonia,

Toomas Hendrik Ilves Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016. Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...

, 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotka, Taavi 1979 births Living people Estonian businesspeople Hugo Treffner Gymnasium alumni Chief information officers Estonian chief executives Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class