Dubai’s latest three-year budget that was announced last week, the largest in its history, is a clear message about the kind of future the emirate – and the country as a whole – intends to build. It places long-term investment behind public services, innovation and the digital infrastructure that supports daily life. For those who care about the shape of tomorrow’s societies, this is an important signal. It reflects an understanding that the strength of a digital nation rests on the quality of its public services.
For Estonia, a country that chose to digitise early and completely, that message resonates. Our experience has shown that technology should make life easier and societies fairer. As innovation scales, the real measure of progress must look beyond the number of services online, and instead at how many people can access them with ease. The UAE’s commitment to building an innovation-driven society, where digital systems create opportunity and improve daily life, reflects the same belief.
Digitisation succeeds when it is designed for everyone. Estonia began with a simple idea to make access universal. That meant building services that worked as well for a parent in a small town as for an entrepreneur in the capital. Libraries became digital gateways, and public services were built around inclusion, transparency and trust.
The UAE's We the UAE 2031 national plan speaks of wellbeing, opportunity and global competitiveness, yet at its heart lies a human idea where a nation’s success is measured by how well it serves its people. Digital progress is the tool that makes this possible.
This shared philosophy explains why co-operation between Estonia and the UAE is growing quickly. Our countries are now working together on AI governance, digital justice and secure data exchange – areas that rely on technology and institutional trust in equal measure.
Artificial intelligence dominated conversations at this year's GITEX event, which was held last month in Dubai. The technology promises to redefine how economies operate and how governments and citizens interact. But every powerful tool demands responsibility. AI must be transparent, explainable and aligned with public values.
In Estonia, we call our next step the "AI Leap" – a national effort to make AI literacy part of everyday education and to build ethics and accountability into design. The UAE’s own work to integrate AI into schools and public administration shows the same maturity of vision. Both nations recognise that innovation without understanding risks leaving people behind. Education ensures that technology remains understood and purpose driven.
GITEX is often described as a showcase of invention, but it is also a study in collaboration. Each breakthrough on display depends on shared data, interoperable systems and public-private partnerships that cross borders. This is where Estonia and the UAE find common ground.
For Estonia’s entrepreneurs, the Gulf is one of the most dynamic markets in the world. For the UAE, Estonia’s experience offers a living example of what trusted digital infrastructure can unlock.
Estonian companies have been active in the region for years. Nortal, a digital transformation specialist, and B.EST Solutions, a leader in secure e-governance, have established long-term partnerships and are contributing to major national projects. Alongside them, a new generation of Estonian innovators is attracting growing interest from Gulf partners. CybExer Technologies, a next-generation cybersecurity platform, and Skeleton Technologies, whose proprietary energy storage solutions are helping power the data economy, reflect how Estonia’s agile start-up ecosystem is supporting the Gulf’s transformation ambitions.
Our trade continues to expand, and our dialogue now focuses on joint capacity building in cybersecurity, digital trade and green technology. Yet, this ambition to co-create is not founded on trade, but on a shared conviction that progress must be inclusive. The digital economy thrives when everyone can take part, regardless of age, income or background. When people trust the systems that connect them, they use them, and innovation follows.
The UAE’s energy and Estonia’s experience complement each other. One brings the ambition and scale to transform entire industries, the other brings the lessons learned from years of digital experimentation. Together, they show that modernisation and human values work best side by side.
What is happening In the UAE today is a timely reminder that the future is shaped by long-term choices. It applies scale to an approach that is increasingly visible across the Emirates, where digital infrastructure, strong public services and inclusive growth are treated as strategic priorities rather than ambitions. When governments plan in this way, they create the conditions for innovation to take root.
The digital era will favour nations that design with everyone in mind. Estonia and the UAE are working to ensure that the benefits of progress are shared widely and confidently. The future will belong to countries that build systems their citizens trust and use, and make sure no one is left behind.
