Keynote Speaker Biography

Linnar Viik

Viik obtained his degrees at the Tallinn Technical University and Helsinki University of Technology. Having worked as a management consultant at KPMG and program manager at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), he became chairman of the board of the IT and media company Meediamaa and chairman of the supervisory board of Internet service provider Netexpress before becoming a member of the board of directors and head of the Multimedia Department at Levicom.

He was also an adviser to the prime minister of Estonia (1999–2001). In 2000, he helped Estonia become the first country to adopt an e-governance system, changing its cabinet meetings to paperless sessions using a Web-based document system; ministers are able to take part from anywhere. Estonia is now an online savvy state and e-government champion with many government services online—the population can even vote via the Web.

Since 2000, Viik has been lecturing at Estonian IT College and has been a member of the Estonian Research and Development Council. In 2001, he cofounded Mobi Solutions and was a member of the board until 2007. In 2004, he founded Keelevara (language technologies), of which he is still chairman of the supervisory board. Viik was director of Skype Access at Skype Technologies (2007–2009). He recently joined the advisory board of Nordic Investment Bank. He’s been advising the Estonian government in the fields of information society, innovation, and research and development since 1995.