E-government for Americans

Eight American legislators will visit Estonia this week to learn more about the country's paperless government.

Rep. David Dreier, a Republican from California and chairman of the House of Representative's Rules Committee, will lead the delegation, which is schedule to arrive in Tallinn on Aug. 1. The visiting lawmakers will meet with Prime Minister Siim Kallas and state secretary Aino Lepik von Wiren, who will brief them about the e-government system, said Daniel Vaarik, a spokesman for Kallas.

"Very many world leaders are interested in our e-government," Vaarik said. "But it is normally not the main purpose of the visit."

When foreign leaders are in town, Kallas often personally shows them how the country's electronic organization system works, Vaarik said.

Estonia began conducting most of its state business electronically in December 2000. An initial investment of 2.5 million kroons (160,000 euros) for equipment has saved the country about 1.5 million kroons a year, Vaarik said.

But the Americans don't necessarily want to use technology to speed up business in the U.S. government. Jo Powers, a spokeswoman for Dreier said they want to know how Estonia makes information available for constituents on the World Wide Web.

"They just want to check it out," Powers said.