It's Not Only Size That Matters: Trust and E-Government Success in Europe

User data fuel the digital economy, while individual privacy is at stake. Governments react differently to this challenge. Estonia, a small Baltic state, has become a role model for the renewal of the social contract in times of big data. While e-governance usage has been growing in many parts of Europe during the last ten years, some regions are lagging behind. The Estonian example suggests that online governance is most accepted in a small state, with a young population, trustworthy institutions and the need of technological renewal. This work examines the development of e-governance usage (citizens interacting digitally with the government) during the last decade in Europe from a comprehensive cross-country perspective: Size, age and trust are relevant for the usage of digital government services in Europe. However, the quality of past communication infrastructure is not related to e-governance popularity.

Latvia's Russian Questions

Many ethnic Russians in the Baltic state are still excluded from full citizenship and tend to be susceptible to Moscow's influence through cross-border media.

How Unique is "E-stonia"? A Cross-Country Comparison of E-Services Usage in Europe

User data fuel the digital economy, while individual privacy is at stake. Governments react differently to this challenge. Estonia, a small Baltic state, has become a role model for the renewal of the social contract in times of big data (hence, often ironically referred to as "E-stonia"). While e-governance usage has been growing in many parts of Europe during the last ten years, some regions are lagging behind. The Estonian example suggests that online governance is most accepted in a small state, with a young population, trustworthy institutions and the need of technological renewal. This work examines the development of e-governance usage (citizens interacting digitally with the government) during the last decade in Europe from a comprehensive cross-country perspective: Size, age and trust are relevant for the usage of digital government services in Europe. However, the quality of past communication infrastructure is not related to e-governance popularity.

Synagogue Architecture of Latvia between Archeology and Eschatology

Synagogue architecture during the second half of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century was seeking novel modes of expression, and therefore the remains of ancient synagogues that were being discovered by western archeologists within the borders of the Biblical Land of Israel became a new source of inspiration. As far away as the New World, the design of contemporary synagogues was influenced by discoveries such as by the American Jewish architect, Arnold W. Brunner, who referenced the Baram Synagogue in the Galilee in his Henry S. Frank Memorial Synagogue at the Jewish Hospital in Philadelphia (1901). Less known is the fact that the archaeological discoveries in the Middle East also influenced the design of synagogues in the interwar period, in the newly-independent Baltic state of Latvia. Local architects picked up information about these archaeological finds from professional and popular editions published in German and Russian. Good examples are two synagogues along the Riga seaside, in Majori and Bulduri, and another in the inland town of Bauska. As was the case in America, the archaeological references in these Latvian examples were infused with eschatological meaning.

HYDRODYNAMIC THERMOIONIC SOURCE OF SPACECRAFT RADIO-ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS POWER SUPPLY

Actual problem of modern equipment is the electricity supply of radio-electronic systems of remote sensing of Earth of the spacecrafts and complexes functioning in difficult weather conditions, for example, in the Arctic or in case of emergency situation when it is necessary to give signal «about need of the help». Data on the hydrodynamic thermal electron emission converter (HTEEC) developed in Baltic State Technical University VOENMEH, and also on option of its laboratory sample (LS) are provided in the present article. The HTEEC device is that in active zone HTEEC the current of flows of weakly ionized plasma (FWIP) with high speeds will be organized (0,5-7 km/s and above). It allows to have working surfaces of the cathode and GITEP anode at distances much more than sizes, characteristic of classical TEC, in 0,3-0,5 mm. Thus reliability of HTEEC due to lack of need of maintenance of fine-line spacing and minimizing of negative effects of change of form of active surface of the cathode increases. The laboratory sample is intended for carrying out complex pilot studies of the HTEEC device for two types of propulsive masses -combustion products of organic fuel and inert gases with additives of alkaline metals. Results of the real research have found the reflection when working on the subject «Geksapod» which is carried out to Baltic State Technical University VOENMEH. Field of application of such converters is independent power sources of the Arctic vehicles functioning on the basis of organic fuel and spacecrafts of radio-electronic remote sensing of Earth with superlong life.