Impact

One of the most important qualitative changes for the entrepreneurs and citizens is that they can file the documents or register a new legal entity without leaving home or filling in paper forms. Before CReP was implemented, entrepreneurs or citizens had to wait in the long queues for the notary, many papers were to be filled in and then taken to the Registration Department. In the Registration Department only paper applications were accepted, all necessary information was inserted into the computer one by one, all documents were taken from one clerk to another on paper and finally documents were archived on paper. In case of registering a private limited company it was also necessary to visit the bank in order to open a bank account. Before, in the fastest cases, the average time spent was 5 days. Now, there is no need for the notary due to the digital signature and all bank-related transactions can be made through the portal. In the fastest cases, now a new legal entity is entered into the register 12 minutes after the person has filed the petition application. What used to take 5 days on paper is now reduced to 12 minutes online! It saves the time, the energy, the money, the paper and other recourses for all parties and is a sustainable solution. Since the beginning of 2007, when CReP was launched, 25% of the petition entries for registering private limited companies have been submitted through the portal, and this percent is growing every month. In 2008 40% of new private limited company's were established online. Also annual reports (20%) were submitted electronically. 

Innovation: The case is innovative as Estonia is the first country in the world where, due to the concurrence of the changes in the legislation, developments in the IT and changes in the bureaucracy, it is possible to register a new legal entity within such a short time. One of the big advantages about CReP is the opportunities it offers to use high technology in the interest of entrepreneurs and citizens. The whole process is digital and paper free.

http://www.epractice.eu/en/news/301963

 

Track record of sharing

CReP has been introduced at several conferences in the world. Feedback has always been positive and interest towards the portal is enormous. Several European countries and Japan and Russia have been interested in the portal and it has been introduced to the delegation of these countries during their visits to Estonia. We have received an invitation to participate in the working group by the European Commission in order to contribute to the eJustice online implementations with our know-how.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - It is possible to create a new innovative and very functional system with a small team and little time when working effectively.

Lesson 2 - When PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) is supported nationally, it is much easier to provide online e-services.

Lesson 3 - CReP shows how it is possible to reduce steps for creating a company and how to make it paper free.