Assessment of the eID Ecosystem as a Part of the State’s Critical Infrastructure: The Case of Estonia

In the current digital era, electronic identification (eID) is crucial for providing electronic services (e-services) and facilitating information exchange between the government, citizens, and businesses. A secure and robust eID system is vital to mitigate privacy risks and system vulnerabilities, ensuring the delivery of high-value e-services. This research focuses on evaluating the eID and its surrounding ecosystem as components of a country’s critical infrastructure (CI). The study focuses on assessing the readiness of the eID ecosystem to become integral to society by enhancing its resilience. The study uses Estonia as a case study and employs a qualitative data collection methodology to explore the new phenomenon of eID’s critical importance. The research delves into the application of the CI concept to the eID ecosystem, with thematic analysis used to examine the primary data gathered from semi-structured interviews with Estonian eID experts. The findings of this research include a framework for assessing eID as part of the state’s CI.