Georgian authorities reassure Christians about use of digital IDs

Rumors that electronic ID cards carry hidden satanic symbols have swirled in Georgia since the cards were introduced in 2011. Efforts by the Georgian Orthodox Church to quash the story, even a ruling approving the cards by the church’s Holy Synod, seem not to be working, so the government has stepped in, EurasiaNet.org writes. Read More »

Kazakhstan climbs up the post-Soviet IT heap

In the annual Global Information Technology Report of the World Economic Forum, Kazakhstan has outshone its Central Asian neighbors – and Russia – to rank 43 of 144 countries, EurasiaNet.org reports. Kyrgyzstan, on the other hand, ranks at the bottom of all post-Soviet nations, at 118.     Read More »

Skolkovo police raid fuels Putin-Medvedev split speculation

On 18 April, Russian authorities searched the Moscow offices of the Skolkovo Foundation, a high-tech incubator, in a move certain to fuel speculation of a widening rift between Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Reuters reports. Read More »

Estonia has high hopes for small cube

Before the end of the month, Estonia will try to launch its first satellite into orbit and become the latest country to join more than 50 states active outside Earth’s atmosphere. Read More »

Moldova wins international ‘Best mGovernment’ prize

The Moldovan government was recently awarded the international “Best mGovernment” prize for their mobile-signature project, according to Moldova’s e-government center. Read More »

Azerbaijan puts first satellite into orbit

Azerbaijan successfully launched its first telecommunications satellite into orbit on 7 February.

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Facebook stonewalls Yandex’s social search app

Yandex’s social search app has been shut down, for now.  Read More »

Yandex to expand its technological horizons

Internet giant Yandex has become the first Russian company to get access to the vast databases of the influential Swiss European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). Read More »

That startup fever

Vladimir Funtikov, a 26-year-old Estonian businessman, already has behind him successful studies at university and the launch of several small technology companies, including Creative Mobile, which produces games for smart phones. Now he’s come up with a crazy idea: playing on cell phones should be taught as a subject at university because, among other reasons, his company – with offices in Tallinn, St. Petersburg, New York, and London employing 60 people – can’t find enough skilled developers and programmers.  Read More »

Roscosmos aims for Mars and plans to build on moon

With Mars on the mind, Russian space agency Roscosmos has announced plans for manned bases on the moon.

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Unfazed by controversy, TeliaSonera boosts its share of Kazakh mobile market

Swedish mobile network operator TeliaSonera has taken another big bite into Kazakhstan’s telecommunications sector, spending $170 million on 4G technology for KCell, the country’s largest mobile provider, Total Telecom reports. Read More »

Estonia decodes IT future

The European Union launched an information technology agency in Estonia last Saturday, just months after the Baltic country announced it would begin teaching computer programming to first-graders. Read More »

Space race in the Baltics in full swing

Latvia recently stole the lead in the Baltic space race, stating it would launch its first satellite into orbit early next year.

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Hunting black swans with big data

In times of worldwide economic crisis, natural disasters, and political turmoil, one often wonders if such events couldn’t have been mitigated or avoided altogether with the help of the latest technological developments. The United Nations Development Programme offers a potential answer in the form of a software that allows better data visualization and detection of irregular patterns.

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