(ANSA) - TRIESTE - A pioneer in electronic government, Estonia has introduced "e-residency", giving foreigners access to a vast range of online services.

Estonians can use a national identity card embedded with a microchip to gain access to some 4,000 services, including banking, business registration and even fishing licenses. They review medical records and order prescriptions on smartphones; about a third of voters now cast their ballots online.

Beginning in December, EU and non-EU citizens alike can request an "e-residency card" coming to Estonia at least once to prove their identity at a national institution. They can then access services through the portal e-estonia.com.

Unlike the identity card, it has no photograph and cannot serve as proof of identity in the real world. But it can be used to log in to Estonian e-services and to generate a digital signature. (ANSA).