Rob Garver, Fiscal Times 02.12.2014
Edward Lucas, a senior editor at The Economist magazine, may live in England, but as of Monday he is also a "resident" of Estonia. Lucas was the recipient of the first certificate of virtual residency issued by the Estonian government as part of a plan that it hopes will attract foreigners to invest and even start businesses in the small Baltic country.
While a number of other countries, including Iceland, have discussed the concept on a limited basis, Estonia became the first to put it into practice. Lucas was issued a card with an embedded microchip that will allow him to conduct secure transactions with the Estonian government from abroad, and which also allowed him to digitally sign documents – a process that, in the European Union, is the legal equivalent of a physical signature.
Read more at cnbc.com:
(
http://www.cnbc.com/id/1022323... )
