Case Study: digiriik.eesti.ee – Bringing Estonia’s Digital State Platform Up to Speed
Estonia’s reputation for digital governance is well established. The country has spent decades building the infrastructure that allows citizens to interact with the state online, from signing documents to filing taxes to accessing public services. Keeping that infrastructure current is ongoing work that does not always make headlines, but it matters.
digiriik.eesti.ee is a web environment that serves as a public-facing resource for Estonia’s digital state initiatives. When the platform required a technical overhaul, the project was taken on by ADM Interactive, working alongside the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs and the Centre of Registers and Information Systems.
What Needed Fixing – and Why
The platform was running on an older version of Drupal, the content management system that underpins the site. Drupal 10 support has a defined end of life, and remaining on an ageing version means falling behind on security patches and eventually losing access to long-term technical support altogether. For a government-facing platform, that is not a risk worth taking.
Beyond the CMS version, the project had three other clear requirements. First, the site needed to be runnable via Docker, meaning the environment could be set up using a Dockerfile and docker-compose, making local development and deployment more predictable and consistent. Second, a Kubernetes solution was required to give the platform proper cloud readiness, delivered through Helm, with a Helm Chart and recommended configuration values included. Third, accessibility issues needed to be resolved in line with the EN 301 549 standard, which sets the accessibility requirements for ICT products and services procured by public sector bodies across Europe. Each of these was a concrete technical requirement, not a vague ambition. The scope was specific, which made the work plannable.
How the Work Was Done
ADM’s approach followed the requirements closely. The Drupal upgrade went to version 11, one step beyond the minimum requested, which extends the platform’s support horizon and reduces the likelihood of having to repeat the same exercise in the near term. Moving to Drupal 11 also meant addressing compatibility issues with existing modules and configurations, the kind of detailed work that does not appear in a project brief but takes time.
Docker support was added, giving developers and administrators a cleaner way to run the environment. With a properly configured Dockerfile and docker-compose setup, anyone working on the platform can run a consistent local environment without having to manually replicate server conditions. This reduces the gap between development and production and makes onboarding new team members more straightforward.
The Kubernetes solution, built with Helm, puts the platform in a position to run on modern cloud infrastructure. Helm Charts package the configuration needed to deploy the application, and including recommended default values gives the next team working with this setup a reasonable starting point rather than a blank page.
The accessibility work involved identifying and resolving issues in line with EN 301 549, the European standard that public sector digital services are expected to meet. This standard aligns closely with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and covers areas such as keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, colour contrast and clear labelling of interactive elements. Accessibility fixes on a platform like this are not just a compliance exercise; they determine whether people with disabilities can use a service intended for the public.
Alongside all of the above, ADM produced full project documentation, including architecture descriptions, usage guides, testing reports and a backup plan. Documentation of this kind is often treated as an afterthought, but for a government platform that will be maintained and developed by different teams over time, having a clear written record of how the system works and how it was built is genuinely useful.
The Outcome
The platform is now running on Drupal 11, with a longer support horizon and a more secure foundation. The Docker and Kubernetes setup means it is ready for cloud deployment and easier to work with in practice. The accessibility issues that were not compliant with EN 301 549 have been resolved, ensuring the site is equally accessible to all users, regardless of how they access it.
This was a technical project in the truest sense: no new features, no redesign and no new content. The value lay in making the existing platform work better, last longer and meet the standards it was required to meet. This kind of work is less visible than a launch, but it is what keeps digital infrastructure functional over time.
One point worth noting is that content development and further feature work on digiriik.eesti.ee will continue in subsequent project phases. The technical upgrade delivered here was the foundation, not the finish line.
Working Across Three Organisations
The project involved ADM Interactive, the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs and the Centre of Registers and Information Systems. Government IT projects with multiple institutional stakeholders have their own rhythm, shaped by procurement frameworks, approval processes and coordination requirements that are part of the territory. Delivering the work on time and to specification in that context requires clear ownership of each workstream and consistent communication across all parties.
The platform is now in better shape than it was. For a digital environment that represents Estonia’s approach to digital governance, that is a reasonable assessment.
Working on a platform that needs a technical refresh or has accumulated compliance issues? Get in touch. We are happy to review what is involved.