Initially, the Ministry of Economy Affairs and Communications planned to base the app on Ukraine's Diia app, but the idea did not come to fruition. In February, the Minister of Economy Affairs Tiit Riisalo (Eesti 200) said Estonia was going its own way and scrapped the €800,000 process, adding a lot had been learned during this time.

Net Group won the new competition launched by RIA, which maintains the e-state, earlier this year. They will develop the app on behalf of the agency.

Bret-Maria Rikko, RIA's communications specialist, told ERR the solution will create new services for both the state portal and the app as part of one process, which will allow better synchronization. Additionally, it will save the state money.

The contract is worth €800,000 and is funded by European Union structural funds. The work should be completed in 129 days, after which RIA can judge when the app will be ready for public use and start planning a launch date.

Net Group has already worked on the app before signing the contact.

"The goal was to have an application in the hands of the test group that was always up and running and covered with the necessary code and security updates. To this end, RIA paid €72,900," Rikko explained.

Taavi Ploompuu, head of RIA's HR department, said the team at RIA makes the app's architectural and business decisions.

"From Net Group, we expect prompt execution and assistance. We believe that, in partnership with Net Group, we will create an innovative and user-friendly solution that meets the user's needs and expectations," Ploompuu said.

Net Group OÜ has over 20 years of software development experience. The company has served public sector clients in Estonia, Europe and other parts of the world.

Speaking about the first attempt at developing an app, Rikko said €460,000 was paid to Ukrainian developer EPAM Digital from the East European Foundation, and an additional €350,000 from the state budget. Of this, €300,000 were allocated to labor costs and €36,000 for security testing, state cloud and other license costs.

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