Excerpts from the events at the Reinhard Mohn Prize award ceremony for Estonia’s former president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, held on 29 June 2017 in the Gütersloh theater are below.

This year's Reinhard Mohn Prize "Smart Country: Connected. Intelligent. Digital." has been awarded to Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the former President of Estonia, on June 29, 2017 in Gütersloh, Germany, in honor of his pioneering work on the promotion of digitalization in government, education and public services.

Since its founding in 1948, Israel’s economic and technological development has been impressive. Despite having only 8.4 million inhabitants, the country has become a major high-tech player. When it comes to cyber security, Israel is home to more than 300 companies, making it a global leader in this area as well. And Tel Aviv and Silicon Wadi are considered one of the world’s most important and vibrant ecosystems for start-ups.