On 17 March at 14:30 to 17.15, Logan Carmichael will defend her dissertation “Cybersecurity Governance Responses in the Estonian Digital Governance Model, 2007–2023” in the University of Tartu Senate Hall (Ülikooli 18 - 204). Her work explores how Estonia has built and adapted its cybersecurity governance structures in response to the demands of a highly digitalised state, showing how institutional learning and crisis‑driven decision‑making have shaped a system tailored to Estonia’s unique digital context. The defence will be supervised by Associate Professor Mihkel Solvak, with Senior Research Fellow Miguel Alberto Gomez from the National University of Singapore serving as opponent.

The following day, on 18 March 2026 from 14:30 to 17:15, Stefan Dedovic will defend his dissertation “European Union Digital Integration: Exploring the development and governance of cross-border digital public services” in the University Senate Hall (Ülikooli 18–204). His research examines why cross-border digital public services in the EU continue to lag behind national-level digitalisation and highlights the organisational, political, and technological factors that shape their development. He argues that sustainable cross-border digital service delivery depends on organisational readiness, cooperation incentives, and the ability to turn shared data into meaningful value for users. His supervisors are Associate Professor Mihkel Solvak, Professor Joep Crompvoets, and Visiting Professor Vincent Homburg, with Associate Professor Alex Ingrams from the University of Leiden acting as opponent.

The entire ECePS team warmly congratulates Logan and Stefan on reaching this significant stage in their academic journeys, and we are all keeping our fingers crossed for their successful defences.