Estonian Tech Agency and Open Voice Network Team to Demonstrate Voice Interoperability

The Estonia Information Systems Authority (RIA) and Linux Foundation’s Open Voice Network (OVON) will test and demonstrate new voice interoperability specifications

SAN FRANCISCO – July 12, 2023 – The Information Systems Authority of the Government of Estonia (RIA) and the Open Voice Network (OVON), an open source association of the Linux Foundation, today announced an agreement to test and demonstrate interoperability of voice assistants across different technological platforms – a first for the voice industry.

The demonstration will use specifications developed by the Open Voice Network, and allow users of the Estonia RIA’s new citizen assistant for government services, Bürokratt, to connect to and directly interact with third-party voice assistants and independent digital services. RIA leaders expect this, in time, to enable service providers and citizens/users to enjoy wide-ranging, standardized, and secure communications between agents and solutions.   

“We’re so excited to be working with the Estonia RIA,” said Dr. Deborah Dahl, Principal of Conversational Technologies, Inc., and project lead for the Open Voice Network.  “Their vision for Bürokratt – a freely accessible, interoperable network of public and private sector AI solutions – is a guide for the conversational AI industry.”

Bürokratt was launched last year by the Estonia RIA (Riigi Infosüsteemi Amet), and is designed to enable Estonian citizens to use public and information services with virtual assistants through voice-based interaction. The service is available 24-7, will offer reliable, vetted information, and expects to enable users to obtain desired information through a chain of delegated dialogs – moving from one conversation to another without the need to stop and start over.

“As we designed Bürokratt, we began looking for an open, vendor-neutral path to voice assistant interoperability," said Kaupo Laagriküll, Head of the RIA’s department of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. "We think the Open Voice Network’s approach to interoperability will give us – and the rest of the voice community – what we need.”

The demonstration project will be led by Rainer Türner, chief RIA architect for Bürokratt, and Dr. Dahl. Initial planning suggests public results as soon as Q4 2023.

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Contacts
Noah Lehman
The Linux Foundation
nlehman@linuxfoundation.org

Helen Uldrich
Estonia RIA
Helen.Uldrich@ria.ee