August 26, 2016, 10:00 (CEST)

• Ericsson to lead public-private consortium in deployment and operation of hybrid cloud environment

• Project will enhance scalability, resilience and security of e-society services in Estonia

• Ericsson to deploy Ericsson Hyperscale Datacenter System 8000, Ericsson Cloud Execution Environment, Apcera Trusted Cloud Platform and integration services

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has been selected by the State Infocommunication Foundation (RIKS) in Estonia to lead the deployment and operation of a hybrid cloud environment. The solution will enhance the scalability, resilience and data security of a wide range of e-society services in the country.

The project will be led by Ericsson and delivered through a public-private consortium that includes State Infocommunication Foundation (RIKS), Ericsson, EMC, Telia, OpenNode and Cybernetica. The partners will create and operate a hybrid cloud solution that provides a DevOps environment. With the scalable and future-proof hybrid cloud infrastructure and platform as a service, the governmental agencies, municipalities or state-owned companies are able to focus on development of their services instead of building and maintaining their own server capabilities.

By combining private and public cloud infrastructure, the solution will ensure continuity and security for e-society services such as tax reporting and online health care advice, while maximizing resource efficiency and accessibility.

Laur Lemendik, RIKS CEO:

"Cloud services technologies and hybrid cloud solutions particularly are developing at extremely high pace. State Infocommunication Foundation is very pleased to start cooperation with leading technology providers, a group of companies lead by Ericsson. We have reason to believe, that thanks to concession agreement all parties are motivated to deliver best services to Estonian citizens, by combining most up to date technologies from leading cloud solution providers."

As the lead partner, Ericsson will deploy Ericsson Hyperscale Datacenter System 8000 - built on Intel® Rack Scale Design - along with Ericsson Cloud Execution Environment, Apcera Trusted Cloud Platform for secure application lifecycle management and associated integration services. Ericsson's solutions incorporate Guardtime's Keyless Signature Infrastructure (KSI), a blockchain platform for ensuring the integrity of systems, networks and data at industrial scale.

Charlotta Sund, Head of Customer Group Industry and Society, Ericsson, says:

"Tech-savvy citizens, a proactive ICT sector and supportive policies have made Estonia one of the world's best-connected countries. This enables vital services to be delivered more efficiently through ICT - but the right infrastructure is essential."

"As this agreement shows, Ericsson's industry-leading cloud portfolio delivers the security and scalability required to drive transformation and realize the full potential of e-society services for people and governments everywhere."

In 2014, Estonia launched digital ID cards for online services and was the first country to offer e-residency - a transnational digital identity available to anyone in the world interested in operating a location-independent business online.