I’m writing this from the country that has the fastest public internet infrastructure in the world. In this particular cafe I’m getting 21Mbps downstream, and 19Mbps upstream. At my home in Silicon Valley, I’m lucky to get 1.5Mbps (thanks, Comcast).

Most Americans have only a vague idea of where Estonia is, and yet it is one of the most technologically advanced economies in the world today. I wrote previously about why Tivix has chosen to invest in Poland, and many of those same economic factors extend up through the neighboring countries along the Baltic Sea as well, including Estonia. In fact, taken as a whole, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have had the highest GDP growth in the EU for the past few years:

Want some more facts about Estonia? In addition to a thriving economy, the country has almost zero public debt, and a flat tax rate of 21%, regardless of income. Reinvested corporate profits get a tax rate of zero. How about personal liberty? The Liberty Index currently ranks this country as #1 in the world. Want stability? When he stepped down last year, the prime minister of Estonia was the longest-serving leader in all of the European Union.

How about a cool techie fact about Estonia? This is where Skype was developed. Sold to Microsoft for $8.5 billion. Today, according to Telegeography, nearly 40% of the world’s international calls happen on Skype. Let me repeat that: Nearly 40% of the planet's international call volume now goes through Skype, instead of through traditional telephone carriers. And it was developed here.

With some of the best research universities in the world, strong economies, highly-skilled workers, and goverments committed to free market principals, these countries will likely continue to foster technology innovation that will have a global impact. And that's why Tivix is here.