## Notes from 08 February 2026 [[2026-02-07|← Previous note]] ┃ [[2026-02-09|Next note →]] Insightful text from the _Governance Cybernetics_ Substack: Dave Deek authored “[Why Singapore & Estonia's EdTech Works, but America's Doesn't?](https://www.governance.fyi/p/why-singapore-and-estonias-edtech)”, arguing that the main barrier in EdTech is not funding or features but the implementation and governance that turn procurement into classroom practice. He highlights an “implementation gap” in the United States: education departments spend heavily while schools cycle through an extremely large number of tools, creating fragmented workflows for teachers, and a large share of paid licenses ends up unused. Against this “shopping-spree” pattern, Deek contrasts Singapore’s centralized approach, built around the state-owned Student Learning Space (SLS) and sustained teacher training on a single platform, and Estonia’s standards-based ecosystem, where vendors must comply with the X-Road data exchange layer to ensure interoperability and reduce vendor lock-in. His point is that these systems perform better not because technology is inherently superior, but because institutions have the capacity to choose a strategy and stick to it.