ReSPA regional comparative eGovernment study

Published 07-03-2013

The study investigates eGovernment and the provision of eServices in the Western Balkan region.
As international experts, Jeremy Millard and Louise Thomasen authored this comparative eGovernment study for the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA) with the inputs of national experts from seven Balkan countries.

Cover of ReSPA Regional Compartive eGovernment study

The study was launched on 21-22 February 2013 on an eGovernment networking event in Skopje,Macedonia held by the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA) and hosted by the Macedonian Ministry of Information Society and Administration.

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pdf icon Regional comparative eGov study.pdf (1.8 mb)

pdf icon ReSPA regional comparative eGovernment study - Annex I - Country profiles.pdf (1.3 mb)

pdf icon ReSPA regional comparative eGovernment study - Annex II - Specific thematic inputs.pdf (820 kb)

The report and annexes, can also be downloaded from the ReSPA website's document library.

Abstract

"Regional Comparative eGovernment Study” is the first ReSPA Regional study in this area of the Public Administration Reform in the Western Balkan Countries. It, focuses on Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo^*.

The overall goal of this study is to enhance the level and quality of eGovernment in the six ReSPA member countries and Kosovo^* in a manner which both takes into account their specific and different needs as well as aligns them as closely as possible to European developments and standards. In addition, the study investigates the best modalities to improve Government productivity, efficiency and effectiveness by providing a number of recommendations, and it attempts to address the challenges of the Western Balkan region as a whole.

One of the most important features of the study is the examination of the state of the art of eGovernment in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo*. Particular focus is on eGovernment processes, including the provision of information, service delivery, interaction between Government to Government and Government to Citizen, as well as the equally important connections of Government with Business, i.e. the private sector. Thus findings elaborate individual country developments in the Western Balkans, from the policy and strategic level in specific eGovernment institutional settings and implementations, reflecting European good practice.

Main report

This main report of the study is structured as follows:

Section 1: Introduction and objectives of the study
Section 2: Global and European eGovernment context – overviews are provided of the main global and European eGovernment trends in order to provide an international context within which to examine the eGovernment needs of the Western Balkans. A review is also provided of international funding and support programmes for eGovernment which may be relevant for the Western Balkans. The eGovernment situation of the Western Balkan countries is then examined in this international context according to international benchmarks, and finally the headline conclusions from the 2010 eSEE Study on South East Europe are summarised.
Section 3: Comparative analysis of eGovernment in the Western Balkans – this section summarises, compares and contrasts the evidence coming from the surveys carried out by the ReSPA member countries and Kosovo^* on their eGovernment status.
Section 4: Summary status and strategic development of eGovernment in the Western Balkans – using the evidence presented in sections 2 and 3, this section draws together the common and disparate threads to provide a summary overview of eGovernment in the Western Balkans. It first focuses on the contrasts between the Western Balkan countries and then examines the opportunities and challenges they appear to share.
Section 5: Country proposals for eGovernment capacity building in the Western Balkans – this section summarises and categorises the proposals made by the Western Balkan countries concerning capacity building for future ReSPA projects.
Section 6: Country proposals for eGovernment project opportunities in the Western Balkans – this section summarises and categorises the proposals made by the Western Balkan countries concerning project opportunities in the Western Balkans.
Main recommendations and conclusions: This section presents the main recommendations and conclusions of the study.

Annex I - Country Profiles

An eGovernment profile for each country, based on the additional inputs received from the national respondents and material from the “eGovernance and ICT usage report for

South East Europe”, (2010) created by the UNDP and referred to as the eSEE study report.

The country profiles are created so they match the data collected annual from the EU countries and presented in the epractice.eu factsheets, but adapted to West Balkan conditions through alignment with the eSEE report.

Annex II - Specific Thematic Inputs

This annex presents the results of specific country inputs to the analysis presented in the 'ReSPA regional comparative eGovernment study' main report. The inputs in this annex are grouped by the very specific themes the researchers set out to investigate especially for the ReSPA regional comparative eGovernment study. Within each theme individual country inputs, as provided by national respondents from each country are presented.

The themes are:

eGovernment benchmarking measures
eGovernment policy and strategy
eGovernment interoperability
eGovernment user interface
User empowerment and centricity

Authors

Jeremy Millard, Third Millennium Governance (Denmark)
Louise Thomasen, coThomasen (Denmark)

National respondents

Albania

Marenglen Shyti, National Agency on Information Society, NAIS
Altin Sallaku, Department of Public Administration, DoPA

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Srđan Nogo, Agency for Identification Documents Registers and Data Exchange B&H -IDDEEA
Kemal Bajramovic, Civil Service Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croatia

Tajana Tolić, State Administration Office in Osijek-Baranja County
Marijo Potlaček, Ministry of Administration

Kosovo^*

Driart Elshani
Engin Melekoglu

Macedonia

Blagica Andreeva, Ministry of information society and administration
Rozalinda Stojova, Ministry of information society and administration

Montenegro

Ivan Lazarević, Ministry for Information Society and Telecommunications
Radivoje Perović, Ministry for Information Society and Telecommunications

Serbia

Igor Todoroski, Ministry of Justice and Public Administration
Radosav Popović, Ministry of Interior

* (This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and it is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.)