Advancing Public Administration in the Western Balkans: ReSPA E-Gov Study

1. ReSPA Regional School of Public Administration www.respaweb.eu

2. About ReSPA • International organisation entrusted with boosting regional cooperation in PA in WB • Unique historical endeavor to support the creation of accountable, effective and professional PAs in WB • ReSPA members (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia

3. ReSPA objectives • Overall objectives • To transfer new knowledge and skills • To facilitate the exchange of experiences within region • To facilitate the exchange of experiences between the region and EU MS

4. Activities and target group Target group: • Officials from ReSPA countries Activities: • Training activities • High level conferences • Networking events and publications

5. E Gov Working group • Established and supported by ReSPA as of 2012 • Strong focus on PAR, effective PA Services and Anti- corruption

6. E Gov Working group products • 2012-13: Comparative E Government study • 2014: Study on “Abuse of Information Technology (IT) for Corruption” (with the Ethics and Integrity WG) • 2015: E to Open Government study • Checklist for Assessment of Risks for Abuse of IT for Corruption (practical follow-up of previous)

7. E Government Working group • Meetings to create and facilitate a platform for E Government trainers and practitioners • Support to strengthen and improve level of quality and efficiency of WB PAs • Support to improve capacity for change, utilize and implement new ideas • Support to build trust and collaboration across government and within society • Support to build access to services for people who are offline • Support for transparency through Open Data and Open Government

8. E to Open Government StudyNovember 2015

9. E to Open Government Study • Need to follow up (update) 2013 WB E Government comparative analysis • Idea to support and examine • E & Open Government processes, trends and potentials • WB PAs weaknesses/bottlenecks • Future development in the region

10. E to Open Government Study • Structure reflects EU good practice focusing on good governance and PAR process • Focus on ReSPA members and Kosovo* • Examine 2015 E & Open Gov state in WB, success, lessons learnt, ID past and current challenges * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and ICJ Advisory opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of independence

11. E to Open Government Study • Focus on: • Processes and outcomes • Provision of information • Service delivery • Interaction G2C, G2B, G2G and G2CSO • New issues examined OGD, CC, PPP and PCP

12. E to Open Government Study • Findings elaborate individual WB country developments on: • Policy and strategic level • Specific E&Open Gov institutional settings and implementations • Relation with PAR • Best modalities to improve PA productivity, efficiency and effectiveness (RECOs) • Offers guiding principles for regional project initiatives • Aims to further support the life-long learning cycle

13. E to Open Government Study • Highlights: • Areas most needed to improve capacity building in PA • Need for horizontal & vertical networking within institutions, countries and region • Cross-cutting nature of E & Open Gov • Importance of E & Open Gov being acknowledged across WB • That more resources are being allocated with benefits already detected

14. Alignment with SIGMA Priorities Study leads to a number of conclusions regarding the contribution that E and Open Gov can make to each of the six SIGMA priorities as part of the PAR process

15. Priority 1 - Strategic framework of public administration reform • The provision of up-to-date, accurate information as base for strategic decisions • The ability to interrogate data • The ability to undertake ex ante and ex post impact assessments of different policy options • The ability to undertake widespread consultations and awareness raising • The ability to increase trust in the process

16. Priority 2: Policy development and coordination • … same as for Priority 1 … ✚ … • Mechanisms, tools, data for content and knowledge management • Decision-making at policy level

17. Priority 3: Public service and human resources management • Mechanisms, tools, data for content and knowledge management • Decision-making on public service and human resources level • Service monitoring and feedback • Human resources monitoring and feedback

18. Priority 4: Accountability • Transparency • Publishing data and information, • Tracing and assessing processes and decision-making for future improvements and refinements

19. Priority 5: Service delivery • Base registries to enable well functioning services • Interoperability • Online and traditional services • Push and pull, portals, user-centricity and empowerment • Service co-creation and refinement

20. Priority 6: Public financial management • Allocating • Managing • Tracking • Monitoring • Auditing • Open Data • Public procurement

21. General observations • E Gov is basis for developing Open Gov • Very close coherence between E and Open Gov development • Leading E Gov WB countries ~ Leading Open Gov WB countries • E Gov in WB focused on initial development • Digitizing the back office • Front-office online services

22. General observations • Good basis not yet fully established (tech., org., competence, political support) • Open Gov uses ICT to make Gov transparent, participative and collaborative • Progress to Open Gov in WB needs better basis

23. Country observations • Albania • Performing very well on both E and Open Gov, esp. transparency and participation • Needs to address collaboration issues as here it is falling well behind the regional leaders • BiH • Performing less well than the regional average on both E and Open Gov • Does relatively well on transparency, less well on collaboration, poorly on participation • Collaboration and participation need attention (well behind the regional leaders) • Kosovo* • Weakest of the six participants in both E and Open Gov • Late developer with political and institutional challenges not faced by others • Promising start in collaboration and transparency • Needs to address issues across the board • Macedonia • Performing less well than the regional average on E Gov • Slipped somewhat behind the other countries on E Gov in the past few years • Earlier achievements in E Gov have contributed to an exceptional performance • Leader on transparency and a good performance on participation • Montenegro • Clear regional leader in both E and Open Gov • Doing extremely well on participation and very well on collaboration • Should give more attention to transparency (only an average score) • Serbia • Performs at average level on both E and Open Gov • Does very well on transparency and participation • Being held seriously back by its lack of any real efforts regarding collaboration • Slipped somewhat in the past few years

24. Albania RECOs • To implementation Digital Agenda AP • To integrate with the Digital Single Market process in the region in line with EU Integration agenda • To create interoperability for cross border services in line with EU practice • To implement OGP based adoption of monitoring and measurement tools • To implement measurement of the impact of transparency and open data

25. BiH RECOs • To solve the eSign issues so that its not preventing further E Srvcs development • To deploy the eSign of the Council of Ministries for internal E Comm within PA • To deploy mutually recognized centralized national eID G2C/G2B eSign system • To focus primarily on internal PA E Srvcs • To embrace Open Gov PPP and PCP initiatives • PPPs/PCPs to be created to ensure Gov bodies to work by Open Gov principles • To establish one central place for citizen complaints and feedback on administration services

26. Kosovo* RECOs • E&Open Gov as support to SIGMA RECOs (early stage PAR) • PA to: • Open related data including strategic documents • Make data available online and to seek feedback (CSO, citizens, SMEs etc.) • Publish datasets to contribute to PAR monitoring and reporting (e.g. on PA, procurement, land property, budget sp-ending etc.) • To create Open Gov data based performance monitoring system • To create feedback based reporting system on European Integration • To use Open Gov data also for building effective G2X nonE Srvcs • Create Open Data portal through PCP/PPP initiative • Gov to seek support for financing and guidance for capacity building • FoA2I laws to be revised for OGP policy compliance • FoA2I to make data available in machine readable format

27. Macedonia RECOs • To adopt a “strategy-first” approach (laws, bylaws, projects adopted and implemented only if aligned with national strategies) • MISA to be redefined to WG or TF chaired by the PM or PMO • LT IS/DS strategy to be developed & adopted • As umbrella, covering E Gov, Open Gov and CC • To define the general goals to be achieved • To establish benchmarks on E&Open Gov and PPPs • To develop a methodology for institutional functional analysis from an E Gov perspective and its implementation • To develop plans for public participation on the institutional level • To develop a new regulation/law for E Srvcs delivery, tariffs (fees) and quality (SLA) • To revise the Law for Electronic Management to align it with CC Srvcs • To adapt ISSEC certification to new CC environment • To finalise the implementation of the Interoperability Framework • To finalise development of technical Interoperability standards • To develop citizens and address register as basis for electronic exchange for all PA procedures • To finalise and publish data quality standards

28. Montenegro RECOs • To implement E Srvcs that: • Are focused on users, especially SMEs • Have high level of accessibility for all users • Are customized for minorities and marginalized groups • Will enable E Services to Diaspora • Will enable online education for PA users and also for civil servants • To develop new simpler eID in order to increase volume of used E Srvcs • To adapt processes and regulations within PA so that: • The law on E Gov can be fully implemented • All E Srvcs can be readily available through E Gov portal • To make continuous efforts to implement specific actions and projects within the PA to create a non-paper based administration

29. Serbia RECOs • To consolidate all existing Gov DCs to private Gov cloud • To transfer all E Srvcs to private Gov cloud • To establish unified, national, cloud-based: • ERD(C)MS system with knowledge management functions • CRM-based E Participation w/multiple channels (mobile, voice, video, mail, chat etc.) • Updated, simplified and fully citizen-oriented E Gov portal • Updated PP portal to enable Open Data and online reporting and analysis • OGD portal to enable public access and use of Open Data • Public APIs for secure reuse of all portal data w/out copying/duplication • To train • PA employees about their role in E Srvc delivery • Higher level officials about the benefits of transitioning to CC • Medium and higher level officials about the benefits of PPPs and PCPs • Users through campaigns and visibility to adopt and use E Srvcs • ICT related PA employees by ToT (coaching) for continuous PA employees training • To lobby • For the adoption of the benefits of transition to CC • For the adoption of the benefits of using PPPs/PCPs • Interested parties to actively participate in transition to CC • Interested parties to create new market niches based on CC and PPPs/PCPs • For active participation in the transition to ITaS O&M model • For adoption of holistic E Gov legislation

30. External assistance RECOs • Strategic and legislative support • Long-term E Gov, Open Gov and information society strategies • Assistance with legal framework • Technical support • Strategic approach to interoperability and base registers • ‘One-stop-shop’, ‘once-only’ and ‘digital by default’ strategies • User-centered and multi-channel strategies and implementation • Digital security and data protection strategies and implementation • Open source and modular software solutions • Support for transparency, trust and participation strategies and implementation • Support for cloud services • Developing cloud solutions, best practices and cost-benefit analyses • Transition from legacy to cloud systems • Online fully transactional cloud-based services • Support for open data • Open data strategies and implementation • Open data portals and support for demand-side and usage • Organisation and capacity building • Strategies and implementation for PPPs • PCPs/Platforms for collaborative work and collaboration • Strategies and implementation for a safe Internet • Financial support and special assistance • Continue to provide finance and fiscal expertise • Multiple twinning aligned with EU strategies and good practice

31. Methods for RECOs delivering • Workshops, ToT, training networks, summer/seasonal schools, learning materials • Regional Centre of Excellence Network as a laboratory for innovation and knowledge transfer • Greater focus on sub-national entities, such as cities, municipalities and rural areas (E Gov mostly locally experienced) • ‘Boot-camps’ tailored to specific groups (politicians, PA staff etc.) as one/two day intensive training events with hands-on activities • Exchanges and visits based on best practices and good examples • ReSPA focused support to individual countries depending on a negotiated programme (each has quite specific requirements) • Regional PA Excellence Awards • Regional cooperation and direct partnering • Regional comparative studies • Greater use of WebRTC solutions for webinars, conference and video calls

32. General recommendations • Align the work of the E Gov WG with the European E Gov AP 2016-2010 (agreed by EU MS and aligned with the EU 2020 Strategy) • Plans for future initiatives in the fields of: • Co-creation and collaboration • Public-Private Partnerships (PPPS) • Public-Civil-Partnerships (PCPs) (formal and informal with citizens, interest groups, etc.) • Re-usable modular public services • Generic building blocks • Digital Service Infrastructure • ReSPA to continue close collaboration with WGs on PPP, OSS, E&I and PAR

33. How non WB countries can benefit from this study? • Previous Gen RECOs valid also for non WB countries • Non WB countries can initiate or update: • Regional cooperation • Direct partnering • Regional comparative studies • Country comparative studies • Bilateral PAR projects with WB countries • Twinning/Knowledge transfer with WB countries • E&Open Gov Benchmark (local, regional, EU)

34. Q&A

35. Peer with us … Regional School of Public Administration Branelovica 81410 Danilovgrad Montenegro T: +382 (0)20 817 200 F: +382 (0)20 817 238 E: respa-info@respaweb.eu