roadmap for inclusive egovernment in the western balkans

8/8/2019 Roadmap for Inclusive eGovernment in the Western Balkans

1/26


2/26

Western Balkans Network or Inclusive eGovernment

Roadmap for Inclusive eGovernment

in the Western Balkans

Building e-services accessible to all

Skopje, October 2008

Foundation for sustainable ICT solutions


3/26

Published by Metamorphosis Foundation

Metamorphosis is an independent, nonpartisan and nonproft oundation based inSkopje, Macedonia. Its mission includes development o democracy and prosperity bypromoting knowledge-based economy and inormation society.

Address: Naum Naumovski Borche 88a, 1000 Skopje MacedoniaTel: +389 2 3109 325Fax: +389 2 3225 206Web: www.metamorphosis.org.mkE-mail: [email protected]

Editors: Bardhyl JashariFilip Stojanovski

Design: GetSerious Design

Printing: Datapons

This publication is unded by the East-East Program:Cross Border Partnerships o the Open Society Institute.

Copyright 2008 Metamorphosis Foundation. The digital version o this publicationis licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution - No Derivative Works2.5 Macedonia License.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.5/mk/deed.en

You are ree to share - copy, distribute and transmit this work--i you provide attribution by adding alink to Metamorphosis website.

www.soros.org.mk


4/26

www.e-society.mk

Members o the Western Balkans Network or Inclusive eGovernment

Bardhyl JASHARI Metamorphosis FoundationFilip STOJANOVSKI www.metamorphosis.org.mk Macedonia

Nataa RADOVI Belgrade Open School www.bos.org.yu Serbia

Danijela BABI ZaMirNet www.zamirnet.hr Croatia

Milica DAKOVI Institute or Strategic Studies andProjections www.isspm.org Montenegro

Sanjin BUO OneWorld Southeast Europe

www.oneworldsee.org Bosnia and HerzegovinaManjola HALA COMPORT www.albcomport.com Albania


5/26

Contents

1. Introduction and objectives ...................................................................................................5

1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................5

1.2 Objectives ................................................................................................................................7

1.3 Expected outcomes and instruments ....................................................................8

2. Inclusive eGovernment on the world development agenda .........................10

2.1 Global Bodies on inclusive eGovernment ........................................................10

2.2 EU: Member State and Commission statements on inclusive

eGovernment ......................................................................................................................11

2.3 Regional inclusive eGovernment Pledges ........................................................12

3. Issues for the inclusive eGovernment roadmap .....................................................13

3.1 Inclusive eGovernment issues .................................................................................13

3.2 Target Groups .....................................................................................................................14

3.3 Issue focus ............................................................................................................................15

4. The inclusive eGovernment roadmap ...........................................................................17

5. Appendix 1: Research Results .............................................................................................19

5.1 Online Sophistication of eGovernment Services .........................................19

5.2 eInclusion Related Experiences from the Western Balkans ...................20

6. Notes and References ..............................................................................................................22


6/26

5

1. Introduction and objectives

1.1 Introduction

Inclusive eGovernment is about using digital technologies to provide public serviceswhich improve peoples lives, encourage participation in the local community, strengthendemocracy and help those at risk o exclusion rom society. European Commission 1

Regional Inclusive eGovernment Roadmap is a product o the Western BalkansNetwork or Inclusive eGovernment Project, supported by the East East: PartnershipBeyond Borders Program o the Open Society Institute, and led by the MetamorphosisFoundation. The project activities included inormation gathering, analysis andnetworking, through the activities o project partners, the Third International Conerence

e-Society.Mk (29-30 November 2007 in Skopje) and six workshops in the country capitals(23 November 20 December 2007) which acilitated exchange o know-how andexperiences between stakeholders rom the region and rom the European Union.

Most o the stakeholders in the process o building Inclusive eGovernment inthe Western Balkan countries, considered that their countries have established veryew mechanisms or e-inclusion and interoperability, even though the interest ineGovernment

Research activities within Western Balkans Network or Inclusive eGovernmentincluded measuring the levels o sophistication and inclusiveness o e-governmentservices in Macedonia, 2 Serbia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina,

conducted using the EU-level Capgemini methodology, as well as qualitative researchon the level and scope o Inclusive eGovernment eorts by the national governments,with a goal to develop Regional eGovernment Roadmap to acilitate joint eorts by thecountries aspiring to soon join the EU.

The six workshops on inclusive e-government were organized project partners romthe respective countries, providing review o drat research results, awareness raising andnetworking between stakeholders including government o cials, IT and human rightsexperts, as well as representatives o NGOs dealing with inclusion o disadvantagedgroups such as people with disabilities, rom the host countries and their neighborhood,with around 20-50 participants per event.

Location Date Organizer

Skopje Workshop 23 November 2007 Metamorphosis Foundation

Tirana Workshop 26 November 2007 Comport

Skopje Conerence 29-30 November 2007 Metamorphosis Foundation

Belgrade Workshop 11 December 2007 Belgrade Open School

Zagreb Workshop 13 December 2007 ZaMirNet

Sarajevo Workshop 13 December 2007 OneWorld SEE

Podgorica Workshop 20 December 2007 Institute or Strategic Studiesand Projections

Table 1: Western Balkans Network or Inclusive eGovernment workshops


7/26

Roadmap for Inclusive eGovernment in the Western Balkans

6

The Third International Conerence e-Society.Mk: Inclusive eGovernment3 tookplace in Skopje, Macedonia on 29th and 30th o November 2007, providing overview oeGovernment developments in the Western Balkans, including e-sophistication, best

practices and applications case studies, the latter two based on cooperation with theEU-unded We-Go Project.4

The conerence served as a orum or networking and advocacy enabling awarenessraising on the advantages and requirements o eGovernment development. It had 324participants (6% high level representatives o the public administration, 17% otherPA reps., 62% rom the business sector, media and the civil society, and 14% rom theacademia) coming primarily rom Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,Montenegro, and Serbia, as well as rom Austria, Slovenia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria,Kosovo, Czech Republic, and the U.S.A.

45%Bosnia and

Hercegovina

45%Montenegro

33%Albania

50%Macedonia

Kosovo

43%Serbia

57%Romania

70%Hungary

51%Croatia

96%Slovenia

99%Austria

79%

Italy

67%Bulgaria

68%Greece

Figure 1: Map o the Western Balkans and surrounding EU countries with their onlinesophistication levels presented as percentages5

The level o online sophistication o e-government services in all countries whereresearch has been completed so ar are comparable, or instance: Albania 33%, Serbia43%, Montenegro 45%, Macedonia 50%, Croatia 51% (see Appendix 1: Research Resultsor details) and most o them need to develop under similar circumstances and acesimilar obstacles, lagging 5-7 years behind the levels o EU. The potential beneft rommutual cooperation is great, both to the stateswhich have so ar mostly invested inrevenue-generating services such as e-taxesand their citizens who need more e cient,transparent, accountable, and participatory governance.


8/26


7

1.2 Objectives

This Regional Inclusive eGovernment Roadmap contains research-based6 conclusionsand recommendations or policymakers rom the Western Balkans region towardsachieving the satisactory level o inclusiveness o eGovernment services in order toput the citizens in the heart o inormation society development, and strengthen therelations between the citizens and state institutions.

These guidelines stress the need or regional networking and building synergy in thisfeld or both within the context o the process o Euro-integration and bettering thelives o the people. These developments will signifcantly contribute to building stabledemocracy in the Western Balkans.

The main objectives to be pursued by the Regional Inclusive eGovernment Roadmapare:

Countering digital exclusion when public services are provided online Creating and implementing ICT-enabled inclusive policies tailored to local needs

and context.

The supporting objectives paving the way towards achieving the main objectivesinclude:

Improve modeling and measurement o eGovernment demands by fnal users,identiying the dierences in needs and patterns o use.

Disseminate inormation and identiy good practices, to stimulate peer-learningand, where possible, convergent interventions by stakeholders.

Facilitate coordination o policy actions across states rom the Western Balkansregion, the EU and individual EU Member States, thereby improving coherenceand exchange o inormation towards achieving ull technical interoperability.

At internal level, provide a coherent policy ramework consolidating a number oongoing and planned actions on ICT and other areas (employment, education,enterprise), which one way or another aect eGovernment services demandby fnal users.

Enhance structured cooperation between national institutions, as well as withEU Directorate General or Inormation Society (DG INFSO), as well as with otherDGs (EMPL, EAC, ENTR), which could contribute with inputs on eGovernmentaspects o various thematic initiatives.

The Regional Inclusive eGovernment Roadmap also takes account o the options oradministrative actions presented in the report on the Analysis o European target groupsrelated to inclusive eGovernment,7 prepared by the European Commission on behal othe ad-hoc subgroup within Western Balkans, and regional initiatives, especially the eSEEInitiative o the Stability Pact.


9/26


8

1.3 Expected outcomes and instruments

Based on the identifed needs o the Western Balkan countries, in concurrence withthe European Commission Action Plans and Strategies, the expected outcomes andinstruments which need to be used as part o the roadmap include:

Horizontal actions Establishing a coherent system or monitoring the development o eGovernment

services in the Western Balkans. This action need to support the objectives aboveon understanding and dissemination o inormation, based on a methodologycompatible with the one used in the EU at the time o the research, and i possibleconnected to it. This system does not have to rely on a specifc unctional entityor government body, and can be implemented through externally contractedtargeted studies.

Refning benchmarking o eGovernment demand by fnal users in the WesternBalkans region, on national and regional levels, to support the objective reerringto improving modeling and measurement (see section 1.2).

Enhancing multilateral communication between all stakeholders rom the WesternBalkans countries, led by the governments, and including the nongovernmental,academic, and the business sector, on both ormal and inormal levels. In the past,some o these actions were provided by the Stability Pact eSEE Initiative.

Thematic actions Even though the countries develop in similar circumstances, national and local

contexts oten vary and the specifc thematic actions must be developed in avery exible manner, adaptable to political priorities, and taking into accountmultilateral eedback including the eedback received by the EC during theprocess o accession to the EU.

Development, enhancing and raising the levels o inclusiveness o basiceGovernment services and contentswhich most directly contribute to qualityo liemust be promoted and monitored.

Capacity building and digital competencies, in particular looking or agreementon one or several e-curricula.8 [ We-Go ]

Widespread access to advanced ICT networks and terminals, notably incontinuation o national broadband strategies, especially in direction o providingaccess to all, both in the homes or through establishing Public Internet AccessPointsalso known as e-Points, Telecenters, Digital Clubhousesto address theneeds o people in rural or impoverished areas where opportunities or access arelimited due to technical or fnancial reasons.

Targeted initiatives on socio-demographic groups, taking into account actorso inclusion/participation or relevant environments, e.g. the elderly, women,migrant groups, the disabled, education, geographical location (actors), publicservices, work, educational system (environments).


10/26


9

Financial support instruments Clear dedication o budget resources or the purpose o increasing inclusion

levels o eGovernment services rom the national budgets, and the budgets o

local government units (municipalities, city governments). Funding provided by the EU through:

o CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation Programme)o R&D programmeso Structural unds (European Social Fund and regional unding)o Various programmes, e.g. eContent, eLearning, etc.

Legal instruments Directives on universal services, containing articles on users with disabilities and

other disadvantage groups, terminal equipment, public procurement, etc.9

National legislation related to the services provided by the government on bothcentral and local level needs to be updated with the clauses stipulating provisiono governmental services through ICT, and in all cases when e-services are usedthey need to be accessible or all. In particular, this needs to be ingrained withinthe laws regulating the work and development o:o public administration,o inormation society (such as e-commerce laws),o education,o non-discrimination laws,o health, social policies and social benefts, esp. or people with disabilities.

The authorities must provide access to the eGovernment services or all thecitizens, starting with providing timely and relevant inormation about theirexistence, as well as constant updating o the content o the services as integralpart o their daily workow.

Standardization based on interoperability and clear, open standards, as a basicbuilding block or providing mutual compatibility on regional level and catchingup with the member states o the EU. Preerence or standards leading to greateraccessibility o e-services should be enshrined in the legal documents guidingthe design and development o e-services.

Reorganization o all the processes within the value chains o the governmental

institutions in order to increase the e ciency and quality o their services. Thisprocess must to be based on transparent and consistent mapping and redesigno the services, leading to automation and adopting organizational cultureincorporating the basic values o inclusion and embracing change as meansor constant improvement. This process must be accompanied with capacitybuilding, enabling civil servants to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary orprovision o the above services.

Raising public awareness about the human rights related to inclusion whoserealization depends on proactive commitment o government institutions onlocal and national levels.


11/26


10

2. Inclusive eGovernment on the world

development agenda

2.1 Global Bodies on inclusive eGovernment

World Summit on Information Society

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) consisted o two internationalconerences in Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005), and their ollow up activities, ocused on

use o inormation and communication technologies or development within a context odevelopment o inormation society on a global level. One o its chie aims was to bridgethe so-called global digital divide between the rich and the poor countries throughincreasing the Internet access in the developing world.

The WSIS was organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) aspart o the United Nations eorts or global development. All Western Balkan countriesparticipated in this process, ormally accepting its conclusions and recommendations.

Declaration o Principles, Building the Inormation Society: a global challenge or thenew millennium,10 adopted at the World Summit on Inormation Society in Geneva (12-13 December 2003) expresses the common desire and commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Inormation Society, where everyonecan create, access, utilize and share inormation and knowledge, enabling individuals,communities and peoples to achieve their ull potential (para 1).

Addressing the issue o uneven distribution o the benefts o the inormationtechnology revolution between the developed and developing countries and withinsocieties, this Declaration stresses the ull commitment o its signatories to turning thisdigital divide into a digital opportunity or all, particularly or those who risk being letbehind and being urther marginalized (para 10).

Geneva Plan o Action11 stresses the multi-stakeholder approach in developing theinormation society in general, and requires addressing the special requirements oolder people, persons with disabilities, children, especially marginalized children and

other disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, including by appropriate educationaladministrative and legislative measures to ensure their ull inclusion in the InormationSociety.

Another important element o building the inormation and communicationinrastructure is encouraging the design and production o ICT equipment and servicesso that everyone, has easy and aordable access to them including older people, personswith disabilities, children, especially marginalized children, and other disadvantagedand vulnerable groups, and promote the development o technologies, applications,and content suited to their needs, guided by the Universal Design Principle and urtherenhanced by the use o assistive technologies.

Tunis Commitment12 reiterated the unequivocal support by member states or thepreviously adopted WSIS documents, rea rming the need to ensure that everyone canbeneft rom the opportunities that ICTs can oer, stating that states shall pay particularattention to the special needs o marginalized and vulnerable groups o society including


12/26


11

migrants, internally displaced persons and reugees, unemployed and underprivilegedpeople, minorities and nomadic people, older persons and persons with disabilities(para 20).

In terms o applying the multi-stakeholder approach, Tunis Commitmentalso stressedthe role o public-private partnerships (PPP) to be initiated by the states: We rea rm ourdesire to build ICT networks and develop applications, in partnership with the privatesector, based on open or interoperable standards that are aordable and accessible to all,available anywhere and anytime, to anyone and on any device, leading to a ubiquitousnetwork (para 28).

These WSIS principles were also rea rmed in the fnal deliverable o the WSIS, theconsensus statement oTunis Agenda or the Inormation Society,13 which also called orthe creation o the Internet Governance Forum,14 which in turn was used as basis orestablishment o the Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability.15

Convention on the Rights of persons with disability

UN Convention on the rights o persons with disability(2006)16 is intended to promote,protect and ensure the ull and equal enjoyment o all human rights and undamentalreedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect or their inherentdignity.

The Convention defnes both the rights o persons with disabilities and the specifcobligations o states parties towards them. These rights include the rights to liveindependently and be included in the community, to personal mobility, habilitation and

rehabilitation, and to participation in political and public lie, and cultural lie, recreationand sport. The convention binds the state signatories with specifc obligation to raiseawareness o the human rights o persons with disabilities, and to ensure access to roads,buildings, and information.

Western Balkan states that have signed this Convention include Croatia, Macedonia,Montenegro, and Serbia, but only Croatia has ratifed it so ar. Even though the Conventionhas come into orce on May 3, 2008, ater its ratifcation by 20 countries, the apparent lacko interest by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo is worrisome, as is the lacko confrmation o accepted commitment by ratifcation in the national parliaments oMacedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

Signing, ratifcation and implementation o the Convention on the Rights o personswith disabilityby updating the national legislation would demonstrate true commitmento the respective governments or all their citizens.

2.2 EU: Member State and Commission statementson inclusive eGovernment

European Union and its member states have repeatedly stressed the need orcreation o inclusive eGovernment systems, which would take into account the needs o

all citizens, and especially the disadvantaged groups. This need is clearly addressed in theollowing documents: i2010 European Inormation Society or Growth and Employment, COM(2005) 229

fnal, June 200517


13/26


12

Ministerial Conerence Declaration, Manchester, November 200518

Directors General o Public Administrations on accessibility o public sector web sites,Newcastle, December 2005

The eGovernment Action Plan: No Citizen Let Behind, April 200619 Council conclusions on eGovernment or all Europeans, Luxembourg, June 200620 Riga Ministerial Conerence Declaration "ICT or an Inclusive Society", June 200621

A Roadmap or Inclusive eGovernment, November 200622

Framework Program or Competitiveness and Innovativeness, May 200723 Lisbon Ministerial Debate on e-Inclusion Policy, December 200724

2.3 Regional inclusive eGovernment Pledges

Inclusion was not addressed in the eSEE Agenda,25 developed within the rameworko the eSEE Initiative26 o the Stability Pact. The need or inclusion was taken into accountin the eSEE Agenda Plus,27 which was signed by representatives o the governments oAlbania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania,Serbia and Kosovo.


14/26


13

3. Issues for the inclusive eGovernment roadmap

3.1 Inclusive eGovernment issues

Increasing body o evidence confrms the notion that eGovernment can providemore inclusive services in an eective, appropriate and accessible manner, as the newtechnologies employed provide opportunities or personalization and tailoring the e-services to specifc needs, especially the needs o disadvantaged and otherwise excludedgroups. Most successul applications o this kind also incorporated coordination o widerange o actors, both rom all the levels o public sectorinternational, European, cross-border, national, regional, localand also by including all other societal sectors, orinstance through public-private partnerships.

In addition, most citizens are willing to use eGovernment services and newtechnologies in general, enabling them to save time, money, and other resources. Forinstance the penetration o accessible and easy to use new technologies such as mobilephones has reached signifcant levels in the Western Balkans. Research conducted inMacedonia in 2005 suggested that, regardless o low level o internet penetration at thetime, most citizens would use government services i they become available online.28

In particular, ICT solutions used to support socially excluded people provide a rangeo options or better service delivery by reorganizing the back o ce systems o the publicinstitutions by creating inormation systems that provide alignment o all elements o

the organizations (human, hardware, sotware, communication inrastructure, and data).These options, particularly in the Western Balkans context, should include a wide range otechnological solutions, not just use o Internet, or instance mobile phone technology.

Additional important issues inuencing the development o inclusive eGovernmentin the Western Balkans context include the whole process o transition, which has severalimportant aspects besides the political transition rom socialist/communist to capitalistmarket economy.

The frst such aspect is the aspect o transition rom centralized to decentralized ormso governance. Even though the system implemented by Socialist Federative Republico Yugoslavia incorporated decentralized elements, ater its dissolution most o thesuccessor states frst employed extreme centralized concentration o power immediatelyater gaining independence, and then thanks to the processes o European integrationstarted to slowly roll back towards decentralized orm o government.

Another important aspect is transition rom a culture o secrecy and treatinginormation as a resource to be hoarded and guarded to a culture o openness,accountability and transparency, promoting active citizen participation. This aspect waspresent in the region beore the advent o communism, but reached new lows undertotalitarian regimes.

The multicultural and multilingual diversity in the Western Balkans also needs to betaken into account, as this strength can be turned into weakness when the governmentsail to incorporate it on policy and implementation levels, or instance by addressing

linguistic needs o minority populations. Use o digital solutions to address these needsprovides signifcant cost reduction compared to non-digital technologies, but mostimportantly, contributes to increasing the internal cohesion o the countries in the region,as well as providing venues or cross-border communication and cooperation.


15/26


14

3.2 Target Groups

In dierent environments, dierent actors aect the levels o inclusion in society,rom economics, education, geographical circumstances to cultural and technical barriersto products and services. Addressing these actors in a systematic manner is essential ora ully inclusive Inormation Society.

Inclusive eGovernment systematically addresses the needs o all groups that areat risk o exclusion rom the Inormation Society, and groups that do not have equalopportunities to beneft rom it. Primary targets o ongoing eorts on world level includedisabled and elderly people, but also many other groups including those with lowlevels o education, low digital skills, the unemployed, ethnic minorities, people living inisolated areas, etc.

The need or Inclusive eGovernment solutions remains greatest among the peoplewhose lives include overlapping participation in more than one o those categories,resulting in more di culty in upholding their rights and managing their duties as citizenso their respective states, especially when conronted with the complicated administrativeand bureaucratic establishment.

For instance, in the Western Balkan countries, the Roma populations have beensingled out as particularly disadvantaged on multiple levels, and to address their needsthe Decade o Roma Inclusion 2005-201529 program has been initiated.

This roadmap ocuses on the needs o the citizens as individuals and as memberso socio-demographic and community groups in context o access to eGovernment

services which should satisy their real needs. In 2006, the EUs working group on InclusiveeGovernment developed the ollowing general categorization o disadvantaged groups:

1. Families and children at risk, including single parents, violent amilies, largeamilies

2. Young people at risk, including teenage pregnancies3. Homeless, poor housing, requent moving4. Unemployment and job problems5. Older persons6. Disabled7. Poor education and training, including low literacy8. Criminal or other illegal behavior (including ex-prisoners, substance abusers,

etc.)9. Victims o behavior causing physical/mental suering or damage (including o

crime, domestic abuse, etc.)10. Ethnic, cultural and language minorities, including oreigners, not all o whom are

disadvantaged but eGovernment can increase their isolation11. Geographically deprived, in disadvantaged areas due to poor inrastructures and/

or low socio-economic development12. Health and long term care disadvantages.

Rationale behind the list is to reect as much as possible actual user behavior inday-to-day lie situations and the problems they ace, and not to provide fnal or totallycomprehensive taxonomy, bearing in mind that both national and local circumstances


16/26


15

can result in other ways o classifcation, and that the rapidly changing circumstances cangenerate new and unoreseen challenges or inclusion.

However, the need or development o general and inclusive methodology or

segmenting and targeting disadvantaged users has been acknowledged both on theEU level, and in the region o Western Balkans, whose countries aspire to become EUmembers in near uture. According to the A roadmap or Inclusive eGovernment(2006):Some recognition o core group types, however, is advantageous when sharingexperiences and implementing the roadmap and a general methodology or assessingwhere eGovernment can help the disadvantaged and with which measurement o theprogress is also possible.

3.3 Issue ocus

In A roadmap to Inclusive eGovernment(2006), the Inclusive eGovernment ad hocgroup and the European Commission DG Inormation Society and Media eGovernmentUnit propose a synoptic map o the overall inclusive eGovernment terrain, summarizingthe main issues which an inclusive eGovernment roadmap needs to take into account(Figure 2).

The synoptic map uses two dimensions: the frst dimension defnes the eGovernmentvalue chain and the second dimension maps the two main approaches design or all(top down) and special services based on the needs o specifc groups (bottom up).

Both approaches are relevant in the Western Balkans context. The frst approach isespecially important because o the identifed need to incorporate interoperability rom

the outset o the design phase. Most WB countries still need to adopt EU-compatible seto standards guiding the development o ICT solutions within the public administration,and interoperability has proven to be major actor in the EU countries that have showedsignifcant gains ater 2001.

In addition, the standards or security and privacy are also a top priority in the regionalcontext, as the population strives to recover the heritage o culture o secrecy and totalstate control over the private lives o its citizens. Incorporating transparent policies andprocedures rom this area during the design and implementation will improve the levelso trust and confdence o citizens in the eGovernment services oered to them. Projectsaddressing this need, such as Inormation Security Initiative rom Macedonia,30 based onexpert contributions related to necessary change management, can be considered bestpractice examples.

Considering the provision o specifc assistance or services tailored to specifc groups,a top priority would be introducing the multi-stakeholder approach or the analysis o thelocal needs, engaging both the responsible government bodies, and the NGOs which dealwith the needs o such groups, and have oten much more direct experience, institutionalmemory and hands-on approach related to working with the fnal benefciaries. However,both the governmental institutions and the NGOs in most cases would need capacitybuilding as prerequisite to commence eective actions, as they oten lack technicalexpertise to augment their existing eorts.


17/26


16

Specialservicesforspecific

disadvantagedgroups

bo

ttom

-up

Fron

tOffice

(ou

tward-fac

ing

)

c

itizens

bus

inesses

Des

ign

De

livery

Pro

duc

tion

Access

Use

Bac

kOffice

(inward-fac

ing

)

Pu

blicsect

or

(cen

tra

l,re

giona

l,

loca

l)

inco

lla

bora

tion

withprivatean

d

civil

sec

tors

Inte

rme

diaries

pu

blic

pr

iva

te

civ

il

Designforall

(inclusivebydesign)

topdown

BOcapac

ity

bu

ilding

(skillsan

dcompe

tences

)

BOs

haring

informa

tionan

dinforma

tionsecuri

ty

measures

(opera

tiona

l,lega

lc

hange

)

BOjoine

dup(

organ

iza

tiona

l,lega

lc

hange

)

eIDforsecureaccess

&au

then

tifica

tion

Mu

lti-c

hanne

lan

dmu

lti-p

latform

de

livery

Empowering

civil

servan

tsan

dinterme

diariesw

ithon

line

too

lstode

liverserv

ices

eAccess

ibility

On

linepersona

lize

dserv

ices

forusers

Digita

lliteracy

for

en

d-users

Empowerin

gusers

to(co-)

des

ign,

pro

ducea

ndde

liver

onlin

eserv

ices

Benefic

ialimpacts

ofeGovernmentfor

all:meeting

mainstreamn

eeds

Beneficialimpac

tsof

eGovernmentfor

disadvantagedgr

oups:

meetingbasicneeds

Typo

logyo

f

disa

dvan

taged

groups

for

eGovernmen

t

Ana

lys

iso

fthe

ir

nee

ds

Ana

lys

iso

fthe

ir

bene

fits

Ana

lys

iso

f

barr

iers

tothos

e

bene

fits

Examp

les

Da

ta

Researc

hand

ac

tion,

e.g.

env

ision

ing

how

bene

fitscan

be

de

livere

dto

spec

ific

disa

dvan

taged

groupsus

ing

eGovernmen

t

Beneficialimpacts

forallactors

eGovernmentservicesvaluechain

Figure2:SynopticmapofeGov

ernmentterrain:keyissuestobeaddressed(source:i2010,e

GovernmentActionPlan:Aroadm

apfor

InclusiveeGovernment)


18/26


17

4. The inclusive eGovernment roadmap

Even though circumstances may dier on national level, the activities leading toestablishment o inclusive eGovernment services in the Western Balkans countriesollow a similar pattern. They are based on the need o overcoming the legacies o thepast totalitarian systems and the ills o transition, and the desire and commitment othe peoples o the region to improve their daily lives based on the development odemocratic societies and integration within the European Union.

Phase 1Assessment o existing national eGovernment related policies and strategies, using

them as baseline. I the documents do not incorporate commitments or building and maintaininginclusive e-services, then this dimension should be added to them appropriately.

I the documents do incorporate such commitments, both decision makers andthe general public should be made aware o these accepted obligations.

Phase 2Alignment with the internationally accepted ramework or development. Signing and ratifcation o all the relevant international documents, esp. the UN

Convention on the rights o persons with disability by the national governmentsand national parliaments, respectively.

Harmonizing the legislation with the relevant EU directives, or enacting suchlegislation where it does not exists. Note that the EU directives are not blueprintsor laws, and that laws which were based on just translating the directives haveproven totally non-consequential in the region and elsewhere. The directivesprovide guidelines or the national laws, which need to be enacted through aregular legislative process based on the local context.

Phase 3Updating the national legal rameworks, through a transparent, inclusive and

participatory public process:

Incorporating the stipulations rom the international documents on UN and EU level.Phase 4Legislative changes should also include adopting sets o standards or eGovernment

development on national level. As in the case o Recommendations or ICT standardsin the civil service o Republic o Macedonia,31 these standards must be based on theEuropean Interoperability Framework or Pan-European eGovernment Services,32ollowing the general principles o: accessibility, multilingualism, security, privacy,subsidiarity and use o open standards.

Applicable standards include: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative - WAI Guidelines (www.w3.org/WAI)

ISO/IEC TR 19766:2007 Inormation technology -- Guidelines or the design oicons and symbols accessible to all users, including the elderly and persons withdisabilities.


19/26


18

ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007 Inormation technology -- Survey o icons and symbolsthat provide access to unctions and acilities to improve the use o inormation

technology products by the elderly and persons with disabilities. ISO/IEC 17799:2005 Inormation technology -- Security techniques -- Code opractice or inormation security management

ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Inormation technology -- Security techniques -- Inormationsecurity management systems Requirements

Phase 5Establishing mechanism to provide continuous monitoring and evaluation o the

implementation o inclusive eGovernment principles based on criteria and indicatorsused on EU level.

Phase 6Allocating resourcesunds (based on national budget, local sources andinternational unds, including public private partnership initiatives) and humancapacitiesor implementing inclusive eGovernment projects.

Phase 7Realization o inclusive eGovernment projects, through transparent and participative

process, accompanied with precise measurement o the expenses and the impact.


20/26


19

5. Appendix 1: Research Results

5.1 Online Sophistication o eGovernment Services

The 20 basic public services whose online sophistication level has been monitoredduring 2007 are given in Table 2 bellow. These services have been defned by the EuropeanCommission and monitored by Capgemini or EU and Croatia, and the respective projectpartners or the other countries.

Each service is graded on a scale rom 0 to 4, using the ollowing criteria:0. no inormation available on line1. relevant inormation available2. one way interaction provided3. two way interaction provided4. transaction opportunities provided - service is ully available in electronic orm.

Some o these services consist o sub-services, or instance Security Benefts consistso unemployment benefts, child allowances, medical costs, and student grants, or thePersonal documents service consists o ID, Passport, and drivers license; while Certifcatesinclude birth, marriage, and death certifcates. The grading o such services is done bygrading each individual sub-service frst, and using their sophistication levels to calculate

the average.European commission has defned maximum possible grade or each o the 20services. Most services have maximum grade 4, but some, like Certifcates and Job search,can have maximum grade 3. In order to provide better results or comparison, in thisreport the research network members used the Capgeminis maximum grade system,where job search has maximum grade 4.

The online sophistication or an elementary service is calculated in percents (%) as theratio between the grade and the maximum attainable grade. The online sophistication oa basic service, like social security benefts, is the average o the our elementary servicesunemployment benefts, child allowances, medical cost reimbursement, and studentgrants. The fnal online sophistication level is the average o the sophistication o the 20basic services.


21/26


20

Citizens Alb. Cro. BIH Mac. Mon. Ser.

1 Income taxes 100 50 50 50 50 50

2 Job search 25 75 67 75 75 75

3 Social security benefts 25 44 25 31 50 254 Personal documents 33 38 33 67 33 33

5 Car registration 25 25 50 50 25 25

6 Building permissions 25 34 25 25 25 25

7 Declaration to the police 0 33 33 11 33 33

8 Public libraries 50 75 50 75 25 75

9 Certifcates 0 19 67 67 33 67

10 Enrolment in higher education 25 30 50 7 75 25

11 Announcement o moving 0 33 50 50 33 33

12 Health related services 0 87 25 0 25 25Business Alb. Cro. BIH Mac. Mon. Ser.

1 Social contributions 25 50 25 75 50 25

2 Corporate tax 100 50 50 100 50 50

3 VAT 100 100 75 100 50 50

4 Registration o a new company 0 75 50 50 50 50

5 Submission o data to stat. o ces 0 33 67 0 67 67

6 Customs declaration 25 75 25 50 75 75

7 Environment-related permits 25 50 25 33 25 25

8 Public procurement 75 50 50 83 50 25Totals 33 51 45 50 45 43

Table 2: Levels o online sophistication o the 20 basic e-government services in the WesternBalkans collected during 2007. All fgures are percentages on a 0-100% scale.33

The research identifed thatso arthe state authorities in the Western Balkancountries worked more proactively and showed signifcant interest in developingeGovernment services rom the income generating cluster, while showing less initiativein developing e-services ocused on the needs o the individual citizens.

Interoperability was pointed out as major concern and as a core element o the

eGovernment development process both within the individual countries and on aregional level.

5.2 eInclusion Related Experiences rom the Western Balkans

Based on the preliminary research o impact and realization o projects implementedin the Western Balkans region, the general conclusion is that inclusion is not a toppriority o the decision makers and the policymakers responsible or eGovernmentdevelopment.

So ar, most governments rom the Western Balkans have not initiated specifcactivities or projects to create more inclusive eGovernment in regard to the ront o ce,and oten all short at the more basic level o ensuring technical interoperability in the


22/26


21

back o ce. In the cases when projects with elements o eInclusion have been conducted,the data on the impact is scarce and second-hand, based on media reports at best.

For instance in the beginning o 2007 the Government o Republic o Macedoniainitiated the ollowing projects addressing the needs o several target groups which aredefned as at risk o exclusion (See section 3.2), but ailed to disclose any inormation butbasic quantities o benefciaries. These projects included:

Computer or Every Child,34 aiming to provide computers or all students in theprimary and secondary schools in Macedonia, but disregarded the needs ochildren with disabilities who are integrated within the education process or useo assistive technologies.35

ICT Education or Everyone,36 which outsourced training o basic IT skills to over

twenty thousand citizens to local private education acilities. However, the tenderdid not stipulate requirements to address the needs o people with disabilities,and no evidence o addressing these needs in practice through this project hassuraced so ar.

Digital Clubs or Bridging the Digital Gap opening o 15 public internet accesspoints specifcally advertised as providing services to young people (youngerthan 26) and the elderly, which unction as ree internet caes on frst come frstserved basis. No o cial inormation is available on where these clubs are situated,and it seems that no prior training or addressing the needs o the elderly (suchas adjusting the accessibility options rom the operating system) or providing anyother services but basic internet access (such as training) has been conducted

with the employees.


23/26


22

6. Notes and References

1 Inclusive eGovernment Ensuring Equal Access to Public Services. Europes InormationSociety Thematic Portal. URL:

http://ec.europa.eu/inormation_society/activities/einclusion/policy/egov/index_en.htm.2 Based on the multi-year research on sophistication o e-government services in

Macedonia conducted by pro. Marjan Guev and his assistants Dejan Spasov andGoce Armenski rom the Institute o Inormatics at the Faculty o Natural Sciences andMathematics at the Ss Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, published with supporto Metamorphosis Foundation and available on its website in the section Publications/Research.

3 Third International Conerence e-Society.Mk: Inclusive eGovernment. Skopje, 29-30November 2007. More inormation available on http://www.e-society.mk in the sectionArchive 2007.

4 We-Go Project enhancing Western Balkan eGovernment Expertisehttp://www.wego-project.eu.

5 Data on the EU-members by Capgemini (September 2007). URL: http://ec.europa.eu/inormation_society/eeurope/i2010/docs/benchmarking/egov_

benchmark_2007.pd.No data was available or Kosovo at the time o the research.

6 The research was conducted within the ramework o Western Balkans Network orInclusive eGovernment Project, and compared/combined with EU-unded research

results by Capgemini and others.7 The report Analysis o European target groups related to inclusive eGovernment is

available in the Library Inclusive eGovernment section o the Europes InormationSociety Thematic Portal. URL:

http://ec.europa.eu/inormation_society/activities/egovernment/library/inclusive/index_en.htm.8 For instance, curricula ft or eGovernment development have been created within the

We-Go Project. Available at URL: http://www.metamorphosis.org.mk/we-go.9 All the directives and other relevant legislation are available at EUR-Lex, the portal to

European Union Law (http://eur-lex.europa.eu).10 WSIS: Declaration o Principles. Document WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/4-E (12 December

2003). URL: http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/o cial/dop.html.11 First Phase o the WSIS (10-12 December 2003, Geneva). Geneva Plan o Action. WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/0005. URL:http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents/doc_multi.asp?lang=en&id=1160|0.

12 Second Phase o the WSIS (16-18 November 2005, Tunis). Tunis Commitment. WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/7. URL:http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents/doc_multi.asp?lang=en&id=2266|0.

13 Second Phase o the WSIS (16-18 November 2005, Tunis). Tunis Agenda or theInormation Society WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/6 (rev. 1)http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents/doc_multi.asp?lang=en&id=2267|0.

14 IGF Internet Governance Forum. URL: http://www.intgovorum.org.

15 Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability. URL:http://www.itu.int/themes/accessibility/dc/.

16 UN Enable Promoting the Rights o Persons with Disabilities. URL:http://www.un.org/disabilities.
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/docs/benchmarking/egov_benchmark_2007.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/docs/benchmarking/egov_benchmark_2007.pdfhttp://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/dop.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/dop.htmlhttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/docs/benchmarking/egov_benchmark_2007.pdf


24/26


23

17 i2010 A European Inormation Society or growth and employment. URL:http://ec.europa.eu/inormation_society/eeurope/i2010/.

18 EU: Manchester Ministerial Declaration. URL: http://www.epractice.eu/document/4984.19 EU: i2010 eGovernment Action Plan: Accelerating eGovernment in Europe or the Beneft

o All. URL: http://www.epractice.eu/document/2725.20 EU Council Conclusions on eGovernment or all Europeans, 2735th Transport,Telecommunications and Energy Council meeting, Luxembourg, 8-9 June 2006. URL:http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/trans/89938.pd.

21 ICT or Inclusive Society Conerence, Riga 11-13 June 2006. URL:http://ec.europa.eu/inormation_society/events/ict_riga_2006/.

22 Inclusive eGovernment ad hoc group and European Commision, DG Inormation Societyand media, eGovernment Unit. (17.11.2006). eGovernment Action Plan: A roadmapor Inclusive eGovernment. URL: http://ec.europa.eu/inormation_society/activities/egovernment/docs/inclusive_egovernment_roadmap.pd.

23 European Commission: The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme

(CIP). URL: http://ec.europa.eu/cip/.24 Europes Inormation Society Thematic Portal. Ministerial Debate on e-Inclusion Policy.

URL: http://ec.europa.eu/inormation_society/events/einclusion_lisbon/.25 eSEEurope Agenda or the Development o the Inormation Society. URL:

http://www.eseeinitiative.org/sadrzaj/eAgenda/eSEEurope%20Agenda.pd.26 eSEE Initiative. URL: http://www.eseeinitiative.org/.27 eSEE Agenda + or the Development o Inormation Society in SEE 2007-2012. URL:

http://www.eseeinitiative.org/sadrzaj/eAgenda/eSEE%20Agenda%20Plus%20signed.pd.28 Metamorphosis Foundation and USAIDs Make Decentralization Work Project. (2005).

Catalogue o Local Government Electronic Services. URL: http://www.metamorphosis.

org.mk/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_details/gid,9/Itemid,16/lang,mk/.29 Decade o Roma Inclusion 2005-2015, URL: http://www.romadecade.org/.30 Inormation Security Initiative provided general introductions about inormation

security to the public, and addressed and instructed decision makers on why and how tointroduce the appropriate standards. All publications were disseminated ree o chargeand are available online at URL: http://www.isi.org.mk.

31 Assessment o Good Governance Potential in Macedonia (www.gg.org.mk), projectby Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia in cooperation with the GeneralSecretariat o the Government o Republic o Macedonia, Recommendations or ICTstandards in the civil service in the Republic o Macedonia. are available in Macedonian(http://gg.org.mk/pd/Preporaki%20za%20IKT%20%28za%20WEB%29.pd) and English

(http://gg.org.mk/pd/recomendations_ICT.pd).32 European Interoperability Framework or Pan-European eGovernment Services, v 1.0.

URL: http://europa.eu.int/idabc/3761.33 Due to internal divisions o Bosnia and Herzegovina, the service availability rom the

viewpoint o the citizens o Canton o Sarajevo has been selected as sample to measure.Data or Croatia by T&MC and eHrvatska. Benchmarking study online availability o publicservice: third research, (October 2006), and Capgemini. Study on online availability opublic services or e-Hrvatska: second research (February 2006).

34 Ministry o Inormation Society o Republic o Macedonia: Projects: Computer or EveryChild. URL: http://www.mio.gov.mk/?q=node/190.

35 Inormation on accessible IT and the assistive technologies is provided by the NGO Openthe Windows. URL: http://portal.openthewindows.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=64.

36 MIO o RM: Project: ICT Education or Everyone. URL:http://www.mio.gov.mk/?q=node/183.
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/egovernment/docs/inclusive_egovernment_roadmap.pdfhttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/egovernment/docs/inclusive_egovernment_roadmap.pdfhttp://www.metamorphosis.org.mk/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_details/gid,9/Itemid,16/lang,mk/http://www.metamorphosis.org.mk/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_details/gid,9/Itemid,16/lang,mk/http://portal.openthewindows.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=64http://portal.openthewindows.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=64http://portal.openthewindows.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=64http://www.metamorphosis.org.mk/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_details/gid,9/Itemid,16/lang,mk/http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/egovernment/docs/inclusive_egovernment_roadmap.pdf


25/26

CIP . ,

342.51:004 (4-15) (062)004:342.51 (4-15) (062)

ROADMAP or inclusive eGovernment in the Western Balkans:Building e-services accessible to all / [ editors Bardhyl Jashari, Filip Stojanovski ]. Skopje: Metamorphosis, 2009. 24 ..; 23

: . 20-21. : Appendix

ISBN 978-9989-2792-8-7

) - - COBISS.MK-ID 75692554


26/26

F o u n d a t i o n f o r s u s t a i n a b l e I C T s o l u t i o n s

www. me t a mo r p h o s i s . o r g . mk

roadmap for inclusive egovernment in the western balkans

Documents