Udovicki: Draft e-government strategy by year-end

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Kori Udovicki said Tuesday that the draft strategy for the introduction of e-government in Serbia will be completed by the end of the year.

"Electronic government is the safest way to reduce waiting times and costs, to avoid corruption and increase efficiency of the state," Udovicki said at the opening of e-Olympics in Belgrade.

It will take several years to transfer to a wide-range electronic government as it requires, among other things, reliable registries of citizens, addresses, property, Udovicki pointed out. There are, however, instruments on hand that could largely improve the government services provided to the citizens, she added.

The transfer to a wide-range e-government will also require a change in the behavior and mindset of the citizens, and of the administration employees, stressed Udovicki.

Noting that the Serbian government is committed to creating an efficient and well-regulated state, Udovicki warned that Serbia will not be able to overcome the crisis, create new jobs and improve its economic development unless it is capable to help the citizens and the economy with each step taken.

The e-Olympics, where local self-governments compete in generating electronic services and processing electronic requests via e-government portals, brought together participants from 35 of 169 municipalities, and the most active self-governments in the field of electronic services received awards.

The aim of e-Olympics is to promote electronic government at the local level and to increase the number of electronic services available to citizens and business entities.

Photo Tanjug, N. Milosevic (archive)