'Slovenia is a story about how to make public authorities and government as simple and accessible as possible to both business and the general public. In this respect we believe that the development of eGovernment services in our country has been very successful', says Dr. Gregor Virant, Slovenia’s Minister of Public Administration, who has been one of the driving forces behind his country’s implementation of a programme of high-quality eServices.
Indeed, since the adoption of the 2002 eEurope Action Plan, Slovenia has risen in the European Commission’s eServices "League table" from 15th position in 2004 to 7th place in 2006 and 2nd position in 2007, with only Austria ahead in terms of the most developed internet-based administrative services.
Single point of access
The Republic of Slovenia’s State portal has become, in a relatively short space of time, the single access point for business and individuals to a full range of public administration information and electronic services.
'Our aim has been to connect all state and public administrative bodies that are directly involved in the process of providing eServices for citizens and companies to the communication network of state bodies. And our information services are provided in a friendly and simple way in the form of "life events"', Dr. Virant explains.
'A particular achievement has been the removal of the old style tax declaration obligation. We have reduced this burden for thousands of citizens'.
Indeed in Slovenia various types of information can be accessed at eGovernment portals. Many services are accessible via the Internet: tax returns, order documents, enrolment of children in school, place of residence and company establishment – all can be set up online in Slovenia.
Development
'It is very difficult to determine the real beginning of eGovernment in Slovenia', Dr. Virant explains. 'Between 2001 and 2004 our Parliament passed the Electronic Commerce and Electronic Signature Act, followed by the Strategy of eCommerce in Public Administration. This was followed by the creation of an agency for issuing the digital certificates SIGEN-CA and SIGOV-CA'.
Indeed the country’s first State portal was established in 2001, when users could for the first time access electronic services and obtain, for example, extracts from the register of births, marriages and deaths. In 2006 Slovenia adopted an eGovernment strategy for the period 2006-2010. This provides the framework and sets out goals for further realisation of new and already established eGovernment activities with emphasis on user satisfaction, rationalisation of administrative business, and contemporary electronic services. The overarching aim is to raise the quality of life for citizens and provide a friendlier relationship between the administration and the end-users'.
One-stop shop
'Companies are very significant customers for us', says Dr. Virant. 'They have daily "eContact" particularly in relation to pension funds, employment issues, etc., while citizens tend to only have dealings once or twice a year when they have problems.
We have an one-stop-shop portal for business which allows online delivery of a range of services. Companies can be registered at this one-stop-shop very quickly, at no cost and in a simple way. This is a model of how eGovernment should function', he emphasises. 'It also represents a sophisticated integration of the back office processes'.
European eServices - setting an example
The Slovenian Minister stresses the importance of developing eServices at European level and points to a number of initiatives taken by his country.
Slovenia is already developing the first pan-European eService with a pilot project relating to temporary residence registration, and to setting up a one-person company over the internet. Austria, Estonia, Finland, Portugal and Slovenia have come together to develop the possibility of delivering such services from one country to another.
'In our pilot programme, a citizen of Estonia would be able, under certain conditions, to register a company in Slovenia. Part of the pilot is in a real environment and part in a test environment', Dr. Virant explains. 'We believe this could be a "snowball" pilot project. When it succeeds, other countries will join us. We already have 300 participants from all EU countries. It is clear to us that Pan European services are technologically viable, and we have shown that they can work from an administrative and organisational point of view'.
Contribution of IDABC
In developing pan-European eServices, Dr. Virant believes that IDABC has played an important role and will have an important contribution to make in the future.
IDABC contributes guidelines, standards and good practice in this area. As discussed at the conference, there are still key areas such as eID and eSignatures, where IDABC is helping facilitate the development of solutions that are essential for the overall development of pan-European eGovernment services.
As a country Slovenia aims to be one of Europe’s leaders in the implementation of cross-border eServices.
Article published in Synergy 10 - Special Edition
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