Presentation held by Ms. Elena Stamatovska as a part of the Specific e-Government solutions for better business environment Session at the 8th SEEITA and 7th MASIT Open Days Conference, 14th-15th October, 2010

1. eGov Project
eGov Project
paved the way for modern
Macedonia
Elena Stamatoska October 15, 2010
Chief of Party, USAID eGov Project Ohrid
elena@egov.org.mk
The eGov Project is funded by USAID and implemented by Internews

2. eGov Project
About the Project
 Funded by US Agency for International Development
(USAID)
 Implemented by Internews Network
 Duration – Initially 5 years (October 2004 – September
2009), extended until January 2011
 Mandate - To assist the Government of Macedonia and the
public institutions to increase efficiency and transparency by
using ICT, thus making Macedonia more attractive to foreign
investors
 Team of eight local experts – IT, economists, lawyers
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3. eGov Project
eGov Project - Objectives
 Improve the quality of the Government service
 Efficiency
 Transparency
 Eliminate corruption
 Strengthen the ICT and e-Gov capacities of:
 Recipient institutions
 Local software developers
 Legislators
 Businesses and citizens
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4. eGov Project
Project Areas of Work
 Development of e-government applications that will
increase the efficiency and transparency of the
recipient government institutions
 Promotion of the use of ICT – activities aimed at
improving and creating conditions for efficient
development of e-government.
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5. eGov Project
Main preconditions for successful
e-Government development
 Strong and articulated political will
 Good cooperation between the donor and the Government
 Matching investments by the Government
 Willingness to reengineer the business process – e-government
is not only about turning paper processes into electronic; it
requires simplification and streamlining of procedures.
 Intensive promotion of new electronic services
 Interest for ownership over the application by the recipient
institution
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6. eGov Project
ICT Development Trends in Macedonia
2009 numbers (State Statistical Office)
 54.1% of the households uses computers
 41.8% have access to internet
 93.5% of the companies uses computers
 83.4% have access to internet
 Until recently, Macedonia was among the countries
with highest Internet price in Europe. As a result of
the liberalization of the market, prices are going down
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7. eGov Project
How the Project operated when
implementing e-government services?
 Close cooperation with Government institutions that are
implementing e-government services
 Worked only with local IT companies for the software
development
 Business process reengineering
 Legal modifications
 Intensive promotional and training activities
 Providing conditions for sustainability of the developed
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applications 7

8. eGov Project
Challenges/Obstacles while
implementing e-gov solutions
 Reluctance to change
 Unwillingness to invest the additional effort to learn the
new concept
 Legislation based on paper procedures – seal and sign
 Inaccurate databases
 Rudimentary level of data exchange among institutions
 Security of systems and data
 Problems with infrastructure
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9. eGov Project
What we have today?
 Number of operative e-government applications
that are being increasingly used by the
companies/citizens
 Legal and institutional framework for successful
implementation of electronic government services
in place
 Strategic vision on e-government development in
Macedonia
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10. eGov Project
www.eGov.org.mk
G2B G2C G2G
e-Procurement Apply Online
e-Budgeting
https://e-nabavki.gov.mk http://prijava.ads.gov.mk
e-Tax Accountability
e-Health Registries
http://etax.ujp.gov.mk through Transparency
www.skopje.gov.mk ; www.resen.gov.mk ;
www.strumica.gov.mk; www.kavadarci.gov.mk ;
Online system for distribution www.gazibaba.gov.mk ; www.bitola.gov.mk ;
www.kocani.gov.mk ; www.stip.gov.mk ;
of International Cargo www.gostivari.gov.mk ; www.e-struga.gov.mk
Transport Licenses
http://dozvoli-mtc.gov.mk Site Builder
Single Window for http://raspredelba.gov.mk
Export/Import licenses and
tariff quotas - EXIM e-Learning ICT
www.exim.gov.mk www.ucenje.org.mk
Online Employment
Registration
https://www.avrm.gov.mk/PrijavaOdjava
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11. eGov Project
Statistics on the use of eGov Project’s applications (1)
 e-Procurement – all CAs are registered users of the system;
number of companies increases daily; around 7% of all
procedures are carried out electronically; almost 20% of
procedures end with an e-auction; around 6 million US$ of public
funds have been saved through the use of the e-auctions.
 EXIM – more then 80% of all requests for export/import licenses
are submitted electronically and directly by the companies.
 ORE system – around 200 companies and 2,000 physical
persons are registered users on the system; more than 25,000
registrations and terminations of employments have been made 11
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12. eGov Project
Statistics on the use of eGov Project’s applications (2)
 CEMT – four successful online and free-of-corruption
distributions have been completed through the system
 e-Tax services – around 5,000 taxpayers are registered and
submit their tax returns electronically. More than 23,000 tax
returns have been submitted directly by the companies.
 Apply Online – 98% of all applicants for work in the state
administration are using the system.
 Trainings – more than 100 trainings attended by 5,500
representatives of the government institutions and businesses
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13. eGov Project
Direct impact on the increase of online
sophistication of e-government services
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* source: Online sophistication growth of the business services in Macedonia in 2004-2008 - Gusev
M., Spasov D., Armenski G., “Benchmarking e-Government services in Macedonia – The results from the
fourth measurement”, Available online at www.metamorphosis.org.mk, Accessed September 5, 2009.

14. eGov Project
Impact on the Business Climate
 Transparency and Fight Against Corruption
 Business Environment
 World Bank: Doing Business 2007-2010
 Increase of +60 in the country rank
 Beneficial changes in the legal framework
 Basic laws and regulations relevant to development
of e-government in Macedonia are in place.
 Strong political commitment for e-government
applications development articulated for the past ten
years. E-government development is long-term
10/17/2010 orientation of the country. 14

15. eGov Project
Sustainability
 Strong efforts for sustainable provision of the e-
government services supported by USAID
 Significant matching investments
 E-services included in the legislation
 Dedicated persons within the institutions
 Independent efforts for development of new
services by the Government
 Recognition of the benefits from e-government
 e-Government Strategy
10/17/2010  Demand by businesses and citizens 15

16. eGov Project
Future plans of the eGov Project
Vision to continue to operate in the e-government
development area in Macedonia and the region:
Created a Sustainability plan for the future work and
works on its realization
As of August 1, 2010 3 staff members transferred to
Metamorphosis Foundation
Both teams started to work together, in order to
create a space to continue doing work in the e-
government sphere, with the ability to expand to
related fields
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17. eGov Project
USAID eGov Project
www.eGov.org.mk
Thank you!
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