The e-Citizen mobile app, a new contactless electronic identity card, the introduction of a state login that will be used by private companies, the possibility of payment via POS devices in the state administration institutions, the launch of shared services centres and the state cloud services, and a network of branch offices where citizens will be able to receive electronic services… All this is just one part of the “digital tsunami” announced by the Administration Ministry on Wednesday during the Digital Transformation Conference (DTC 2018), reports Poslovni.hr on November 8, 2018.
Some of these goals should be completed by the end of this year and the rest in 2019.
Bernard Gršić, the state secretary for digital society development, said that 40 projects would receive 50 percent of the funds allocated for the Croatia 2020 strategy. “I think that, when all these projects are completed, Croatia will be a very different place than it is today,” Gršić said.
The view was supported by Assistant Administration Minister Zrinka Bulić, who heads the e-Croatia department. She said that next year the government would introduce new contactless identity cards. “You will have the e-Citizen mobile system. You will put your contactless ID card next to your mobile phone and immediately access the services,” said Bulić. She added that by the end of this year citizens would be able to pay for all the services, such as for new ID cards or driver’s licenses, directly via POS devices in state administration bodies.
Starting from next year, all this will be merged through a special platform called e-Fees, which should further simplify the process. In other words, the government plans to effectively abolish paper payment slips.
She added that next year the authorities would launch the externalisation of the NIAS system. This means that companies will be given an option to have citizens register for their services with their electronic ID card, that is, by using a state login, similar to the ones for Google and Facebook services. “We are working on this with the Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP) and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, and the interest is substantial. The HUP estimates that in 2019 the system will be used by 300 companies, and in five years by at least 2,000 businesses,” Bulić explained.
For citizens who are not used to the latest technology, the government will invest 123 million kuna in digitising offices where people will be able to access digital services. “We are also going to introduce e-signature and e-stamp, e-business, and implement a redesign of e-Citizen. We will do the latter by the end of the year because having 600,000 users is not enough,” Bulić said.
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Translated from Poslovni.hr (reported by Bernard Ivezić).
