Public Access to Information: The Case of Romania

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Strategic Goals of PAI: Enhance the democratization process Increase political accountability Reduce sources of corruption Create a transparent and competitive economic environment Build public trust and social capital

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Implementation Strategies Raising awareness about the right to information. Working with government where possible. Developing infrastructure (information databases). Joining forces with other public interest organizations.

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 IT interface to public information Increase transparency, quality and efficiency of public services Speed up standard administrative processes for citizens and business Decrease accessibility costs to essential public data Improve the citizen/government relationship

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Public access to information in Romania today Internet infrastructure Legislation Governmental strategy Constraining factors General evaluation

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 I. Internet Infrastructure

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Source: 1999 Romanian National Commission for Statistics and the EU Commission General socio-economic data Total area (km2) : 238,391 Population (million) : 22.5 GNP (EURO billion): 36.6 Economic structure: Agriculture: 13.9% Industry: 27.8% Services: 43.5 % GDP per capita (Euro): 1400

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Source:National Association of Romanian ISP, RIPE, and IMT estimation 2000 Internet data 180 Internet Service Providers (ISP) 8976 web servers Internet Hosts 690,000 Internet users 3.06 Internet penetration rate per 100 inh. 3.2 PC penetration rate

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Source: Romanian National R&D Computer Network, ESIS II Report 2001 Ro Internet Hosts Comparing with: Hungary: 113,695 Poland: 183,057 Czech R.: 112,748 Russia: 226,827 (Jan 2000)

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Source: ESIS II Report - Information Society Indicators in the CEEC countries CEE Internet Users per 100 inh.

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Source: Romanian Minister of Communication and Information Technology 11 USD/inh – IT expenses 1999

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Source: ESIS II Report - Information Society Indicators in the CEEC countries CEE websites

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Source: ESIS Report - Information Society Indicators in the CEEC countries 2001 Internet penetration rate of public institutions

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Source: ESIS Report - Information Society Indicators in the CEEC countries 2001 Evolution of Internet penetration of public institutions

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Source: ESIS Report - Information Society Indicators in the CEEC countries 2001 IT Networks in Public Administration The Romanian education network (1993) The Romanian national research and development network (RNC). The information system of finance ministry Other internal IS: Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Internal Affairs, Labor and Social Protection, Health, General Directory of Customs, National Commission of Statistics Data communication network of the public administration (NetPAd) – lacks financial resources

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 II. Legislation

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Guarantees of basic freedoms to information 1991 Constitution (art.31) Privacy and data protection laws (2001??) Freedom of Information Law (2001??) Law of classified information (2001?)

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Consultation and Participation Ombudsman Public administration reform Civil Servant Law (188/99) Ministerial accountability (155/99) Local public finances (189/1998) Prevention, disclosure and sanctioning of corruption (78/2000) Popular initiative and referendum (Law 3/2000)

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 IT legislative framework Full liberalization of the telecomm market expected in Jan 2003 (Telecom Act 1996) The Code for Information Technologies Development and Use (2001?) E-signature law (2001?) E-commerce law (2001?)

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 III. Governmental strategies

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 General Framework National Program for Accession to the EU (May 2000) National ITC strategy 2000 (updated in 2001) The National Research, Development and Innovation Program (RDI) –1999 Position Paper on Telecomm and IT sector (Ch. 19).

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Key Actors and Level of Competence ITC Ministry – policy and strategy Ministry of Public Information Independent Authority – protection of personal data IT Parliamentary Committee Romanian Academy of Science General Inspectorate of Communication –technical matters

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Objectives Implementation of IS according to the e-Europe+ initiative Developing IT support for central and local public administration Improving the legislative framework Increasing equal opportunities to access to information, research, education

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Action Measures (A2C) Shift to E-government and e-procurement One-shop portal (gateway) Internet databases Info-kiosks and multi-media centers IT support for schools and universities Virtual libraries

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 IV. Constraining Factors

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 E-readiness (design - reality gap) Weak institutional, legal and technological infrastructure Dearth of financial and human resources Internet illiteracy and accessibility Bureaucratic resistance to change Low social and political priority! Timid leadership/strategic thinking!

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 V. General Evaluation

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Feasibility Awareness – high Political commitment - high Strategic capacity – moderate Implementation capacity – low Medium-term effectiveness - moderate

Citizen/Government Interfaces, OSI Workshop, Budapest Corneliu Bjola, OSI IP Fellow June 11, 2001 Public Access to Info Basic services available on-line – low Public use of government on-line services – low Public procurement carried on-line – 0 Public Internet points – low Quality of government on-line data - low