1 eGovernment Projects and Perspectives in the Bulgarian Public Administration Nedelcho Nedelchev Advisor to the Minister of State Administration and Administrative Reform of Bulgaria

2 BULGARIA FACT SHEET POPULATION: 8 million GDP: EUR 16 billion ECONOMY: ~75% private Free trade agreements with EU, EFTA, CEFTA, GDP GROWTH: 4.8% INFLATION: 3.8% FDI 2004: EUR 3.2 billion

3 BULGARIA FACT SHEET (2) Fixed line penetration – 80% of households Mobile penetration – 65% of population Internet usage – 25% of population PC penetration– 20% of households Computer literacy – 35% of population Price of a PC as a % of monthly household income – 200 %

4 Timeline of eGovernment development in Bulgaria 1.Initiation period – 2002 eGovernment strategy and Action plan 2.Test period – 2003 / 2005 Pilot projects / Best practices 3.Period of dynamic development – 2005 / 2008 Full scale eGovernment implementation

5 eGovernment beginning eGovernment Strategy and Action plan – Implementation of 20 indicative electronic services (European Commission list) for citizens and businesses 3.Development of electronic services at central and local level 4.Implementation of digital document systems and digital signature in Public Administration 5.General purpose, basic (conceptual) and methodological projects

6 Bulgarian eGovernment Pilot Projects e-Government Services Central Portal: – change of address registration – personal social insurance info – company social insurance info – actual status of companies Regional and Municipal Portal of Stara Zagora region and municipality: –Government property act –Complains to the Ministry of Interior –Birth certificate –Building permission Portals

7 Bulgarian eGovernment Pilot Projects E-Services of the National Social Security Institute Change in address registration, information about voting list Submission of VAT declarations Submission of tax declarations by citizens and companies Submission of custom declaration Submission of applications for small public procurements Job seeking services e-Register of public procurements National Library e-directory

8 Bulgarian eGovernment Pilot Projects Projects in progress Trade Register e-Healthcare

9 Period of dynamic development 2005 / 2008 Success factors in place 1.Political will to reform the administration 2.Organizational – new Ministry of state administration 3.Financial support from the state budget 4.Information society dynamic development

10 Directions of activities 1.Technical modernization of the administrations 2.IT training of civil servants 3.Development of e-services At central level At all institutions 4.eGovernment rules and framework development

11 Technical modernization of the Administration 1.HW & SW for the Municipalities and Regional Administrations 2.Electronic documents systems and e-signature

12 Training of civil servants 1.General IT skills and digital literacy 2.Project management and eGovernment skills for IT specialists 3.eServices development training for high level administrators

13 Administrative e-services development 1.Focus on high demand / high return e-services 2.State administration web sites standardization 3.Complex life-event based eServices development 4.Electronic documents workflow & e-signature 5.Central eGovernment Portal & environment integration

14 eGovernment rules and framework development 1.Interoperability standards 2.Registers of data and services 3.IT acquisition standards Law on eGovernment

15 Conclusions eGovernment in Bulgaria: Political will Holistic approach Practical approach Quick wins and long-term objectives balance