Information Society Samir Lemeš, M.Sc. University of Zenica Bosnia and Herzegovina slemes@mf.unze.ba

Bosnia and Herzegovina An exotic and complex country: 1 state 2 entities 3 nationalities 3 presidents 2 strategies

2 Strategies PTRSP: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper including section about ICT and eGovernment Prepared and implemented by government Established Agency for monitoring No control mechanisms Available at: www.eppu.ba

2 Strategies BH ICT Strategy and Action Plan Bosnia and Herzegovina Information and Communications Technologies Strategy Financed by UNDP, written by local experts 5 pillars: eEducation eGovernance ICT Industry ICT Infrastructure eLegislation. www.is.gov.ba

NGOs vs. GOV Unlike Turkey, Strategy and Action Plan was prepared by NGO There were no governmental support during strategy preparation It was prepared by local experts Government accepted it formally, but not actually BAD NEWS: Two years without realization

Reasons for failure Governmental participation was minor BiH has oversized administration There are redundancies between institutions The state is deeply administratively and politically divided: 13 ministries of education @ 4M population

Reasons for failure Big gap between political entities (economical development, budget size, initiatives) Example: Sarajevo Canton has a big budget, a lot of projects, concentration of experts Other cantons: poor, almost no projects, lack of experts, low IS awareness

Reasons for failure The Strategy proposed formation of the Agency for ICT at the state level Most proposed programs and projects were to be implemented or coordinated by this agency The government signed and obliged itself to form the Agency… but no results yet

Reasons for failure ICT literacy is a must for civil servants (prerequisite for job application) It is not obligatory for elective functions (decision makers, ministers, assembly members) – they are elected by political parties, based on loyalty, not on skills Decision makers do not understand IS

(Almost) Success stories CIPS (www.cips.gov.ba) Centralized database on citizens personal data Forced by UN authorities to help establishment of centralized governmental services (before strategies were written) Fully functional in entire country

(Almost) Success stories Expensive Used at low level (way below possibilities) Just another place for issuing ID cards and Drivers licenses Static No feedback from citizens

(Almost) Success stories ADS (www.ads.gov.ba) Agency for civil service employees Provides human resources-related services for all (numerous) levels of government, from municipality to state: Public calls for bids and job vacancies Publication of laws and regulations eEducation and preparation of prospective civil servants ICT literacy of civil servants

(Almost) Success stories Dynamic eLearning component Officially recognized as a mean for information distribution

(Almost) Success stories BIHARNET (Bosnian Academic and Research Network) BiH is the only country in Europe without an academic network In 1999-2000 the network was established through donation of Slovenia After 2000, no steady financial support was provided and the project faded out Despite strong demands from academic sector, no government support

According to our experiences, Find good balance between NGO and government participation in Strategy preparation To have strong demand is good, but not enough – prefer to force end users to go online for information from government Prepare to face the costs Projects should be centrally coordinated