Office for IT and eGovernment and the Center for Support to the Digital Transformation of Public Administration in Service of Citizens and Businesses

Less paperwork and waiting, and more e-services for citizens and businesses are the shared goals of the Office for IT and eGovernment, NALED, and the United Nations Development Programme in Serbia (UNDP). Following ten years of successful cooperation, the partners are continuing their collaboration through the Center for Support to the Digital Transformation of Public Administration.

Today, Dr. Mihailo Jovanović, Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment, Violeta Jovanović, Executive Director of NALED, and Jakup Beriš, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Serbia (UNDP), discussed the results achieved through the Center so far, as well as priorities for the coming period. The meeting also featured the presentation of an Action Plan covering the further development of electronic services, the simplification of administrative procedures, and strengthened support for institutions in introducing digital solutions that enable citizens and businesses to access public administration services more quickly, easily, and efficiently.

"Digital transformation is not only about introducing new technologies; it is primarily about changing the way public administration operates and communicates with citizens and businesses. That is why it is important for us, through the Center, to connect the knowledge and experience of the public and private sectors, while also taking into account the needs of citizens so that together we can develop user-oriented eGovernment services," said Dr. Mihailo Jovanović, Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment.

Over the past decade, NALED, UNDP, and the Office have jointly supported numerous reforms - from Serbia’s first eGovernment Development Programme, the abolition of the mandatory use of company stamps, improvements to property registration procedures in the cadastre, and the development of the eInspector system and the Seasonal Workers Registration Portal, to the digitalization of local tax administration and the digital transformation of local self-governments.

In the coming period, through the Center, NALED will support the reform of non-tax charges and the introduction of electronic payment of fees and charges, the establishment of new services on the eGovernment Portal, such as submitting requests for real estate title extracts and unified tax payment certificates, the further development of the eSick Leave system - including its extension to maternity leave - and other priorities of the Office for IT and eGovernment.

"The Center represents the culmination of a decade-long partnership between NALED, UNDP, and the Office for IT and eGovernment, as well as a step forward in our joint efforts to digitalize public administration. In the period ahead, the needs of citizens and businesses will remain an important guide for our cooperation. Together with our members and partners from the international community, we will support reforms through analyses of existing procedures and regulatory frameworks, reviews of international best practices, the development of optimization and digitalization models for proposed priorities, and the delivery of training programmes for users," said Violeta Jovanović, Executive Director of NALED.

Jakup Beriš, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Serbia, emphasized that UNDP is proud of its decade-long partnership with the Office for IT and eGovernment and of the results achieved in digital transformation.

"The essence of digital transformation is to provide citizens with higher-quality, more accessible, and more efficient public services. Through our partnership with the Office for IT and eGovernment and NALED, we will continue, within the framework of the Center, to develop practical solutions for citizens and businesses," said Beriš.

Earlier this year, through the campaign "You Propose - The Office Digitalizes" (Ti predloži – Kancelarija digitalizuje), the Office collected proposals for procedures that should be simplified and digitalized, and it will continue working on these initiatives together with the Center.