Blerina Llalla
Quieteness for innovation?
During June the Ministry of Innovation comes with two public appearances, only two events throughout this one-month time period. Differently from other prievious months’ activities, during this one in the official website you can find only the electronic signature training event for the private and public sector, as well as the minister’s speech during the Information and Innovation Systems in Technology conference.
Refering at the May report on Ministry of Innovation we should remember that we met with the new service platform presentation for citizens, the online service portal of Albania, e-Albania, with more then 150 services including about 30 state institutions. This initiative comes due to government modernization through technology. Within these initiatives and programs, according to the priorities of this ministry for transparency growth and service improvement in the public administration by the Open Government Partnership initiative principles follows the e-albania program and the proper training.
Using safe products in public services
The electronic signature with its two months of training and 350 partecipants from the public and private sector, is an activity conceived as the awareness campaign shutdown on safe electronic product usage that have started since April for the public administration employees, aiming to improve their performance and the facilitation of administrative procedures in the private sector. According to the publication of this news in the official website of the ministry, this training comes as a function of public service quality improvement, as one of the government main priorities, the Minister of State for Innovation and Public Administration in cooperation with ALEAT and the National Registration Center, organized the activity: “Usage of Safe Products in Public Services”.
During her speech in this activity, minister Harito said: “The government is engaged firmly, with a clear action plan, to urge innovative services, online services, facilitation of public services for citizens, but simultaneously to improve business life with all the tools that technology gives us today, the way how we offer services in the public and private sector aswell.”
According to the minister in the last months through the QKR (National Registration Center) 4000 electronic documents have circulated and this is a good step to enlarge even more this service user circle.
Minister Harito highlights that: “Our purpose is to facilitate the citizens’ life, to reduce bureaucracy and through it to diminish the opportunities for corruption, because of course there is no more ticket office, there’s one less opportunity for corruption and that is what we have always said, the building of systems to fight corruption”. Electronic signature is considered as the safest instrument in the electronic communications, that guarantees legal validity of the document and it’s proving power, equally as the written form. Secure identification and electronic signature, which generate from electronic certificates incorporated at the official ID card, allows citizens the benefit of many remote services. Electronic certificates are offered free of charge by ALEAT company. On her side QKR is offering through e-Albania portal the extracts as an electronic document and the online application opportunity through electronic ID card usage and their electronic certificates for business registration purposes.
As we have highlighted before, this is initiative deserves a positive evaluation because it is fair and in accordance with international contemporary models and by the European standarts of Citizen services. It also serves to increase the capacities of Albanian public administration and private sector aswell, in offering and using public services. But if we have trained a generation, naturally we shouldn’t stop at it, since the need for information is much wider nowadays. Other sensibilization and information campaign would be valid to citizens that are going to be the direct beneficiaries of these services. That’s why we say that wider information and proper instruments of sensibilization are needed in order to urge the usage of these contemporary platforms.
We can highlight that any innovation initiative is a challenge. These challenges should be seen as a development and employment tools according to contemporary trends and advanced country models. However we welcome results from initiatives, projects or applied policy from central government institutions, as we are concerned from the total silence or lack of dialogue during one entire month.
References:
1- Webi Zyrtar i Ministrise se Inovacionit dhe Administrates Publike http://www.inovacioni.gov.al/al/neësroom/lajme/nenshkrimi-elektronik-2-muaj-trajnime-me-350-pjesemarres-nga-sektoret-publik-e-privat&page=1
2- Agjencia Telegrafike Shqiptare http://www.ata.gov.al/nenshkrimi-elektronik-2-muaj-trajnime-me-350-pjesemarres-nga-sektoret-publik-e-privat-278466.html
