Bulgaria E-Govrnment Strategy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 3

2. REALITIES 3

3. VISION AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES 5

4. GOALS 7

5. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 8

6. ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT 9

ANNEX I 15

ANNEX II 16

ANNEX III 17

1. INTRODUCTION

This document outlines the strategy for the implementation of information technologies in the public administration and for the attainment of the priorities underlying the contemporary e-government concept.

The main objective of the strategy is to organise and support at the highest government level a long-term process of e-government implementation.

The strategy outlines the nature of e-government and its significance for the whole society; identifies the strategic goals of e-government, as well as the organisation and management of the related processes.

This document has been drawn up as a major element of the overall reform of the Bulgarian public administration icluding the regional and municipal administrations. For the purposes of continuity, while taking into consideration the comprehensive nature of the reform process, the existing major strategic documents of the Government have been reviewed and used in the research process. Furthermore, a number of other sources of information related to the international experience and best practices in the development and implementation of e-government strategies have been used (Annex I).

Taking into account and considering the country-specific legal, technological, organizational, logistic, resource related and other prerequisites for the development of e-government, a broad circle of experts in the field of government and information technologies has been consulted in the course of preparation of this document.

The document is of long-term significance for the highest governmental and political levels and will provide guidelines for the development of various specific current and future e-government projects, in line with its goals, principles and priorities.

The strategy is to be updated so as to reflect the strategic vision for the establishment of e-government in accordance with the current assessment of realities in the country.

The document contains the following sections:

• Realities;

• Vision and strategic objectives;

• Goals;

• General principles;

• Organization and management of the process.

2. REALITIES

A prerequisite for the e-government development and formulation of specific strategy goals are the realities in the country. The implementation of information technologies is a priority at the government and policy level, which has brought about a series of decisions and actions for the improvement of the technological environment and public attitude.

Based on existing research and surveys for Bulgaria’s readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of new information technologies, some of the findings and issues have been summarized in the following three main areas:

Political Will and Legal Framework

A number of strategic documents have been developed and adopted to guide the public administration’s activities in relation to e-government. The legal framework in the country has been largely harmonized with the acquis communautaire of the European Union and can rather quickly be developed further for the purposes of e-government.

The access to information and the protection of citizens’ rights has been provided for by a law. There are legal provisions for the protection of rights to software products and databases and criminal liability has been stipulated for computer offences. However, the existing strategic and statutory documents do not reflect all institutional, national and international requirements. The overall legal framework and standards for the use of IT for public services have not been fully developed yet. The responsibility for providing true and complete information, stored and processed electronically, has not been clarified.

Information, Communication and Management Environment

The substantial investments made by the budget and foreign donors to upgrade the information technologies in the public administration have brought about considerable improvements in the national and institutional information and communication infrastructure.

A National Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Network is in a process of development. An integrated optical communication network linking ministries and other state agencies in Sofia is already in operation. The extention of this network to the regional centers of Bulgaria is currnetly underway.

A number of institutions have made proper arrangements and involved qualified experts in the development of their information system structures and effective implemenation of modern information technologies.

The aquisition of computer equipment is a priority for the public administration but the level of its utilisation is still lagging behind.

There is no integrated information environment in the public administration yet. The technological level of the information environment differs from one institution to another. Institutions do not coordinate their decisions in the IT field which leads to incompatibility of the systems. There is lack of coordination in regard to the terminology, registers and classifiers used.

Over 70 national registers and information systems have been developed and implemented. Some of them are electronically accessible but the major drawback of the national information resources is the lack of integration among them.

The existing information environment does not provide sufficient resources to counteract corruption practices in the public administration.

The functions of administrative structures have been defined but they do not conform with the specific requirements of e-government. The existing vertical structure of the government model creates difficulties in the relationship