FORMALIZED COOPERATION WITH THE CENTRAL REGISTER December 19, 2006

On December 19, 2006 the e-Gov Project signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation with the Central Register. Both parties agreed to mutually work on developing and implementing software application that will cover online submission and processing of annual accounts, as well as online provision of other services offered by the Central Register. The application will make the work of the Central Register more efficient and transparent, but at the same time it will be of great benefit for the legal entities in Macedonia.

The tender for procurement of the software application will be published by the end of January 2007.

APPLY ON LINE -ONE YEAR EVALUATION December 2006

After nearly one year of using the Apply online system, the e-Gov Project conducted second evaluation process, which covered the whole year of practising the system.
The purpose of this evaluation is to identify whether the system is still providing the foreseen benefits for the citizens and the Civil Service Aagency administration; and What is the general impact of the one-year practice of the system.

For more on this you can download PDF of the document here.

MUNICIPALITIES STRIVE FOR TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, November 2006

The U.S. Government (USG) and ten municipalities sign agreement on the use of new accountability software

The "Accountability through Transparency" software pilot project, which will be implemented by ten municipalities- Resen, Bitola, Shtip, Veles, Kocani, Kavadarci, Gostivar, Gazi Baba, Strumica and City of Skopje - is designed to make it easier to track the work of the government and to foster dialogue between citizens and their municipal councils. Each participating municipality will make available at least one computer for citizens to use to access the "Accountability through Transparency" program, where they will be able to leave comments and ask questions about local government operations.

The project is funded by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), part of the US mission to Macedonia.

"If citizens don't like a decision made by their elected representatives, they can let them know. With this system, local authorities will know citizens want to hold them accountable for their actions and responsible for their promises," says Jerker Torngren, USAID's e-Gov Project Chief of Party.

Citizens will be able to connect to the web site of the municipality and select the "Accountability through Transparency" section, where they can open a dialogue with the local government administration and municipal council. The municipality administration will check all questions and comments received from citizens, and will ensure that questions are answered.

MACEDONIAN IT EXPERTS COMPLETE U.S. COMPUTER SECURITY TRAINING, November 2006

Fifty nine systems managers and systems architects from various Macedonian government agencies have successfully completed computer security training courses and will receive certificates issued by Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The training was held in Macedonia, carried out by the Alexandria Training Center. It was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) East Central European Scholarship Program, and by the e-Gov Project, which is supported by USAID/Macedonia. USAID is part of the U.S. Mission to Macedonia.

"Many agencies in the Macedonian Government are at an early stage in their information technology (IT) development, and even the leaders are only starting to come to grips with security in the total sense, especially as it applies to new systems in many fields, particularly the financial sector," says Jovce Plastinovski, Deputy Chief of Party of the USAID e-Gov Project.

"With the knowledge and skills acquired during the training program the trainees should be able to focus on practical application of IT security and to raise the level of awareness of IT security in general in their institutions."

As a result of the training, the ability of the Macedonian Government to secure the information it stores and transmits between government agencies will be enhanced, as will its ability to deliver services to the public. Increased IT security capacity allows for a greater use of IT which, in turn, can lead to better-managed governmental institutions that are more transparent and efficient.

CONTRACT SIGNED FOR E-LEARNING, 22 September 2006

Semos Multimedia represented by Kire Trajkovski and the e-GOV project Chief of Party Jerker Torgren have officially signed contract for production of e-Learning courses for the Civil Servants Agency (CSA) onFriday, September 22 2006.

The e-Gov Project and CSA will develop and introduce two e-Learning courses. Both are to be used for training of civil servants and at same time used with the candidates preparing to take the general exam, now obligatory in the process of recruiting new civil servants.

The contract was signed in USAID’s e-GOV project office in presence of representatives from the Civil Servants Agency, Mr. Aleksandar Ugrinoski and Vasile Nedelkoski.

Photo: Kire Trajkovski, Semos Multimedia, Aleksandar Ugrinovski, CSA, Mr.Jerker Torngren, e-Gov Project

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING SIGNED, 15 September 2006

The USAID e-Gov Project together with the Ministry of Transport and Communication will design and implement a software application for electronic issuance of international transport licenses CEMT.

This software application will provide a simple and modern way for the transport companies to apply online for CEMT licenses, as well as automated data processing and issuance of CEMT licenses for the Ministry of Transport and Communication. In this way all corruptions scandals related to CEMT license issuance in the Republic of Macedonia and controversy will be eliminated.

On 15th September, Friday at 11:00 Memorandum of Understanding was signed between USAID/e-Gov Project and Ministry of Transport and Communication. Both parties agreed to cooperate in development of software system for automated processing and granting of CEMT licenses.

Memorandum was signed by Mr. Mile Janakieski, Minister of Transport and Communication and Mr. Jerker Torngren, Chief of Party, USAID/e-Gov Project (photos).
You can download Mr. Torngren speach here.

DRUG SUPPLY TO BE MONITORED BY NEW E-HEALTH SYSTEM July 28, 2006

The USAID e-Gov Project together with the Ministry of Health launched the new IT system designed to monitor the distribution and consumption of prescription drugs. The system is designed to support the Ministry of Health's initiate to introduce new stringent rules concerning the way positive list drugs are made available.

"With the system we will receive reports that outline any irregularities in the way prescriptions are issued and how drugs are prescribed," said Minister Dimov "Equally important will be reports that will help the Ministry to better plan and allocate resources for medication needed in the country."

"This new e-Health application will allow the Ministry of Health to not only improve its management of prescription drugs, ensuring that all those who need medical treatment receive it, it will also eliminate the ability to abuse the public health fund system and reduces the ability to sell illegally unregistered drugs." said Mr. Dick Goldman, USAID Mission Director.

Under the new system every doctor, dentist, pharmacy, health care institution and prescription drug will have their own unique identification number. The newly established registries will be publicly available through the Ministry of Health's website http://registri.zdravstvo.gov.mk.

Among other details, the new electronic system will monitor when drugs are legally released for sale as well as the number of prescriptions issued by individual doctors/specialists. The system also allows online applications to register new drugs as well as receive licenses to import drugs reducing the administrative burden of the Ministry of Health.

LEADERS IN IMPLEMENTING IT SECURITY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR June 2, 2006

USAID in cooperation with Georgetown University organized Total IT Security Course. The organization of the course was supported by e-Gov Project and Alexandria as training provider.

The e-Gov Project would like to congratulate the following for successfully completing the Total IT Security Course and having passed the Certified Information Systems Security Professional testing program:

Aleksandar Acev - Agency for Electronic Communications, Natasa Odnakozova - Basic Court Skopje 1, Tomislav Stojanov - Customs Office, Viktor Hristov - Customs Office, Goran Stojanovski - Ministry of Education and Science, Genti Ismaili - Ministry of Transport and Telecommun, Martin Tasevski - National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia, Kliment Kocovski, Sector for European Integration, Slobodan Karajovanovic - Statistical Office, Mane Necev - Macedonian Parliament

E-GOV PROJECT PROMOTES IT SOLUTIONS May 16, 2006

E-GOV PROJECT PROMOTES IT SOLUTIONS THAT SAVE TIME, MONEY AND INCREASE TRANSPARENCY

Macedonia's progress in using information technology (IT) to improve efficiency and transparency in government was emphasized in a new exhiibition of IT solutions organized by our project. The exhibit, entitled "e-Gov for a Modern Macedonia," in partnership with Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft.

Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski and U.S. Charg? d'Affaires Paul D. Wohlers officially opened the event in the historic Daut Pasha Hamam.

"Through e-Government, public administration can become more open and transparent, and reinforce democratic participation. Assisted by technology, public administration also has the potential to become more service-oriented, providing personalized and comprehensive services to every citizen, and delivering maximum value to the taxpayers," said Mr. Wohlers.

Our Project has been assisting public institutions in the Republic of Macedonia to increase their efficiency and transparency, and to open new channels for doing business. On display at the exhibition were some of the solutions developed as part of the consolidated package of assistance, including the Apply On-Line system for state jobs; the e-Procurement system; e-Tax Services; the e-Health system, and e-Budgeting.

The corporate partners in the event, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, displayed e-Gov solutions developed for Macedonia and other countries. Also on display were digital certificates, which, with assistance provided by the USAID-funded e-Gov project, can now be issued in Macedonia.

FIRST e-PROCUREMENT TENDERS OPENED May 17, 2006

The Municipality of Veles and the City of Skopje this week held their first public opening of tenders using the e-Procurement system https://www.e-nabavki.gov.mk developed with assistance from our project.

Newly-opened bids were made accessible to all potential bidders at the same time, and the evaluations were conducted electronically. While bidders were able to attend the public opening, some choose to view the openings from their own office via the Internet.

Some spontaneous reactions from the bidders in the first tender opening include: "It was efficient and we were pleased to use it. We are also please that through a very clear public opening, transparency in the public procurement process has been improved."

WORKSHOPS ON PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESSING IT PRIVACY March 21-22 2006

March 21-22, 2006: The e-Gov Project organized two workshops entitled "Privacy in the Macedonian and International ICT Environments". Separate sessions were organised for the public sector and private sector giving helpful examples of IT Privacy practices for participants to implement immediately after returning to their offices.

Under the Law on Personal Data Protection all institutions that collect personal data will need to register their databases with the Directorate for Personal Data Protection (DPDP) as well are review internal policies to comply with the new law. Before the workshops, many of the participants were not aware of the new requirements. Both sessions proved to be extremely beneficial as they also functioned as a necessary "match maker" between the DPDP and the public and private sector.

The topics covered include the EU legal framework for data protection, privacy in the context of e-Government and e-Commerce, Macedonian laws in the context of IT privacy and cyber security.

Click on your preferred presentation to download copies of the workshop materials.

- Macedonian legal framework and practice in the field of Personal Data Protection (available in Macedonian only)
Mrs. Marijana Marusic, Director of Directorate for Personal Data Protection

- Macedonian legal framework and practice in the field of security of classified information (English version) (Macedonian version)
Mr. Mile Mickov, Head of Sector within Directorate for Security of Classified Information

- Creating Trust in the Online Environment (available in English only)
Mr. Jim Dempsey, Center for Democracy and Technology

Other reading material

- Implementation of the EU legal framework for data protection, with specific reference to the law on personal data protection of the Republic of Macedonia (English version) (Macedonian version)

- Press Release: U.S. helps Macedonia improve IT privacy (English version) (Macedonian version)

E-PROCUREMENT - PRESENTATION FOR THE VENDORS - February 14, 2006

On 14th February 2006, in the Chamber of Commerce, e-Gov project organized a presentation for all possible vendors, interested to use e-procurement application. The work was done in cooperation with the developer company Infinite Solution and the four State Administration bodies who will start using the application since 1st of March 2006. Then City of Skopje, Municipality of Karpos, Municipality of Veles and Service for General and Common Affairs of the Government of Republic of Macedonia will launch their tenders online and will conduct the procurement procedures in a more transparent and facilitated manner.

More that 80 companies-vendors turned out to hear about the new easier way to submit bids. Most of them confirmed to have computer equipment and knowledge to use the application, and above all interest and willingness to use it, which is a great step towards e-Macedonia.

Photo 1:
Vendors following the presentation of the system with great interest

Photo 2:
Slagjan Mihajlovski, Director, Infinite Solutions
Jerker Torngren, Chief of Party, e-Gov project
Aneta Daneva-Mostrova, Director, Public Procurement Bureau
Marija Petrova, e-Procurement Department, City od Skopje
Saso Simjanovski, IT Department, SGSA of Government of RM
Vukica Kunoska, PP Commission, Municipality of Karpos

APPLY-ON-LINE SYSTEM - TESTING PHASE January 27, 2006

The first testing of candidates, who applied for vacancies in the state administration after the Apply on-line system was launched, was conducted today 27th Jan 2006 at the premises of the Civil Servants Agency.

This was the first time the TESTING module of the system went alive.

All candidates finished the testing and were presented the achieved results immediately after they submitted the final answers.

Photo: Testing of the first candidates who applied on-line