National Strategy for Information Society Development in FYROM

Acronym of the case:

NSISD

Web address of the case:

http://www.kit.gov.mk

Country of the case:

FYR of Macedonia

Posting Date:

27 August 2008

Last Edited Date:

17 September 2008

Author:

Filip Stojanovski (Metamorphosis Foundation)

Strategy | Policy | Policymaking

Type of initiative

Strategic initiative

Case Abstract

This case study describes the process of development of National Strategy for Information Society in the FYR of Macedonia 2004-2005, which proved successful primarily due to the inclusive approach involving all relevant stakeholders. Instead of creating just an eGovernment strategy, the project by design provided a national policymaking process, involving experts from all relevant sectors (government, business, education, development, civil society), and enabling high level of citizen participation both through involvement of NGOs and individuals. The resulting documents were adopted unanimously by the President, the Central Government, and the Parliament, with full support by both the government and the opposition. They enabled Macedonia to fulfil numerous pending international obligations, and laid the groundwork for systematic development of information society in the country.

Description of the case

Domain

eGovernment

Topic

Policy

Sector

Crime, Justice and Law | Education, Science and Research | Communication (infrastructure) | Local/Regional Community Development

Date

October 2004 to September 2005

Date operational

January 2005

Target Users

Citizen | Business (industry) | Administrative | Civil society

Target Users Description

The stakeholders involved in the development of the NSISD included the following:
- Public administration, including public officials and ICT experts from relevant government bodies on national and local levels
- Representatives of all other societal sectors: business, education, and civil society, including both ICT experts and experts in other fields, as well as NGO activists
- Media representatives, including journalists and editors
- The general public: ordinary citizens whose participation was encouraged through open events

Scope

National

Status

Ended

Language(s)

English | Macedonian

Other

Shqip (Albanian)

Policy Context and Legal Framework

By 2004, it became clear to most stakeholders that inefficient and lacking legal and institutional framework has been hindering the development of information society (IS) on all levels in FYROM. In some cases, the existing legal framework was directly opposed to development of IS and especially e-commerce: for instance, the law required all legally binding documents to be signed by hand, not digitally. Moreover, FYROM has accepted the obligation to develop IS policies and strategies based on indigenous demand (with the e-Declaration adopted by the Parliament in 2002), and based on international obligations within the framework of the Stability Pact for SEE, the systems of UN and Council of Europe, and as part of the process of accession to the European Union, especially in alignment with the i2010 goals. However, before the project started, these obligations have not been met due to low level of initiative by elected political representatives.

The Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM - www.soros.org.mk) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP - www.undp.org.mk) provided funds for creation of the National Strategy for Information Society Development, National Policy of IS Development, and an Action Plan, under coordination of the Committee for IT of the Government of RM (www.kit.gov.mk) through an inclusive process involving all relevant stakeholders. Metamorphosis Foundation (www.metamorphosis.org.mk) participated as implementing partner of FOSIM, providing both expertise and logistical aid to the process.

Project Size and Implementation

Type of initiative

Other

Overall Implementation approach

Partnerships between administration and/or private sector and/or non-profit sector

Technology choice

Mainly (or only) open standards

Funding source

Public funding national | Public funding regional | Private sector

Project size

Implementation: €49-299,000

Implementation and Management Approach

The Strategy and the related National Policy were drafted by an interdisciplinary Task Force (TF), composed of 33 experts from the governmental, business, educational, developmental and the civic sector. The work was divided into seven categories, or pillars (infrastructure, e-business, e-government, e-education, e-health, e-citizens, and legislation), and a section on ensuring sustainability. In addition, the TF also developed an Action Plan.

To ensure proper representation of ethnic groups and political optionsâ€”both from the government and the oppositionâ€”the TF included current and former MPs, a mayor, IT experts affiliated with the major political parties, and a counselor from the President's cabinet. The eGovernance Academy from Estonia provided additional transfer of knowledge and good practices from the EU.

Drafting of the NSISD was followed by a series of geographically dispersed public panels, enabling citizen participation. Metamorphosis provided opportunities for online and ofline participation by NGOs, through meetings and discussion groups.

The final version of the NSISD received support from the President and the Government in the spring of 2005, and was adopted by the Parliament by consensus the following September. The international conference "iMacedonia: for Growth and Employment, too" (www.imacedonia.gov.mk) took place in Skopje immediately afterwards, serving as promotional event.

Impact, innovation and results

Impact

Participation in the project benefited its stakeholders in the following manner:
- The country gained a set of high quality working policy documents to be used as basis and guidelines for legislative and institutional reforms, and also contributed to fulfiling Macedonia's international obligations, providing positive reputation on regional and European level.
- The inclusive and joint approach also increased the internal networking of diverse stakeholders working on development of IS regardless of their background, contributing to the increase of internal cohesion of Macedonian society.
- All parties involved in the processâ€”especially the public administration representativesâ€”were able to claim credit for all the obviously positive developments resulting from the project.

Track record of sharing

The project was presented at the 1st International Conference e-Society.Mk taking place in Skopje, 20.10.2005 (www.e-society.org.mk), and also presented at the World Summit of Information Society in Tunis 2005 by Macedonian government and UNDP representatives.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - The primary factor for success of this project was the insistence on inclusion of all stakeholders, which in turn created sense of ownership by their representatives. This resulted into widespread support for the policy documents by the decision makers, especially within the public administration, resulting in unanimous approval within the executive and legislative branches of the government.

Lesson 2 - Another success factor was putting the effort in context of general development of the society in all the main spheres, represented by the seven pillars, making it impossible for political representatives on any level to declare open opposition to it. Given the public perception that ICT is key factor for development, such an act would brand the naysayers as opposing general progress and knowledge, resulting in public relations disaster for them.

Lesson 3 - The third important success factor was the deliberate effort by implementers to put the project in context of the further international recognition of FYROM: among the UN members and as vital part of the struggle to join the EU. This included constant stress on the facts that the project realises international obligations taken by the country, and that it raises the profile of FYROM at a regional level, especially in comparison with most other Western Balkan countries.

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