The Ministry of Information Society and Administration (MISA) announced the launch of a public procurement procedure for the development of a project called ‘eReminder’; its purpose is to send reminders via email or SMS to citizens regarding their administrative obligations towards public institutions. Five public institutions will be participating in the initial phase of the project. 

The Minister for Information Society and Administration, Ivo Ivanovski said during the press conference, on 16 May 2012: “This project is the next step of the Government’s and MISA’s efforts to facilitate administrative procedures and the life of citizens and state institutions.”

In order to be able to receive reminders, citizens will have to register through the eReminder portal or to submit written requests to the institutions, for each service they will choose. The registration procedure involves entering basic identification data, i.e. user’s name, password, a mobile phone number and/or email address, to which the notification reminders will be sent. After the registration, users will be provided with a catalogue of services where they will be able to choose the ones they would like to receive reminders for, as well as the means through which notifications should be sent (SMS or email).

During its first phase, eReminder will give priority to the services offered by the following five public institutions: the Ministry of Economy, the Registers Office, the Agency for State Roads, the Employment Agency and the Agency for Financial Support of Agriculture and Rural Development.

More specifically, when the system is ready, the Ministry of Economy will be able to send notifications for a list of services (e.g. applications for licenses for catering services or for selling alcoholic beverages, etc). The Ministry of Justice, and more specifically the Registers Office, will be able to remind citizens to declare a birth and notify them the availability of birth, marriage and death certificates. The Employment Agency will be able to inform users about employment permits for foreigners and provide information regarding the conditions for hiring foreigners. Furthermore, the Agency for State Roads will send reminders for the locations where advertising billboards are allowed and finally, the system will enable the Agency for Financial Support of Agriculture and Rural Development to send notifications about the conditions for benefiting from funding.

The project is expected to be launched in at least six months from the day it was first announced, that is to mean by the end of 2012. The bidders can submit their offers via the eProcurement portal of the public procurement bureau. The call for tenders will remain open for 26 days. The initial cost for the development of the IT solution is estimated at €50 000, but as the Ministry expects a strong interest from the private sector, the cost of the IT solution will be lower eventually.

Further information:

• Original Press Release - Ministry of Information Society and Administration of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (in Macedonian)