The speed of change brought about by new technologies is significant for the private sector, let alone for the notoriously slower public sector. The digital revolution fundamentally changes the way we live and work, and it will, whether we like it or not, dramatically alter the way governance operates in the public sphere. The major technological trends we are witnessing are not reserved solely for companies.
Governments around the world are faced with new trends that often exceed expectations and their readiness to adapt. However, the ability of governments to respond to changes and their agility and openness will largely determine the development and future of individual societies. Technologies referred to as the third computing platform (mobile solutions, cloud computing, social networks, and big data), along with the rapidly growing Internet of Things, have a strong transformative impact on everything, including governments. But along with unprecedented opportunities, this also brings certain dangers and risks, primarily in security and privacy protection, to which governments will need to find answers. The rise of cybercrime is one of the greatest and fastest-growing challenges for modern society, and alongside financial institutions, the systems storing large amounts of personal data generated by the development of e-governance are particularly vulnerable.
Open Data Portal However, above all, governments will need to shift into significantly higher gear when it comes to regulations that understand and follow technological and consequently economic trends. Like companies, governments have no choice but to embrace and integrate new technologies, leveraging the exponential growth of data through the use of advanced analytical tools. Insights gained from analyzing large amounts of data can greatly improve existing services and create new ones across all public spheres, from healthcare, education, transportation, and all other public infrastructure, security, etc. The so-called e-governments or governments of 2020 will be those that know how to utilize digital technologies to provide the highest quality and most efficient services to citizens and entrepreneurs. This direction is also encouraged by the European Union with its Digital Agenda 2020, which is concretely manifested in the digitization of various processes in public administration such as e-health, e-schools, e-public procurement, e-invoices, e-taxation, e-cadastre, or the e-citizen system introduced in Croatia.
Although things in Croatia have recently moved from a standstill and there are more and more different e-services, a clear and comprehensive strategy and interconnectivity of all these projects and institutions are needed for maximum effects of all these initiatives. A chronic problem of the previous informatization of the Croatian public sector has been the creation of these isolated islands and the lack of interconnectivity. Furthermore, government 2020 also implies complete transparency and active participation of citizens and businesses in the creation of public policies. One of the ways, which is slowly being applied in Croatia, is the concept of open data. The Open Data Portal enables the business sector to use open data from public administration and offers it to users for further use through innovative non-commercial and commercial applications.
– The portal for e-consultation is particularly important in opening up to the public, allowing active participation of entrepreneurs and the interested public in the process of creating laws, regulations, strategies, and action plans – says Milanka Opačić, Minister of Social Policy and Youth.
