Public Administration Introduces Electronic Signature and Seal

The establishment of a platform that will enable electronic and mobile signing and sealing of various documents and function as a jointly shared service for public administration bodies is in its final phase. On the third day of the conference '48 Hours – 13th Meeting of Mayors and Entrepreneurs', which is concluding today in Pula, Igor Ljubi, coordinator of the Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society, revealed this.

– The system is ready and waiting for users. Currently, about ten bodies are connected to the platform with electronic services for e/m Signature and e/m Seal. We are in the testing phase and so far we have only received positive feedback – said Ljubi about the new digital platform that should contribute to increasing efficiency within the state and public administration system as well as in the way electronic services are provided and their interaction with citizens and businesses.

In a brief introduction to the conference participants about the new platform, he mentioned, among other things, the advantages of electronic signatures and seals, emphasizing transparency, meaning that it will be precisely known who certified what and when, as well as remote accessibility and significant acceleration of processes.

The lecture was an introduction to a round table on the topic of Digital and Transparent, where representatives of cities that are examples of good practice in digitization and transparency shared their experiences, as well as representatives of IT companies that develop solutions for the digitization of processes in the public sector.

– Thanks to our digitized office business system, I digitally certified all the invoices that the City of Dubrovnik needs to pay this morning before the start of this conference, from here in Pula. Everything works regardless of whether I am in the city or not. I can enter the system, certify the invoice, and send it for payment. We have also introduced digitized services, such as paying for kindergartens or obtaining building permits – boasted the Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković.

Many everyday processes, such as digital enrollment in kindergartens, awarding scholarships to students, or supporting associations, have also been digitized in Bjelovar, said Mayor Dario Hrebak, asserting that transparency marked his first term.

That transparency is the goal that all cities in Croatia strive for and have embarked upon, but that they in Rijeka have advanced far in this regard, said Rijeka Mayor Marko Filipović at the round table. In the context of the digital transformation of public administration, he pointed out one problem.

– We have a problem with the lack of IT personnel employed in public administration. It is a real art to retain people who deal with IT in public administration because we cannot compete with the salaries in the private sector – pointed out Filipović, while the moderator of the round table, executive editor of Lider, Goran Litvan, noted that they have the option to outsource jobs to some IT companies.

One such company is the German SAP, whose director for Croatia, Anita Lacmanović, informed the attendees that they are just entering the niche of public sector digitization in the Croatian market.

– In the digitization of systems, including those in the public sector, we are a global leader. We have people who deal with public sector digitization on a global level. We do not need to reinvent the wheel but rather apply already effective solutions in Croatia. Some cities have already done a lot in digitization, but we want to give you a little more speed, accelerate digital transformation, introduce intelligent software, and focus on solutions – said Lacmanović.

The round table also featured Hrvoje Sagrak, CEO of Infodom, and Marko Ignjatović, director of Libusoft Cicoma, companies that successfully collaborate with a number of local government units on digitization projects, offering them a wide range of solutions for digitizing operations in cities, municipalities, their utility companies, and public institutions.

We also heard on the panel that there are various solutions for digital transformation, such as the Rijeka example of integration and digitization of the payment process for multiple utility services with one card, but also that some cities, like Dubrovnik, want to take a step further in digitization.

– I want to create a system where the City of Dubrovnik’s system is the only application that every official needs to enter when they arrive at work in the morning, and in that system, they can do everything that is their job, issue a solution, or write a press release. Then we will be able to measure the effectiveness of officials and see who is working and who is slacking off – concluded the Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković.

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