Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

The Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit, in cooperation with the Directorate for e-Government, prepared the document “Support to the Improvement of e-Services at the Local Level in the Republic of Serbia: Proposal of a Basic Set of e-Services for Local Self-Governments and Proposal for an e-Governance Development Index for Local Self-Government Units”.

The goal of the project is to provide support to the Directorate for e-Government to develop an approach for future support for the improvement of e-Services at the local level, through evaluations of measurements through the following activities.

1. Selection of a basic set of e-services, to be monitored at the local level,
2. Development of a methodology for comparative analysis and benchmarking of the progress of local self-governments in the Republic of Serbia in the implementation of e-services (the basic set will be assessed). The methodology should enable assigning a single grade to the local self-government regarding the achieved level of development of the website and e-services on offer. These grades can be used to rank local self-governments and measure progress through time,
3. Application of the developed methodology to data available for 2014 from the Report on the Assessment of the Harmonization of Local Self-Government Websites with the Guidelines,
4. Development of an application for a visual overview of the data obtained by applying the development methodology for data from 2014,
5. Analysis of the data obtained by applying the methodology and defining recommendations for future support to local self-governments.

The Directorate for e-Government, as the competent body for harmonization/standardization, the improvement of ICT infrastructure and internet use among state bodies/local self-governments, drafted the Guidelines for the Development of Websites of Public Administration Bodies and Local Self-Governments, aiming to improve communication between citizens/business and public administration. The guidelines were first defined in 2005, and improved annually. The criteria for the assessments of public administration websites were drafted alongside the Guidelines in 2012. Regular assessments have been undertaken since, with reports to the Government of RS, adopting the Report on the Harmonization of Public Administration Body Websites with the Guidelines at the annual level.

The guidelines contain practical instructions to be adhered to during the development of websites for public administration bodies, territorial autonomy bodies and local self-government units. The document illustrates the commitment of the Government of the Republic of Serbia to improving the presence of public administration bodies, territorial autonomy bodies and local self-government units online. The goal of the Guidelines is to provide uniformity among the websites of public administration bodies, territorial autonomy bodies and local self-government units, as well as improving communication with citizens.

The assessment of local self-government unit websites was first implemented in 2014. The results of the assessment indicated low grades for local self-governments. Namely, the average grade for harmonization of local self-government unit websites with the Guidelines for 2014 was 130.64 of a maximum of 300 points, meaning that criteria compliance was at 43.54%.* These results served as the basis for issuing the recommendation to provide a support programme for local self-governments to improve the quality of their websites and information available online.

Click here to download the publication “Support to the Improvement of e-Services at the Local Level in the Republic of Serbia: Proposal of a Basic Set of e-Services for Local Self-Governments and Proposal for an e-Governance Development Index for Local Self-Government Units “.

*The harmonization of local self-government unit websites with the document “Guidelines for the Development of Websites for Public Administration Bodies, Territorial Autonomy Bodies and Local Self-Government Units”, assessed for 2014 – Report to the Government