I believe that the next year will be a turning point in the development of e-services, because we introduce electronic identification documents and establish a digital identity. By establishing a digital identity there will no longer be obstacles for accessing electronic services, said the Minister of Public Administration, Suzana Pribilović, at today’s Business luncheon organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Montenegro, at the Ramada Hotel.

Improving electronic services and the development of the ICT sector are at the top of the priority list of the Government of Montenegro for current year, as well as Goverment Med-Term Program for the period 2018-2020.

Appreciating the overall significance of digitalization for economic and social development, and recognizing the existence of certain barriers to its realization, the American Chamber of Commerce has established its Digital Transformation Committee, in the end of 2018. As Vice-Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in Montenegro, Ms. Svetlana Vuksanović, pointed out, Digital Committee is committed, among other things, to digital education and intends to contribute to the development of of the state readiness to digitally transform its services, which should optimize their efficiency.

“The American Chamber of Commerce, as the largest collective voice of the renowned business community, is committed to creating a business climate that will enable faster economic and social progress and development, and bring Montenegro closer to the countries that are using the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution. By recognizing the challenges and finding adequate solutions, through the active dialogue between the private and the state sector, using the synergetic effect, we can handle this demanding and dynamic, but a process that I’m sure we can tackle with, and that is digital transformation of Montenegrin society”, said Vice President Vuksanovic.

AmCham’s Vice President Vuksanović and Minister Pribilović talked about, among other things, the amendments on the Law on Electronic Identification and Electronic Signature, plans for further development of digitalization to the level of connection and exchange of data between the IT registries, IT infrastructure, digital literacy of the public sector, and stimulating measures for startup companies which decide to set up their technological development in Montenegro.

During the interview, Minister pointed out that the development of electronic services is a frequent topic at the Government sessions, and added that the executives want to have more than currently available digital services for the citizens and the economy.

“It is absurd that in Montenegro, according to the data of the Official Statistics Office, 98.5% of enterprises use computers in their business and State doesn’t provide to these companies at least key services through a complete digital service. Therefore, although we have significantly increased the number of services on the E-Government portal and now there are 560, we are not satisfied with the degree of their digitalization, because most of them are only informative. However, certainly there are also those who are at a higher level of digitalization, such as the services provided by the Tax Administrations, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Real Estate Agency and other. Certain number is completely electronic, such as Application for Expert Training, Request for Student Loans, List from the Register of Criminal Records, Tax filing, etc, stated Minister Pribilovic.

The Minister said that it has been established an inter-sectoral expert team for the interoperability of registries, which aims to simplify electronic services by exchanging data between electronic registers.

“The task of this working team is to coordinate activities related to the electronic exchange data, between registries. A Unified Information System for Electronic Data Interchange has been established, which has now been joined by five institutions that have registered six registers recognized as key in the Public Administration Reform Strategy: Central Register of Population, Central Registry of Economic Entities, Children Register in the educational institutions, Register of criminal records, Register of material security and the Central Registry of taxpayers and insurence, explained the Minister of Public Administration of Montenegro.

U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro, H.E. Judy Rising Reinke, addressed a welcome note to the participants. The Ambassador said that cyber security and digital economy are vital for Montenegro’s joining the rest of Europe.

“Since both of these sectors are constantly evolving, so must governments that oversee them.  A multi-stakeholder approach that includes all government agencies, the private sector, the academic community, and civil society is necessary to develop a holistic response to cyber security challenges, as well as to build a digital economy ecosystem”, said the Ambassador and added that thesechanges bring new demands, but also a wave of new opportunity.

“My hope is that by working together with key organizations like AmCham, U.S. companies can bring expertise and solutions to improve e-services and develop the ICT sector in Montenegro”, emphasized U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro, H.E. Judy Rising Reinke. 

The American Chamber of Commerce in Montenegro is the leading voice of the business community and gathers 85 American, international and domestic companies in Montenegro. Recently, at the event “Openly with the Prime Minister”, was presented the fifth Business Climate Report with the AmCham Member’s views on the business conditions and with concrete recommendations for improvement of the business environment in Montenegro.