It is very important to put emphasis on attracting FDI in establishment of SME in the ICT sector (hardware and software production), as well as to invest in research and development as one of the main goals of the EU 2020 Strategy in the segment of smart growth. Also, other forms of regional cross-border cooperation will help overcome
the shortcomings of the small domestic market. All these activities lead to improvement of the business environment
and bolstering human capacities.
How did digital technologies change the way public sector communicates and did they expedite business operations?
Accelerated technological advancement has inevitably caused the emergence of global digital transformation that is reflected in the improvement of business processes through the use of necessary digital tools and technologies. In order to use digital technologies in an adequate way, it is also necessary to increase the knowledge base of people in the public administration who use these technologies, as well as to increase their IT literacy that encompasses the basic database of related knowledge that an individual possesses and which, as a whole, represents the basis for their lifelong education or upgrading of their knowledge.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, civil servants have access to free training sessions and seminars that fully complement their basic knowledge base which is sufficient to perform their work tasks and to communicate with the help of all digital technologies available today. I think that civil servants in Bosnia and Herzegovina possess a good information and communication competence, and that most of them use the latest technology in their mutual communication, as well as in communication with citizens and the business sector, which ultimately represents the basis for further advancement in increasing their knowledge base in line with technological progress.
How do you view the current situation regarding the technological advancement in the region, and how much do we lag behind other European countries?
Based on the statistical chart and the information and communication technology development index in the survey conducted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2017, all the countries in the region and the Balkans, in general, are ranked in the top half of the 176 United Nations countries. However, at the European level, our countries are at the bottom of the list. Taking into account the fact that the growth of this index is directly caused by the increase in GDP, it is clear that the Balkan countries still have not reached a sufficient level of the overall ICT development, and thus are not adequately competitive in the European market.
It is very important to put emphasis on attracting foreign direct investments in establishment of small and medium enterprises in the ICT sector (hardware and software production), as well as to invest in research and development as one of the main goals of the EU 2020 Strategy in the segment of smart growth. Also, other forms of regional cross-border cooperation will help overcome the shortcomings of the small domestic market. All these activities lead to improvement of the business environment and bolstering human capacities.
What are your ministry’s plans for the next 5 years in terms of implementing innovative technologies?
In order to provide a favourable and modern business environment, it is necessary to adopt a new and harmonize the existing ICT legislation. In the following period, the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina plans to draft a new Law on Electronic Communications and Electronic Media, the Law on Electronic Identification and Trust Services for Electronic Transactions, the Law on Postal Services, the Law on Cyber Security, as well as a number of accompanying bylaws, i.e. strategic documents. The adoption of these documents will enable the implementation of many large-scale ICT projects that will ultimately result in technological and economic progress.
Could you please cite a few projects that you realized in the previous period, which were significant for economic growth and sustainable business?
The Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina has, in line with its competencies, determined the legal framework for the further development of ICT, after analyzing the relevant legal system and identifying the regulations that need to be changed, as well as the manner in which these changes should be made. Our aim was to draft the regulation and harmonize it with the EU legislation in the sense of identifying the need for establishing electronic communications between public administration, citizens and the business sector, or the establishment of interoperable ICT systems.
At the proposal of the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the previous period, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Information Society Development Policy in accordance with the recommendations of the European Union and their relevant documents – Digital Agenda for Europe, SEE2020 Strategy and Europe 2020 – European Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, which includes:
– Information security policy in line with the standards of the ISO / IEC 27000 series which provide the institutions with guidelines for the design, implementation and verification of information system security, in order to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of information content, systems and processes;
– The policy of the electronic communications sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 2017-2021 period and the Action Plan for the Policy’s implementation;
– The strategy for switching from analogue to digital signal, with the help of which we create prerequisites for using the DVB-T2 standard for equipment used for the digital network of public broadcasting services in Bosnia and Herzegovina. All of these projects are significant and very important for future economic growth and sustainable business.