IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The government approved the co-financing of projects aimed at improving connectivity across the country

Slovenians living in remote and distant areas will soon have the opportunity to enjoy a proper lag-free experience. The country’s central government recently approved a new piece of legislation called the Regulation on Broadband Infrastructure Support that aims to provide the necessary assistance and co-funding to projects being developed in so-called “white areas”.

Broadband take-up among households is just below the EU average (61.7% in Slovenia vs. 62.1% in the EU-25) and is growing at similar rates as Europe as a whole, the report says.

In the first quarter of 2008, 59% of households had access to the Internet, 50% of the households used broadband Internet access. In the first quarter of 2008, 58% of persons aged 10 to 74 used the Internet.

Both e-government provision and digital and computer skills have come on leaps and bounds over recent years. But how important is digital literacy in getting the most out of e-government services? According to new research from Slovenia carried out by Bojan Cestnik and Alenka Kern, it is possibly less important than administrative literacy in this regard.

According to the Capgemini benchmark study of the e-Government field in Europe, online availability and the sophistication of services for citizens and business have steadily improved over the last decade. The actual average for national online availability in Europe has reached an impressive 74%, while the online availability for local public services stands at 63%. Modern usability features are present on 78% of government websites. However, the ease and speed of use of the same websites scored at only 58%. Although the online availability and sophistication of e-Government services have achieved remarkable level of development in EU, citizen participation and engagement have not followed the same pattern. The figures for the year 2014 show that 54 % of EU citizens are non-believers or potential drop-outs from e-government services. According to this data there is much to be done if we want to increase the citizens’ participation and engagement.

The process of computerisation will play an important role towards achieving the intended health system reforms. At a national level, an eHealth project funded by the European Social Fund has already been established. It was explained that the computerisation of health services will facilitate mobility, increase patients' safety, provide healthcare workers with access to various parts of the patients' electronic medical records, as well as to electronic x-rays and expert sources (e.g. medical electronic libraries and educational material).

The video on the portal for children and young people has been designed in a dynamic and entertaining way, allowing users to customise their own videos and share them with friends or publish them on social networks.

Minus 25 is intended for private entrepreneurs and citizens who come into contact with the government through business dealings or in daily life. It also targets policy-makers and civil servants tasked with regulation and the provision of services for citizens and business entities. The MPA has set out to improve the business environment in the Slovenian economy, foreign investment and job creation through its ongoing implementation of the Action Programme for a 25 % Reduction of Administrative Burdens by 2012 (Minus 25 % Programme). Its implementation is partly financed by EU structural funds.

Novo Mesto is a small Slovenian city located on scenic bend of the River Krka. Settled in prehistoric times, the city has always been smart about the way it manages its resources. The idea of keeping the air, water and soil clean for future generations is deeply ingrained in the collective mindset. Citizens and tourists can jump into the river for a swim right from the town’s main square.

“We’re not the first or the last people to live on this planet,” says the city’s deputy mayor, Bostjan Grobler. “Becoming a smart city is not a goal. Keeping our people and environment healthy in order to provide sustainable jobs and attractive living spaces is our goal. Technology helps us achieve that.”

Before this new system was introduced, parents wishing to re-submit a child benefit claim had to complete a complicated form at a centre for social services. As a fist step towards simplifying the exercise of the entitlement to child benefit and kindergarten fee subsidy, the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, have introduced a new system of exercising entitlements.

In the scope of 4th Ministerial conference on e-government which took place in Lisbon in the framework of Portuguese Presidency of the European Union (EU) in September 2007, the results of annual measurement of European Commission (EC) about development of e-services in the Member states of EU were announced. This year's results show the excellent progress of Slovenia, which moved up from 7nt to 2nd place since the year 2006. Slovenia shares the 2nd place with Malta. The 1sth place is kept by Austria.

According to the report, e-government and e-administration are fully available to citizens in Slovenia and availability to businesses is 88%.

Around 88% of enterprises in Slovenia use e-government, which is among the highest rates in the EU, and among citizens the rate is 44% in Slovenia, while the EU average is 41%.

The new system, based on IBM technology, enables healthcare providers to check a patient’s health insurance status and enables health claims to be processed online.

Through an EIB loan, Resalta, a Slovenian provider of energy efficiency and management solutions, will substantially improve its capabilities

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Slovenian provider of energy efficiency and energy management solutions Resalta have signed an agreement for a 12 million euro loan that will allow the company to expands its reach, scope and capabilities and be able to offer its service across different parts of Europe.

In i2010 Annual Information Society Report 2007 Slovenia shows good development in the information society indicators, although it is generally just behind EU averages.

The number of eGovernment services fully online is above the EU average, and especially good for citizen services. Enterprise use of eGovernment is above average at both basic and advanced levels.

Participating in the presentation were the Project Coordinator Staš Svetek from the Directorate for Police and other security functions (MNZ) and Tatjana Mušič from the Criminal Police (GPU). Minister Kresal said that domestic violence is a pressing social problem perceived by everyone, but often silent, which is why the Ministry made it a high policy priority. Hence during 2009 the Ministry along with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) conducted a broad information and prevention campaign. The goal was on the one hand to encourage victims to seek help more quickly and to make offenders face liability for their actions and, on the other hand, to invite people detecting a case in their neighbourhood or having suspicions to take an active part against domestic violence.