Skopje, 14 June 2023 (MIA) – At a press conference Wednesday, Minister of Information Society and Administration Azir Aliu said he expects updating the Central Population Register, and the improvement of operability between institutions, will help overcome the issue that emerges when the citizens are asked to provide additional documents from separate institutions when they change their personal documents due to the change of their addresses or last names.

“As a Ministry of Information Society and Administration we have a Central Population Register where all of the citizens’ data is updated daily. By promoting that database and connecting it with all institutions, the issue with changed addresses or last names will be overcome,” said Aliu in answer to a journalist’s question at the press conference held on the occasion of Aliu’s 100 days in office.

The second aspect that will help fix these issues, according to the Minister, is interoperability between the institutions, where, he said, progress will become visible soon.

“Better interoperability will lead to better communication, in real time between the institutions. The digitization of services is a process which neither began, nor will end with us. We assure you that by the end of the year we will have a different situation in terms of e-services, because we are working intensively to improve the national website, and make it more inclusive and available to the citizens with disabilities,” said Aliu.

The Minister said they are actively working on the establishment of a Digital Agency that will focus on digital inclusion and digital public services which will improve the country’s economy, and the transparency and accountability of the institutions. Strategic documents are actively being developed with a single goal, he said, in order to keep pace with the EU’s “Digital Compass” strategy.

Aliu said the drafting of the new national strategies on ICT and cybersecurity are nearing completion. He also noted that in the past 100 days, “there has been an exceptional expansion of the digital services on the national website”, and promised that more than 150 new services will be digitized by the end of the year.

“This progress ensures that the citizens have easy access to services without unnecessary delays or the need to go through difficult bureaucratic processes,” said the Minister, adding that the national website will now also offer electronic services in Albanian.

Additionally, Minister Aliu said the new Public Administration Reform Strategy 2023-2030 has been finalized, as well as the laws for public sector employees and public servants, which are currently in government procedure. He added they are actively working on the process of reorganizing and optimizing the bodies of the state administration, agencies and inspection services.

Photo: MIA