Serbia is fourth in Europe and 11th in the world according to the GovTech Index of Maturity of Technologies in Public Administration determined by the World Bank, it was said today at a press conference on the occasion of the presentation of the results of the World Bank’s GovTech Index, which includes the modernization of the public sector through digital transformation.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Siniša Mali assessed that this is a huge result and success for all citizens.
“We are winning in what we have never won before,” Mali said, adding that digitization is probably the most important area. As contributions of the Ministry to this success, he mentioned the introduction of e-fiscalization, e-invoices, the Iskra system for networking data on salaries in the public sector, and the reorganization of the Tax Administration. He said that fiscalization is currently applied to 240,000 locations, that is, to 160,000 companies, and that because of this, revenue collection is significantly higher.
He invited citizens to rejoin the fight against the gray economy starting today through the prize game “Get a bill and win” which for the first time has a digital form, bills are scanned and sent to the application. He said that in 12 hours, 25,000 citizens registered to participate on the application.
He added that from January 1, everyone who is in the VAT system will be in the e-invoice system, and that Serbia is a few steps ahead of developed countries such as France, Spain, Portugal and Slovenia. He said that education is currently included in the Iskra system, and by the end of 2023, local self-government and health will be included, so the salary data of 400,000 employees will be known at any time.
“We are working on the development of the ePorezi portal and the acquisition of a large information system for the Tax Administration is underway. We want every adult citizen to have an account on their phone where they can see if and how much they owe, and pay if necessary,” said Mali, adding that in the field digitization Serbia has huge reform activities, congratulating Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, but also the entire Government on the great results.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said that this great success shows a different face of Serbia, that we can compete with the best, that we are at the top of the world and that we still have a lot of potential and opportunities for the future. She added that Serbia is among the govtech leaders in the world, as the country with the highest index, that we are the fourth in Europe and the “absolute leaders” in the wider Southeast.
198 countries are ranked, the world leader is South Korea, Brazil is in second place, Saudi Arabia is third, France is sixth, India is seventh, Mongolia is in 9th place and Russia is in 10th place. The index measures the improvement of all aspects of state administration through digitization. With 89.5 percent maturity, Serbia is fourth in Europe after Estonia, France and Lithuania. It is by far the best in the region, and in two years Serbia has advanced 40 positions, which ranks it among the fastest and most agile digital governments in the world.
Brnabić pointed out that Serbia is third in the world in terms of digital interaction with citizens. “This is due to our use of public data portals. We are unique in that citizens can see the entire education system there, for example. As well as because of the eConsultation portal, which has been operating since March and where we enable everyone to participate in consultations on regulations,” she said. In terms of capacities for further digital transformation, Serbia advanced by 59 places. The Prime Minister pointed out that this is an indicator of the success that Serbia has achieved since 2016 and added that she knows that there is not a single citizen who does not know how digital transformation is the focus of the Government of Serbia.
Minister of Information and Telecommunications, Mihailo Jovanović, said that more than 1.5 million citizens currently have an account on eUprava, and that 1,000 new accounts were opened every week. He announced that in 2023, the education of the elderly about the benefits of digitization will continue both through nursing homes and through an IT caravan that will visit 30 cities.
The coordinator of the World Bank for digital governments and GovTech for the Western Balkans, Tiago Pieksoto, said that they support Serbia’s further progress in digitization. He particularly emphasized the importance of the projects led by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, assessing that these are projects aimed at speeding up, cheapening and improving public services.
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