Most of the participants in the workshops on inclusive e-government that took place in the capitals of six Western Balkan countries, considered that their countries have established very few mechanisms for e-inclusion and interoperability, even though the interest in e-Government development is high.

The workshops took place within the framework of the project "Western Balkans Network for Inclusive e-Government" and were meant to present the draft research on the levels of sophistication and inclusiveness of e-gov services conducted by project partners using the EU-level Capgemini methodology, with a goal to develop Regional eGovernment Roadmap to facilitate joint efforts by the countries aspiring to soon join the EU.

Although Croatia has made significant progress in developing public e-services, some segments of populations such as people with disabilities and aging population are not consulted along the process. Consequently, some services are not adjusted to the needs of people with disabilities that could have considerably benefited from e-services. Digital divide within the country is not addressed as well although there is an initiative of the Ministry of Economy to establish cyber cafes for SMEs in rural areas of Croatia. Computer literacy is an integral part of school curriculum but senior population is not covered. E-learning is getting more momentum within the University of Zagreb but students with special needs did not benefit from it so far.

 

Workshop on Inclusive e Government in Sarajevo was organized on the 13th of December and it was held in the premises of Alumni Center for Postdgraduate Studies (ACIPS). Unfortunatelly, we faced lack of response from all invited parties, so attendance on this workshop was very low. On the workshop were present representatives of Ministry of Transport and communication of BiH, eSEE initiative, Ministry of Internal Affairs of canton Sarajevo, several NGO's and Teledomovi, which is bussines oriented NGO.

 

Representatives of the partner organizations from Macedonia (4 member delegation), Serbia and Montenegro attended the workshop as well. Workshop was opened by Valentina Pellizzer, owpsee executive directress and Sanjin Bužo owpsee coordinator.