Exchange of experiences in the IT sector between Serbia and Liberia

“In the period of implementation of various eServices, we have faced great challenges, which we have successfully overcome. We have established a unified eGovernment ICT network, the State Data Centre, as well as the Service Bus for the exchange of data ex officio. In half a year of using this sophisticated information system, we have saved the citizens about 500,000 hours of waiting in queues, and the state over 20 million dinars on paper printing. We offer Liberia the opportunity to exchange the experiences we have gained so far in the development of eGovernment and to organize trainings for the employed individuals from this country, which has withdrawn its recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and has taken a neutral stance on the matter”, said Mihailo Jovanović (Assoc. Prof, PhD), Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment.

Minister of the Interior, Sirleaf, presented the challenges they are facing, bearing in mind that Liberia is still working on building fibre and telecommunications infrastructure, hasn’t developed eGovernment, and is very interested in the exchange of knowledge in the field of eGovernment with Serbia.

 “We are still working on building the ICT infrastructure in Liberia and it is important that we can observe great examples of the use of ICT in government institutions, as well as successfully introduced eGovernment services. We have a big job ahead of us and every experience is very useful for us”, Sirleaf said.

He also visited the first State Data Centre, which is one of the most advanced in the region in terms of technical and security standards, and which houses the key information and communication infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia. Also, as of recently, the State Data Centre accommodates the equipment with 30 million data from the registers of citizens of Serbia. The Data Centre is a successful example of centralization of IT resources of state administration bodies.

Director Jovanović thanked the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Liberia, Varney Sirleaf, for the visit and emphasized that the Office for IT and eGovernment is ready to provide support in the form of professional cooperation, training in the field of eGovernment development, information systems and infrastructure of state administration bodies.