Former Economy Minister Pavlo Sheremeta liked to post on Facebook pictures of the pile of paper documents, weighing more than a kilogram, that he had to sign each day.
This burden can be lightened considerably with fewer bureaucratic as well as the introduction of e-government, a system of electronic document circulation.
This year, the nation’s austerity-minded budget has hr 2 million, or $127,000, for launching such a system.
In 2014, Ukraine fell to 87th position among 193 countries in the United Nations survey on introducing e-governance. In a previous survey, in 2012, it was 68th.
“E-document flow between the public offices is totally absent,” says Artem Serenok, member of the Cabinet’s e-government committee. “There is also no unified information policy.”
Up to 20 certification centers in Ukraine issue totally different identity keys, used for submitting the personal data, though all the documents could be submitted through one key, he explains.
“We desperately need one central executive authority, which will solely control and put in order all this mess with digitalization,” Serenok adds. So far, at least six offices oversee this.
Introduction of the biometric passports, that started this year, is a part of the digitalization policy.
However, it would be effective only if combined with a special identification chip that could be used for any legal actions conducted online, expert says. So far, one has to go through quite a long line to the Migration Service office to obtain a biometric passport with all the documents required to be submitted personally and in a paper form.
Serenok says Ukraine has a lot to learn from Estonia that has been using the e-government since 2001.
Estonian lessons
One of the main triggers of e-government development in Estonia was an electronic identification system. Since 2002, each Estonian is being issued an electronic identification card, an analogue of a paper passport, that verifies citizenship and is recognized by public offices. One can even vote online using them.
Cards are supplied by Trub AG, a Swiss company.
They have chips that include biometric data, national identification number, cryptographic keys and public key certificates. Chips enable digital signatures and electronic authentications. As of Jan. 16, over 1.2 million cards are active in Estonia, according to Estonian ID card website.
X-Road platform, a unified demographic database for public use, was launched in 2001. It allows to track all the personal information, like the amount of taxes one paid and more.
While only 33 percent of Ukrainians use Internet, Estonians are much more active – 76 percent of them go online. There are more than 700,000 public spots for free internet access, 51 for each 100,000 people.
Internet accessibility became a first step to reaching the 16th place in the United Nations survey on e-governance ease, which is partly a result of executing the 2020 Information Society Strategy.
Moreover, Estonians have much more confidence in paying for what they purchase online as it is a home to an effective system of online banking.
Another advantage is that in Estonia, the Economy Ministry oversees whole e-government policy.
Polish experience
Poland does the same – it has a stand-alone Ministry of Administration and Digitalization that takes care of e-policy.
All the public databases are linked to the Electronic Platform of Public Administration Services, launched in 2008. It brings transparency to how public offices serve the society’s needs.
It helps private persons, businesses and government servants to communicate with each other more efficiently.
Kyiv Post staff writer Bozhena Sheremeta can be reached at [email protected]. The Kyiv Post’s IT coverage is sponsored by AVentures Capital, Ciklum, FISON and SoftServe.
