e-Gov Project

On 14th February 2006, in the Chamber of Commerce, e-Gov project organized a presentation for all possible vendors, interested to use e-procurement application. The work was done in cooperation with the developer company Infinite Solution and the four State Administration bodies who will start using the application since 1st of March 2006. Then City of Skopje, Municipality of Karpos, Municipality of Veles and Service for General and Common Affairs of the Government of Republic of Macedonia will launch their tenders online and will conduct the procurement procedures in a more transparent and facilitated manner.

More that 80 companies-vendors turned out to hear about the new easier way to submit bids. Most of them confirmed to have computer equipment and knowledge to use the application, and above all interest and willingness to use it, which is a great step towards e-Macedonia.

Photo 1:
Vendors following the presentation of the system with great interest

Photo 2:
Slagjan Mihajlovski, Director, Infinite Solutions
Jerker Torngren, Chief of Party, e-Gov project
Aneta Daneva-Mostrova, Director, Public Procurement Bureau
Marija Petrova, e-Procurement Department, City od Skopje
Saso Simjanovski, IT Department, SGSA of Government of RM
Vukica Kunoska, PP Commission, Municipality of Karpos

The first testing of candidates, who applied for vacancies in the state administration after the Apply on-line system was launched, was conducted today 27th Jan 2006 at the premises of the Civil Servants Agency.

This was the first time the TESTING module of the system went alive.

All candidates finished the testing and were presented the achieved results immediately after they submitted the final answers.

In order to promote the e-procurement software application and introduce it in more details to the employees of the Public Procurement Bureau, e-Gov IMPACT Project together with Infinite Solutions, developer of the software application, organized a Role Play Workshop on 2nd December 2005 in the premises of the project. Public Procurement Bureau employees and representatives of the EU funded project- Public Procurement Office had a chance to play the user roles in Open Call procedure for public procurement. Employees of the IMPACT Project and demonstartors from the developer Infinite Solutions were available during the role play to answer any questions regarding the system and help them see the purpose and benefits for the PPB from the wide use of the system.

A follow up meeting was organized with the participants to discuss the reactions from the workshop and possible steps forward, like new Contracting Authorities, awareness campaign for the vendors etc..

First phase of the development of e-Tax Services software application for the Public Revenue Office was accomplished successfully - the prototype was presented on Friday, 4 November 2005. In less than two hours in the premises of the PRO the developer SEAVUS with assistance from their counterparts PRO IT Department, explained the features and specific benefits for each user. The employees of the PRO, future key users, followed the presentation with interest learning how the system will overtake great burden of their everyday work. General Director of the PRO was present as well as USAID and IMPACT Project representatives.

Photo:
Maja Dimovska-Leova, Head of Tax Department, PRO
Zdravko Sami, USAID
Petra Miteva, PRO General Director
Jovce Plastinovski, Deputy Chief of Party, IMPACT

The Apply-On-Line system was developed within the estimated time frame. Developer of the application, NextSense, delivered the CD with the source code on Friday, 28 October 2005. IMPACT then passed it on to the Civil Servant Agency.

A small celebration was held in the premises of IMPACT Project. Representatives of all three parties, stakeholders, USAID, NextSense and the Civil Servants Agency were present.

Photo:
Jerker Torngren, Chief of Party, IMPACT Project
Aleksandar Ugrinovski, State Advisor for IT, CSA
Kralja Cesmadziska, Fiscal Management Specialist, IMPACT Project
Vasko Kronevski, CEO, NextSense

PRESENTATIONS/EVENTS

Committee for Information Technology of the Government of Republic of Macedonia, supported by UNDP and FOSIM, organized the iMACEDONIA 2005 Conference on September 28, 2005, in Skopje. The theme of the conference was "iMACEDONIA - FOR GROWTH AND EMPLOYMENT, TOO", and it addressed issues crucial to Republic of Macedonia, such as how ICT can help to integrate Macedonia in EU and how to stay strongly focused on the main Macedonian and European strategy.

The Conference concept was based on Round Table. It had four sessions led by the appointed Chairman who also played the role of the moderator, and the keynote speaker introduced each theme. USAID e-Gov project Chief of Party, Mr. Jerker Torngren, chaired the panel session on how ICT benefits all citizens (equal opportunities, ICT skills and regional divides).

The conference was patronized by the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Branko Crvenkovski. USAID also had supported and took active participation in this conference.

From September 19-21, 2005, HP-INTEREX held its 8th annual conference in Ohrid, in the premises of hotel Metropol. The purpose of this conference was to express the potential of ICT technologies used in domestic companies and institutions; and current news and trends by world leading ICT companies about latest products and future plans.

USAID e-Gov project Chief of Party, Mr. Jerker Torngren gave a presentation on Electronic Communication: A market in transition. This topic discussed if we now are entering an era where entirely new forces will lead to an even faster development.

Project's Deputy Chief of Party, Mr. Jovce Plastinovski delivered a speech on e-Tax Services - Using IT to improve efficiency. Current paper based tax filing system has proved to be bulky and not very efficient. This system will enable the PRO to concentrate on their real tasks which are better tax collection and improvement of the services for businesses and citizens.

The USAID funded, Romanian Information Technology Initiative Project (RITI dot-Gov), in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, convened the E-Government Eastern European Conference on building local projects through public private partnerships on September 12-13th, 2005 in Sinaia, Romania.

USAID e-Gov project Chief of Party, Mr. Jerker Torngren, addressed the participants with a presentation on Challenges to introduce e-Government in developing countries.

USAID e-Gov project DCOP, Mr. Jovce Plastinovski gave a presentation on e-Tax Services - Using IT to improve efficiency. With e-Tax Services system the PRO will use IT to reach the tax payer. That will be an open platform to add more services in the future as the needs and the usage increases.

The conference aimed to educate public and private sector delegates from Romania and Eastern Europe on e-government concepts, best practices and implementation techniques.

The contract with the winner of the tender for development of software for on-line job application for the Civil Servant Agency, NextSense, was signed on 12 August 2005 in the premises of IMPACT Project. Representatives of both signing parties, USAID and the Civil Servants Agency were present.

On June 1, at 02:00 pm at the premises of City of Skopje Impact signed a contract with Infinite Solutions/SEAVUS for the development of software for an e-Procurement application. The software is entirely financed by USAID. The system for electronic procurement will enable an effective platform for transparent public procurement process. Initially the application will be used by the City of Skopje and then replicated for other public institutions as well including other municipalities.

Photo 2: Impact Chief of Party, Mr. Jerker Torngren, the Mayor of Skopje, Mr. Trifun Kostovski, the USAID representative Mr. Steve Goneya, and Infinite/Seavus representative celebrating the signing of the contract for developing e-procurement application.