The Municipality of Rakovica has incorporated and integrated a large variety of procedures that enable more efficient cooperation with the general population. Having joined the system that provides an integrated construction permitting procedure, the municipality is also providing for online queries and the ordering of birth, marriage, and death certificates online.
From 2018, other electronic services will also be available. We discussed the digitisation of municipal procedures and further plans with Vladan Kocić, Mayor of Rakovica.
Do you intend to introduce more services for the general population and business community?
– The City Municipality of Rakovica has established a quick response office for the business community. Through its portal, this office is connected with the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce and the mayor’s office.
The mission of this office is to provide answers as quickly as possible to any questions posed by business people, potential investors or anyone involved in entrepreneurship. They must be given answers within 72 hours, i.e. three days. We receive questions from the business community via e-mail, telephone calls, or when they come in person, either to the entrepreneurship counter we established last year or to the office.
You can track the movement of a query at all times through the portal, find out who it was forwarded to last and exactly where it is at a certain point of time. This prevents queries from potential investors and entrepreneurs getting lost in the administration. Since the office started operating in September 2014, more than 250 queries have been answered through the portal, 78 this year alone. This places the Rakovica Office among the best in Belgrade.
Since the office started operation in September 2014, more than 250 queries have been answered through the portal, 78 this year alone. This places the Rakovica Office among the best in Belgrade
How much did the introduction of electronic construction permitting improve efficiency and simplify the procedure for applicants?
– The introduction of this electronic service has greatly improved the efficiency of the municipal administration. The operation of the Construction and Public Utility Department, which is responsible for construction permitting, is now simplified, as technical documentation has been reduced and data processing and archiving are faster.
People’s requests are now processed and decided within the deadlines required by law. For applicants, the very fact that they do not need to come to the municipality building in person saves them both time and money.
What are your plans with regard to introducing digitisation-related innovations in Rakovica Municipality in 2018?
-The City Municipality of Rakovica is already just a step away from introducing e-Government. The staff of Rakovica Municipality have already undergone training and acquired electronic certificates, and the system was subjected to a trial run. As far as we are concerned, we are ready to introduce e-Government as soon as possible, and we expect this project to come alive in 2018. We want to provide efficient services to our residents so that they spend the least time possible dealing with administrative procedures.