Digitisation will give people and companies more practical, efficient and transparent access to the public administration. In the banking sector, new financial technologies will affect and change traditional banking models, introducing new ways of communicating with clients.
The market is prepared for these changes, as are users, though the security of networks and IT systems must be raised to the highest level. These are just some of the conclusions of the conference Digitalisation in Serbia – the Future of e-Administration and e-Banking, organised by the embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Belgrade at the Telenor offices and officially opened om November 15 by Branko Ružić, Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government of the Republic of Serbia.
“Digitisation makes life simpler for everyone”, said H. E. Arne Sannes Bjørnstad, the Norwegian ambassador. “Simpler, faster and cheaper. But at the same time it is a very sensitive subject, so we must pay particular attention to security and privacy.”
The conference was attended by a large number of experts, leaders of the business community and representatives of the Serbian government who discussed Serbia’s future steps on the road to complete digitalisation of both public and private services.
“A lot more work lies before us to digitalise Serbia completely”, said Ingeborg Øfsthus, 
General Manager of Telenor Serbia.
“We have made some important steps towards placing the focus on digitalisation, now is the time to speed things up. We in Telenor want to take an active role in the process, while in parallel transforming the way we work. We have already changed the banking sector in Serbia and we are changing how we communicate with our users, while their experience is always our priority. There is a long road ahead of us, but we will not stop.”
Conference participants concluded that the trend towards digitalisation will continue in all aspects of Serbian society. In the coming years an important contribution is only possible through a systemic state approach whether for internet trade or e-banking. As for the banking sector, Serbia has some major conditions to meet to become a cashless society in the future. That means above all the regulatory framework, user education and further development of the infrastructure to support the most varied forms of cashless payment and transactions at any place or time.
