The development of eGovernment and the introduction of new technologies in different sectors remains a priority for Bela Palanka, says municipal president Goran Miljković.
Bela Palanka is one of the few municipalities in Serbia to offer eGovernment services both via its official website and via the eGovernment Portal of the Republic of Serbia. How much do citizens use these services and to what extent do they ease their everyday situations?
– A functional and responsible public administration ensures that a community functions successfully as a whole, and that’s why the introduction of eGovernment has always been a priority for the Municipality of Bela Palanka. eGovernment enables speed, efficiency and transparency in work, as well as significantly improving the quality of life of our fellow citizens.
We have formed our Municipal Service Centre, where citizens can take advantage of a multitude of services in a very short period of time. We have eased the process of obtaining permits and other documentation, and citizens really use electronic administration services on a daily basis. Alongside increased efficiency, modern eGovernment also brings savings, as we are making great progress in the fight against the grey economy.
Citizens of Bela Palanka use eGovernment services on a daily basis
A project to develop a geographic information system (GiS) was launched in Bela Palanka last year. How will the introduction of a GiS bring benefits to potential investors, but also to local self-government?
– The geographic information system (GiS) is of invaluable importance when it comes to solving problems in planning and management. We have formed our GiS Centre, which is responsible for managing and maintaining the system, training users and improving the system. We have recorded the spatial distribution of the water supply network, part of the sewage network and subterranean electrical installations, while a database has been created and other essential development activities have been conducted.
GiS users can access databases and utilise the information available within the framework of the activities they perform. We have developed a pilot application that supports the Industrial Zones in the Municipality of Bela Palanka, thereby enabling investors to obtain basic data from spatial planning documents electronically, independently of the competent services.
This project marks the start of the establishment of the GIS and we will continue its improvement, with an awareness of the benefits that it provides.
Under the auspices of the project “Culture as a driver of local economic development”, it is planned to introduce an information system in the Vuk Karadžić National Library. How important is the modernisation of cultural institutions in smaller municipalities throughout Serbia?
– We are extremely pleased that the Ministry of Culture supported this project because we are recognised as a municipality that understands the importance of investing in culture and the modernisations of cultural institutions. With the introduction of the COBISS platform, the library will form its local base, which will result in more rapid exchanges of information and services.
The project will include the providing of technical equipment and office furniture, but also employee training, which is most important to modernising the library – which now possesses about 56,000 books – in the right way. Our goal is for it to become a proper centre of culture and information in the district.