Republic of Macedonia Becomes More Citizen-Friendly

What would life be like without pointless government bureaucracy? What if instead of spending hours in line, battling confusing forms and cranky, overworked functionaries, people could pay their taxes, renew their driver’s licenses, or apply for government jobs from the comfort of home, online?

In the Republic of Macedonia, formerly part of Yugoslavia, the government and citizens are beginning to find out. Under a five-year grant from the US Agency for International Development, Internews is developing and implementing e-government solutions that aim to increase the transparency and efficiency of Macedonia’s public sector.

“The decision of this new democracy to engage its citizens and provide services on an electronic basis— which means anyone at any time can access those services— is profound,” says Jerker Torngren, Director of Internews’ Macedonian e-Gov Project.

“In making government activities more open and transparent, e-government has the potential to fundamentally change the relationship between a government and its citizens,” he says.

    Photo: a woman looks over the shoulder of a man using the computer system
INTERNEWS MACEDONIA
As part of Internews’ five-year project introducing e-government solutions to the Republic of Macedonia, the Macedonian Civil Servants Agency conducts the first testing of candidates, who applied for job vacancies using a newly launched system for applying online.

One of the first programs pioneered by the Macedonian e-Gov Project was to develop an online process for people to apply for state jobs. Because Internet penetration is quite low in Macedonia, the project was designed so applicants could apply from any Internet access point, without an email address.

A major goal was to increase the ability of men and women from all socio-economic groups to learn of civil service jobs and to apply for them on a timely basis, no matter where they live.

Launched in December 2005 by the Civil Servants Agency, the Apply Online system exceeded all expectations. Only two months after the system went live, the number of applications had equalled the total for the entire previous year.

The applicants and recruiting agencies are also benefiting from the back office functions of the system, which allow applicants to sit for the required exam online. Their results are calculated automatically and published right after they complete the exam.

“Those tested are delighted when they see their results immediately after pressing the ‘complete’ button,” says Aleksandar Ugrinoski of the Civil Servants Agency. “They no longer need to wait the usual ten days to receive the information in the mail. They also feel reassured knowing that the human factor has been removed from the testing phase. As for the Civil Service Agency, we no longer need to manually grade the exams, and our recruiting authorities are pleased that the recruitment process has been shortened.”

Since launching the Apply Online service, the Civil Service Agency website has become the most visited government site in the Republic of Macedonia.