This is an important moment of our journey towards a radical transformation, connected to the creation of conditions that are totally new and different for citizens in relation to the state and institutions, and especially in relations to counters where services are provided. This is a fundamental part of the modernization process, to which we are committed, because according to us this process is the only way to fight backwardness created by corruption.

Above all, it is important to underline today the fact that this process is connected to the data institutions have and to the database we have in general, in order to allow every institution to streamline their relation with citizens as well as relations among institutions. Only a national framework of interaction among institutions, accompanied by an integration of their computer systems, enables us to have much more transparent and much quicker services, and obviously of a much better quality for citizens, but above all it creates a state that as a whole is much more unaffected by corruption than it is today.

If we referred to the inherited database, we would say we have done a colossal work because the number of services provided by this portal from 12 it was in 2013 has increased to 150. In addition, 89 new services have been added to this portal in a very short time and 30 institutions are interacting among them.

I am saying this because the whole database on which the technologic interaction process works was found by us in a very miserable situation, and since information comes from the database, we can receive nothing even by the most sophisticated computer in the world if the database is not functional.

On the other hand, I want to underline today that this process and this portal are part of a project related to the switch from a state providing services directly to the person to a state that provides online services. Meanwhile, we are working intensively in collaboration with high international experts and with the support of the World Bank, with which we have created a joint team, in order to build a new infrastructure of services in parallel to the database of special services. This infrastructure will have its center of gravity in Tirana, in a big center of services or, said differently, a center of services that will inform citizens on service provision. This means that citizens won’t have any more to go from one office to another – from the mortgage office to the commission for the restitution of properties, and from there to ALUIZNI and back to the mortgage office – but all services will be provided in one single center, which will be online and without interaction between the counter clerks and the “avant-garde” corruption, which we know very well how it has worked for many years and how it continues to work in many counters that provide services across the country.

This center will be the center of gravity of a network that provides online services and which will extend across the territory of Albania. As a consequence, current municipalities which will be tomorrow’s administrative units of the Republic of Albania, as well as every municipality belonging to larger municipalities – such as the municipalities of Sukth or Manze – so, these new administrative units will be transformed in units that provide online services. This is how we look at the transformation of services and how we conceive the fight against corruption, through modernization in this aspect.

We are working in parallel with the World Bank to transform the modality of service provision, when required, through interaction in a counter with the representative of one institution or another, but this is a story for another time because we are still working on a totally innovative scheme, and we hope that it will be very successful in our country and will become an example of success within this program of the WB for the fight against corruption in view of the relations between the state and its citizens.

I believe it is clear what this transformation brings. It is clear that this process leads to transparency, information system, free competition, cost reduction, drastic reduction of the time required to provide services.

As the Mayor of Durres said, we are very convinced that this process and this technology is a godsend for countries like ours, for which it would have been impossible to imagine such big jumps in the service quality 20, 30, 40 years ago since the conditions of technologic development weren’t the same.

Right before coming here, the Minister of Interior and I were talking about some issues, and I had a look at the data on the “Digital Police Station” that we launched just a few days ago. Basically, it is the most downloaded app in Albania, and this is very encouraging because on the one hand it proves very clearly that citizens are ready and receive gladly these transformations and the possibility of communicating directly with institutions through technology; on the other hand it shows how much we can jump regardless of the backwardness we have inherited and of the gap that divides us from the developed world.

Cases of success in many countries similar to Albania – of course not in Europe, because there aren’t any in Europe – show that thanks to technology it is absolutely possible for us to take such big leaps which time would have not allowed.

Many of the payment methods that the online portal will enable – starting from the payment of the electricity bill, which is one of the latest innovations and saves the hassle of standing in line of all those who own a credit card, to continue with the payment of local fees or taxes, and then with procedures related to the National Registration Center, to the Road Service Department for points on driving licenses or for payments concerning vehicles, which are another big issue on their own, since people have been parking themselves in those office for years and waited endlessly to be able to pay vehicles fees, facilitate citizens a lot. But above all they will drastically reduce corruption, because there will be no contact between those who pay and those who receive the money, i.e. the clerk at the counter for whom, we all know very well, it is difficult to be there and serve citizens without being temped and affected by corruption.

I believe that we will have big transformations also in the education and health system. No farther than three days ago we were discussing the project of the electronic prescription which will totally transform the situation of the relation between citizens asking for reimbursement of medicines and the state reimbursing them. This relation has been seriously and traditionally affected by corruption. We cannot expect it to be totally cleaned unless the electronic prescription is applied. Also in this aspect we looked at the municipality of Durres which has been an avant-garde in the process of increasing technological capacities. Along with the Mayor and his staff, which is very keen on new technology, we aim at making Durres a pilot city that will enable the provision of any services of this kind.

The electronic prescription for the reimbursement of medicines will start to be implemented in the city of Durres in the coming weeks, and it will be a reality across Albania within the next two years. This way citizens will avoid many vicissitudes, bureaucracy, lines, and the state budget will be saved from abusers who will try to take advantage of the reimbursement process.

I could mention many more. Basically, we have done a thorough analysis of all services, and we are working on a double process. On the one hand, we are reducing the number of documents required, and this is extremely important and necessary for our country.  On the other hand, every papers and processes that we consider unnecessary, at least at this stage of the development of the country, will be transferred to online services.

I believe it is a matter of time for the international competition of the Trade Center of Public Services to be held. The name conveys its image clearly, because it is precisely a trade center providing public services. The center will be next to the university and will provide services to citizens of the big municipality of Tirana, without distinction. The time for providing services, from the issue of passports to services that might require the submission of a document, is expected to be 3 minutes on average.

This project will require some years. We believe that if we succeed in enabling citizens to access these services through their computers, laptops, mobile phones, we will lay a firm basis for moving forward and for a thorough transformation of the service system in Albania, in addition to opening a new era and closing an old one. The era of a nonsense and extremely corrosive corruption, which affects negatively the image of Albania where, in order for anybody to get a service they would have to pay something to those who provide that service.

Thank you very much!

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The government portal e-Albania is a unique gate on the Internet where citizens, business and government employees can be provided online services. The new services provided by this portal, which has been thoroughly redesigned and which is easier and more practical to use, were presented today. The new version has been optimized for mobile devices and can be accessed by mobile applications for Android and IOS.

The portal uses the government platform of interaction where institutions can connect and exchange information on real time. Both the portal and the platform are an important part of the government strategy to provide electronic services in one-stop-shop.