Prime Minister Edi Rama today attended an informing activity on further expansion and consolidation of public-sector service delivery via online channels and closure of the service windows at the state institutions tasked with providing public services. In his remarks, PM Rama announced a significant phase of the digital technology revolution on public service delivery is completing and this progress deals a decisive blow, though not a final one,  to the corruption practices, graft and bribery in exchange of the public services.

“I would start my speech today, a very significant day in the history of our public administration, by referring to two examples. One example has been set by the General Transport Directorate that represents a significant source of information and definitely a source of experience in this totally transforming process. Prior to this process, it was unimaginable that the Federal Republic of Germany, the strictest state in Europe, and perhaps in the world, could recognize the driving licenses issued by the Republic of Albania, which were delivered through an absolutely untraceable process.

The next example is quite opposite of the first one.  The newly-appointed Director of the Civil Registry Office said that a total of 1.5 million birth certificates were issued in 2021. But I am wondering, why? Why on earth should the Ministry of Interior and the Civil Registry Office use so much printing ink and paperwork to issue 1.5 million birth certificates? For which reason should be given that using even a single paper and a single drop of ink to print certificates has been unessential in the past four or more years.

These are two extremes of a process that requires strong determination and shifting trust in digital technology by cutting all the threads with the tradition.

The decision is a final one; no service windows will be operational in the Republic of Albania starting April 30 and I am totally confident this will work although it may present some issues or challenges at the very beginning.

The free online public service delivery has saved around 7 million euros after elimination of the taxes and tariffs for the service and documents.

It is not a linear, but an exponential development and you can overcome whole years in a single year and you can be a very backward Albania until a few years ago, which today has jumped to rank 17th for digital services, outdoing far more developed countries than Albania.

So in this aspect, we have entered a stage when the progress has dealt a decisive blow, though not a final one,  to the corruption practices, graft and bribery in exchange of the public services.

It is also important to note that no worker will become redundant. Everyone will continue working, but they will now do another kind of job. Instead of interrogating, looking into and tormenting people who report at the service windows, they will fill in the online files and documents for the applicants.

In the meantime, we have also launched another important project on the audio virtual assistant, like the Siri audio operating system available on smart phones.

No ADISA offices will continue operating starting May 1. These offices will be shut down for people to come in, but employees will continue their work to do exactly this, keep providing services to citizens so that the entire application process becomes a successful one and nobody along the chain of this process can hamper it.

Concluding, I would like to say that today we have the opportunity to take the relationship between citizens and the state to a whole new level through this system and we have the opportunity to make Albania the country where the word service for citizens and the word service from the state take on its complete meaning.