2016-09-20
"This is Georgia's chosen approach to building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels, and for Georgia we are pleased to say - it is working" - stated H.E. Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia at the United Nations while referring to the achievements and plans of the authorities towards e-governance, transparency and public service delivery.
High Level Meeting, first time ever held at the UN Headquarters, was organized by Georgia. The key-note event was supported by Estonia, South Korea, Belgium and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Focus was made on the development of effective, accountable, transparent and inclusive institutions through e-governance and public service delivery.
Prime Minister elaborated on the progress made by the country towards the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals.
"Our Government has set the implementation of Goal 16, which aims to "build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels", as a priority. It is an integral part of our efforts to meet EU requirements under the Georgia-EU Association Agreement, and it is an area in which I am delighted to say we are making great strides. This is in no small part thanks to the UNDP, whose support and contributions have been invaluable to our efforts.
I am excited to have the opportunity today to showcase some of our success stories. I believe Georgia's experience can provide important lessons to other countries seeking the same development path" noted the Prime Minister of Georgia.
Special attention has been made on the project of a Business House project, which was given a foundation only recently to deliver over 600 individual services to businesses in one physical and electronic space.
We began by asking ourselves some fundamental questions: What role can e-governance play for the business sector operating in Georgia? How easily can business operators access the services we provide for them? How much will our economy benefit from making the business sector's life easier? How does this relate to the well-being of our citizens?
Our responses led us to launch a new project called Business House.
Business House is a groundbreaking model. It is based on the principle of public-private partnership and ensures provision of services by various ministries and state agencies in one space, and through one single e-platform. The state through this platform provides more than 600 services to business operators - each service being available in one physical and electronic space" added the Prime Minister of Georgia.
In his opinion, primary beneficiary of an advanced and modern government should be the country's citizens. This is why we have implemented a series of major initiatives, with the idea that technology should aim to reduce red tape and make their lives easier.
"Today, through e-governance we ensure that:
Citizens/businesses will provide information to the Government only once - All information about the customer will be exchanged among governmental bodies internally, using Data Exchange infrastructure;
All services by default will be created and utilized in a digital way;
Customers will have only one front office for all of government services. 19 ministries, up to 50 agencies will be represented by only one front office and one single web portal;
All services will be available everywhere, in any governmental regional office, throughout the country" stated the Prime Minister of Georgia.
He spoke about the initiatives tailored to the modernization efforts touching the country as a whole - referring to Goal 16's inclusiveness - for Georgia's cities, small towns and villages. These are the Community Centers.
Prime Minister noted that in large cities, Public Service Halls ensure fast, efficient and comfortable service delivery under one single roof. This is one place where a big majority of the public services are gathered in one space. Consumers are offered more than 300 quick and simple services in a comfortable and pleasant environment. It aims to issue the documents and render the services on which the government has an exclusive authority. While the Community Centers designed for smaller towns and villages aim to ensure that Georgia's regions form an integral part of the country's development. "Local citizens through the CCs have access to major services locally, with freely accessible information - they can receive more than 200 public services close-to-home, without having to travel to the municipal center or to the capital. Crucially, this makes it more easy for citizens to participate in decision-making processes: CCs bring together modern technologies, public and private sector services, libraries, free internet and e-library as well as venues for civic engagement in one single area, which allows us to address a number of challenges at the local level. One of the main goals of the Community Center project is also to improve the services of Local Government Units. The e-Governance introduction component ensures that rural and remote areas are properly included in the process of digitalization of Georgia's public services, developing technological solutions as well as skills and capacities within the local government units. The Municipal Management System incorporates the ten most-demanded services provided by local governments. Its implementation has resulted in an improved quality of service provision for the local population. Community Centers have thus played a critical role in speeding up the flow of information between government and citizens, and changing the way they interact" added the Prime Minister of Georgia.
He referred to two examples of Georgia successfully harnessing e-governance: e-request of public information and e-government Commission.
According to him, Government wants its citizens to have as free access to information as possible. To achieve this aim, we have launched an electronic communication service called Citizens' Portal. "This service allows citizens to interact with the Government electronically. It allows individuals to submit requests for public information to 60 public organizations, track the request sent and receive replies electronically" added the Prime Minister of Georgia.
E-government commission, in his opinion will support development and coordination of e-governance in the country; ensure information and cyber security and establish an integrated data exchange system to ensure access to information resources.
According to the Head of the Government of Georgia, innovation through e-governance and effective public service delivery brings the government, private sector and citizens together. As a result, we have more and better tools to improve the economy.
"This is exactly the key message we want to deliver today- achieving the SDGs is not easy, especially Goal 16, but it is certainly not impossible. What is needed in my opinion is a clear plan: a national blueprint, developed by transparent governmental agencies, which guarantees respect of the rule of law and human rights.
This is Georgia's chosen approach to building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels, and for Georgia we are pleased to say - it is working" concluded the Prime Minister.
Focus was also made on the Four Point Reform Agenda of the Government in the speech given by the Prime Minister at the UN Headquarters.
"Georgia's national blueprint was adopted in January under my Government's four-point reform agenda, which seeks to further modernize our economy. A key part of this is to foster open governance and modernize the delivery of public services, by cutting red tape, increasing efficiency, ensuring a higher level of transparency and encouraging public participation in legislative processes and decision making. This is where all the projects I have just presented come into play.
We are ready to share our experience with interested parties, as I strongly believe that there is much to be gained in bringing together the donor community and recipient countries. South-South cooperation could be one of the platforms that could be further explored to this end. Georgia can and already does help with expertise and human resources in South America and Africa. And Georgia itself has benefitted from the support and contributions of Estonia towards its own e-governance development" noted the Prime Minister.
Head of the Government expressed readiness for working constructively towards coordination of Goal 16 under Georgian chairmanship of the Open Government Partnership, which will start in 2017.
"The 2030 agenda rests on core OGP principles and its objectives are complementary to the OGP's. The Partnership is therefore one of the most flexible and innovative platforms to implement these Goals. Let me leave you in closing with Georgia's core message from today: achieving universal goals to create effective and accountable institutions requires unprecedented and coordinated efforts from the international community, but also national ownership. We are all learning by doing, but we should learn together and do together. This is why events like today are so important, and I thank you again for all being here" stated the Prime Minister of Georgia and thanked the audience.
H.E. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia also addressed the event participants. Delegates shared success stories with each other. Also, discussions were held on challenges towards the e-governance and easily accessible public service delivery, which is essential for the creation of effective and accountable institutions. The key-note event was attended by Ministers and government officials of over 30 countries.
Prime Minister's Press Office