USAID's E-Governance Activity in BiH, Quarterly Report, April–June 2020

The project aims to increase transparency and reduce corruption in targeted government-led processes, focusing on digitalization as a tool for fighting corruption. The operating environment for these government-led processes in BiH is inefficient and insufficiently transparent, with government agency staff lacking the knowledge and training needed to harness digital tools to improve efficiency and overcome technical barriers to access relevant information on procurement processes. The E-Governance Activity is assisting BiH to harmonize its legislative and regulatory framework for e-governance with European Union (EU) directives and international best practices. This includes developing new software solutions for targeted government-led processes and improving horizontal and vertical interoperability among different levels of government in BiH. The project will also build the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to monitor and report on public procurement, enhancing accountability and transparency. The Activity will assist local authorities to adopt a country-wide e-signature service and support specific agencies to complete the Certifying Authority (CA) accreditation process. In the current COVID-19 environment, the need for e-signature and a more integrated and efficient government system is more urgent than ever to ensure the continued delivery of services to the people of BiH. The Activity will also automate processes that have an immediate, positive impact on BiH's citizens and businesses, including reducing corruption and improving the efficiency of government processes. The project will focus on three main areas: Government to Government (G2G), Government to Business (G2B), and Government to Citizens (G2C). In the G2G area, the project will develop a new Information Management System (IMS) for all inspection services in the Republika Srpska (RS) and Federation of BiH (FBiH). In the G2B area, the project will create a state-of-the-art enterprise system for e-construction permitting in selected municipalities in the RS and FBiH. In the G2C area, the project will create e-social integrated registers of social benefits and beneficiaries for the RS and FBiH. The E-Governance Activity will also assist local authorities to adopt relevant standards and the appropriate IT infrastructure recommendations for country-wide certification of documents through digital stamp and signature. Additionally, the project will automate processes that will have an immediate, positive impact on BiH's citizens and businesses by reducing corruption and improving the efficiency of administration in selected G2G, G2B, and G2C services. The project will also provide assistance to the Public Procurement Agency (PPA) for increased transparency, risk mitigation, and enhanced scrutiny in processes related to public procurements/tenders.