Development and validation of the Architectural e-Government Framework, this is envisaged in the first plan for the development of information resources in the administration

The analysis found that the systems developed so far and their functionalities may not be used as a common e-Government platform.

Development and validation of the Architectural e-Government Framework, development of shared information resources and extension of the possibilities for official exchange of data between the administrative authorities. These are the main priorities outlined in the Status Report and the Annual Plan for the development and updating of information resources in the administration and resources of the Single Electronic Communications Network (SECN) of the state administration and for the needs of the national security. The report is the first comprehensive document outlining the current situation but also the trends in the development of information resources in the state administration.

The report and the plan include information on the current status and planned information resources development and updating. This includes the available and planned hardware, software, network equipment, information systems in administrations, state of play and upgrade of registers, actions undertaken and planned with regard to electronic administrative services, etc. The document also outlines the short and medium term key challenges in the field of e-government.

Administrations plan to increase the cost for development of information resources, bringing them closer to BGN 100 million. The largest share is the projected hardware acquisition costs. Following are the projected costs for deployment of application systems, system software, and communications equipment delivery. At the same time, the least amount of funds administrations envisage for the development and implementation of electronic administrative services. Most of the planned costs are for 18 administrations. The central administrations plan to spend between BGN 20,000 and BGN 1 million for information resources, regional administrations – between BGN 10 and 20,000 and municipal administrations – between BGN 400 and BGN 5,000, according to the document.

As a key priority, the report and the plan outline the development of shared information resources of e-Government. These are the technical infrastructure, the Single Electronic Communications Network, the Information Centers and the State Hybrid Private Cloud, which are created and developed by the State e-Government Agency. The limited budget costs for e-Government imply a concentration of financial resources for further building and the subsequent effective use of shared information resources by all administrations. The use of shared resources will deliver significant economies of scale and will eliminate the need for multiple, one-typed public procurement for acquisition or upgrade of information resources.

As regards the e-Government development actions undertaken since 2007, the analysis found that the systems developed so far and their functionalities may not be used as a common e-Government platform. The reason is the lack of parts of functionalities and of technological means as well as of regulatory grounds. Therefore, the development and validation of the Architectural e-Government Framework (AeGF) is put as a mandatory priority for the development of a functioning e-Government model in Bulgaria. According to the document in this direction, it is necessary to update the strategic documents for development of e-Government in Bulgaria.

In 2018, efforts will be continued to expand the possibilities for official exchange of data between administrative authorities. In this context and in the context of the policy for limiting the administrative burden, the State e-Government Agency will continue to work on the identification of existing certification services to be transformed into internal electronic administrative services. Full construction of the State Hybrid Private Cloud infrastructure and provision of cloud services to a part of the administration is provided, as well as ensuring maintenance of the experimental cloud infrastructure.

As regards the network and information security, the Plan calls for the development and implementation of certified ISO/IEC 27001 information security management systems. HTTPS certificates issued by a trusted certification system should be installed on all administration websites.