The First Tangible Results of the e-Government Policy reported by SEGA for the first Year of its Operation

The e-government policy management, coordination, control and implementation are centralized and have been for the first time recognized as a national priority.

Real progress in the first year of its operation, from 1 December 2016 to 31 December 2017, was reported by the State e-Government Agency (SEGA) in introducing the ex officio principle of delivering administrative services, in reducing the administrative burden to citizens and businesses and in limiting the volume of paper administration in Bulgaria.

By establishing the State e-Government Agency, Bulgaria has set up for the first time a separate structure with powers in the e-government field, including the power to issue statutory provisions and guidelines applicable to all administrations. The e-government policy management, coordination, control and implementation are centralized and have been for the first time recognized as a national priority.

The first year of operation of SEGA saw the development and further improvement of all necessary technological, methodological and regulatory conditions for access to data contained in registers kept by the public administration through the Inter-Registry Exchange Environment (RegiX), maintained by the Agency. As of 31 December 2017 the Environment was used to ensure access of the administrative authorities to 62 registers, maintained by 22 primary data controllers. More than an average of 110,000 requests were recorded per month for obtaining data from the registers, needed for the provision of internal electronic administrative services in implementing the principle of ex officio data exchange.

SEGA’s contribution was of decisive importance for the tangible reduction of the administrative burden to citizens and businesses and for optimizing the processes within the administrations. The administrative bodies were obliged to cease requiring from the citizens and businesses to present 12 certificates in order to receive administrative services. The certificates shall be replaced by ex officio enquiries through the Inter-registry Exchange Environment (RegiX).

In 2017 the State e-Government Agency undertook the most-significant real step at national level for limiting the use of paper administration in Bulgaria. The actual introduction of fully electronic document-flow between the administrations has become a fact after in September 2017 the Agency approved and acknowledged a single technical protocol for the exchange of electronic documents as a standard for all administrative bodies. All electronic statements between the administrations shall be carried out only through electronic document-circulation systems, and the paper exchange between the administrative structures shall be definitively discontinued from 1 November 2018.

In 2017 the State e-Government Agency developed and put into operation the key horizontal components of e-governance. The first main component of e-government, which is efficiently operating and actually functioning as a new electronic administrative service for the administrations, for the citizens and businesses, is the Secure Electronic Delivery System. As of 22 November 2017 SEGA started providing a new electronic administrative service: ‘Electronic Registered Mail Service’. This system is an electronic equivalent of the registered mail with return receipt. Till 1 February 2018 all administrative bodies have to register profiles in the e-Delivery System. All administrations which do not have own document-flow systems, shall also use this key component of e-Governance.

The first actually performed control of the expedience of costs, incurred by the public administrations on purchasing information and communication resources, discontinued the practice of uncontrolled spending of public money. The control exercised by SEGA was the first step towards effectively linking the ICT costs with the costs on providing electronic administrative services. It was for the first time now that e-Government costs and costs on information and communication technologies were separated from the administrative and maintenance costs.

State e-Government Agency started developing a single and compulsory for all administrations Architecture of the Central Components of Electronic Government. The Architectural Framework of e-government shall unify all processes of development of the information systems and the information and communication infrastructure in the state. The Framework shall provide the main standards and directions of change in the work processes at the administrations, connected with e-government. The single Architecture of e-government shall change the model of financing the development and putting in place of information systems, it will guarantee sustainability and consistency of the e-government model in Bulgaria.

SEGA made significant efforts to raise the level of network and information security at the public administration. Through the National Computer Security Incidents Response Team (Cert.bg) the Agency has developed mechanisms and has given specific recommendations to the institutions for raising the level of their network and information security. In 2017 CERT.bg has recorded almost 2,000 alerts for violations inside and out from the Bulgarian internet space. Approximately 140,000 IP addresses were affected. Out of the alerts registered according to ENISA taxonomy, 1,491 were identified as incidents, with over 134,000 IP addresses affected. Audits and vulnerability assessments of 26 web-sites and public IP-address servers were conducted.

As of December 2017 SEGA has been developing and maintaining an optical-cable infrastructure with a length of over 7,500 km and active equipment for more than 700 network nodes mainly in cities which are regional centres, shows the Annual Report of the State e-Government Agency.

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