Conference Digital Croatia 2030

On March 26, 2019, the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia held a conference on the topic of digitalization in Croatia, with an emphasis on the creation of a national strategy and the digitalization of public administration.

AmCham has given imperative support to efforts towards the advancement of digitalization in Croatia and this conference served as a platform for the exchange of experiences and latest developments in the realm of digitalization between representatives of various public administration bodies and the business community.

Minister Darko Horvat mentioned in his speech the Government's intensified efforts for the preparation of strategic documents in the domain of digitalization, with emphasis placed on digital transformation of the economy and on artificial intelligence application strategy, which would create prerequisites for better absorption of EU funds for the financial period 2021–2027. 

Minister Lovro Kuščević underlined that the Government has recognized the importance of digitalization and aims to make public administration a 24/7 service, accessible to the general public and entrepreneurs, through a number of ongoing and forecasted projects. The largest project entails the establishment of a Shared Services Center, whose value is HRK 362 million, of which 85% are EU grants.

The participants in the panel discussion titled “Digitalization Strategy” were Mario Antonić, State Secretary, the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Liam Benham, Vice President for Government & Regulatory Affairs, IBM Europe, Tauno Olju, Partner, EY, and Mladen Pejković, Senior Executive Director for Transformation, Information and Communication Technologies, Atlantic Group.

Croatia has the ability to rise to the position of a digital champion, but this requires a visionary approach and a coherent strategy from the Government. A central coordination body, such as a ministry of digitalization, would be a significant factor for success. Other important factors include fostering early adoption of innovations, considering internet access as a human right, openness and cooperation between public and private sectors – as underlined by Liam Benham.

The participants of the second panel discussion on the topic of “Digital Transformation of Public Administration” were Zrinka Bulić, Minister's Assistant, the Ministry of Public Administration, Roman Biller, Regional Director CEE, Oracle, and Tatjana Skoko, Director, Microsoft.

The countries of Central and Eastern Europe have recently recorded a significant inflow of investments for the research and development of information and communication technologies. At the same time, central public institutions in charge of digitalization matters have been granted invariable or diminishing budgets for their endeavors, as concluded by Roman Biller.

Faster implementation of digitalization requires a developed regulatory framework, accessible broadband network, more EU funds for high-yielding industries such as ICT, investments in education and development of digital skills, and further alleviation of tax burdens with a focus on alleviating the fiscal burden imposed on salaries, added Tatjana Skoko.

Today’s event was attended by more than 100 representatives of the business community and public administration bodies.

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