The Data Centre of Towns and Villages (DCOM) is an example of functional eGovernment in Slovakia. It means Slovak citizens now have electronic services available via a progressive cloud solution. The size, technical complexity, financial model, cost effectiveness and success of the project make it unique not just in Slovakia.
“This project is unique on a European scale. You will not find a project of similar scope that incorporates such a large number of local government bodies as the one in Slovakia anywhere else in Europe at present. I am confident that this project could stand as an inspiration for the whole of Europe and I hope that Slovakia adequately appreciates it,” praised Pavel Bojňanský, General Director of the Informatisation of Society Section of the Ministry of Finance SR.
Part of the project comprised the creation of a suite of software solutions that are provided to municipalities as “software as a service” (SaaS). This primarily covers a range of 138 original tasks that local governments deal with. In addition, DCOM deals with the operation also of all other information systems. The project included the supply of necessary IT equipment for local government offices and its subsequent maintenance and user management.
This means municipalities have a full range of services at their disposal, together with new technical equipment and professional IT support. Thanks to this, they are free to deal with their local government agendas and provide services to citizens and businesses electronically. The complex nature of the solution covers the needs of municipalities, unburdening them from IT issues. Legislative compliance is ensured and the connection to various state registers reduces the administrative burden and risk of error.
A total of 1 511 towns and villages from all over Slovakia have joined the project, accounting for 1.4 million inhabitants. These citizens now have the option to communicate with local government offices electronically, meaning they can arrange their affairs anywhere, any time. “Opening hours” will be 24/7. All a person or company needs is an internet connection and they can arrange everything from the comfort of their own home or office, which is far more convenient and produces significant time and costs savings.
The digitization of processes means they are accelerated and simplified. This is made possible also by the integration of DCOM to 9 registers and public administration information systems: Cadastral Authority, Financial Administration, Social Insurance Company, Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, Register of natural persons, Register of addresses, the Vehicles Registry and the Register of legal entities. These links make it possible for the system to acquire the necessary data without senseless bureaucracy for citizens.
The implementation phase of the project started in November 2013 and took roughly 2 years. During that time, a data centre was established, communication, information and eGov services prepared, connections established with registers, equipment was distributed and installed to towns and villages, local data was migrated to cloud and operation launched with full support.
“I am very glad that despite the shortened deadline for completion and some complications with integrations to external entities, we were still able together with our consortium partners to provide our customer DEUS with all the contracted services. This now creates all the requisites for citizens to be able to arrange their affairs with local authorities electronically, and also for us to be able to help individual municipalities in the transition to automated processing of these submissions. It pleases us that this project earned a nomination among the best European projects in the international competition EuroCloud Europe Awards 2015, for its innovation and progressiveness,” noted Marian Marek, Chief Executive Officer of PosAm
More: DCOM