Review article
https://doi.org/10.31141/zrpfs.2022.59.146.793
Digitalization of the Croatian public administration with special reference to the social care system
Ana Đanić Čeko
orcid.org/0000-0003-1325-7692
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku
Matko Guštin
orcid.org/0000-0002-4577-0856
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku
Abstract
Digital public administration as a concept of public administration and part of the central service for citizens should lead to faster, more efficient, and more responsible access to services. In the Republic of Croatia, the digitization of public administration has been carried out for several years, i.e., since 2014, when the e-Citizens system began to operate, with which more than 100 services have been digitized to date. A key prerequisite for the digitization of public administration is an appropriate legislative framework at the national and European Union level. Although the General Administrative Procedure Act from 2010 contains many provisions that enable the establishment of the so-called electronic public administration, its first amendments from 2021 opened a further path toward further digitization of public administration. The authors pay special attention to the digitization of the social care system, given that it emphasizes the importance of protecting the most vulnerable social groups. To point out the real functionality of digitized public administration in addition to the normative analysis, the authors analyze two groups of statistical data. Thus, they present statistical data on the number of users of the e-Citizens system, as well as the number of users of the digitized social welfare system. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of the official websites of social welfare centers in the Republic of Croatia and the availability of digital accessibility statement, i.e., the accessibility of official websites. These indicators point to further challenges of digitization of public administration and the importance of developing an inclusive approach.
Keywords
public administration; digitization; electronic services; e-Citizens; social welfare system
Hrčak ID:
287632
URI
Publication date:
19.12.2022.
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