for Local Governments

20
ICT for Local Governments
Standards, principles and best practices
1.6 Common fallacies
There are some common misunderstandings among political and administrative leaders
of municipalities that reflect in the information society development of the region.
� The role of the ICT component is overrated. In fact, the technological component
is the easiest part of the development and implementation of the ICT systems,
� There is understanding that it is possible simply to transfer ICT systems from
one country or even from one municipality to another. This is in most cases
impossible because of the complexity of procedural and organizational matters,
� There are often arguments that ICT systems are very expensive and that, because
of a lack of budget, the ICT development is not possible. The systematic
approach in ICT budget planning is often even more important than the amount
of money. It helps save money and even with the use of limited resources to
guarantee the sustainability of development and implementation,
� Some fear that ICT companies are trying to sell expensive and not suitable
products. The authorities should invest in personnel able to translate the difficult
technology-related language to an understandable language for top-managers.
� There is understanding that top-managers have no role in this development
process: Everything is legally determined and the main problem is to find a
company that will make the programs according to the existing legislation. The
ICT development process is widely change management process where strong
leadership is most important. Therefore, some basic knowledge of ICT and organizational
support of the managers of the municipality is needed.
1.7 Current situation in South East Europe
The majority of municipalities in South East Europe work with digital data. Number of
evidences about inhabitants, economy subjects etc. are done electronically. Nevertheless,
the problem is that gathering information is not coordinated. As a result, many
institutions have separate evidence on the same data. It means that regional local governments
have significant information potential which is still not utilized in the most
optimal way [26].
There are significant efforts in usage of modern ICT in municipalities in SEE. In some
municipalities, big efforts have been made towards development and constitution of
information systems and tools in order to improve public service. For example, municipality
Indjija (probably technologically the most advanced municipality in Serbia) is
offering comprehensive e-government services accessible through its website, ranging