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How to Build Open Information SocietiesA Collection of Best Practices and Know-How

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

40 How to Build Open Information Societies. A Collection of Best Practices and Know-How

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Bosnia and Herzegovina – Map & ICTD Country Profile

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Bosnia and Herzegovina http://www.undp.ba/

Population (millions): 3.7Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and over): 85.9GNI per capita (WB Atlas method, 2002, $): 1,270.0Telephone mainlines (per 1,000 people): 390Mobile phones (per 1,000 people): 330Personal Computers (per 1,000 people): 70Internet users (thousands): 30Human Development index rank (out of 173 countries, 2003): 66National ICT Strategy (Y/N): In preparationE-assessments (0,1,2...N): 2 completed

UNDP staff in ICTD

Tarik Zaimovic - Portfolio Manager tarik.zaimovic@undp.org

UNDP Bosnia and Herzegovina—ICTD Country Profile

ICTD Partners• International: CISCO Systems, IBM, Hewlett Packard, eSEE Secretariat, Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD)• National: Council of Ministers

Programme Activities• National Information and Communication Technologies Forum • National eReadiness Assessment Report· • Cisco Network Academy Programme • Support to the Secretariat of the Electronics SEE (eSEE) Initiative of the Stability Pact • Development of National Information Society Strategy, in cooperation with the BiH Council of Ministers (State Government).• International ICT Conference, Sarajevo May 24-26 2003, (with IBM and Hewlett Packard) • Brčko School Portal: educational hub designed to promote e-learning opportunities and access to information and idea • E-readiness assessment and public access database for all citizens (provides all important information in the district from

a Who's Who in Government, to business opportunities, to cultural life. Access Data points provided in several public places)• e-Legislation Reform Project• Funding of UNDP-supported activities: US$ 600,000 for National ICT for Development Strategy Project (stand-alone project)

Pipeline Programmes• Pilot e-Government Project at the Council of Ministers• Comprehensive e-Government project to support a shift in the role of ICTs for the country’s development.• Academic and Research Network of BIH• EduNet.BA – integrated network for high-schools and elementary schools

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Abstract

Current ICT policy directions and strategies for Bosnia andHerzegovina (BiH), are the visible results of the ICT Forumand the eReadiness Assessment Report. The ultimate pro-gramme objective is the full take-over of responsibilities for embracing the information society by the local authori-ties. Aimed at fostering discussion concerning ICT and theirrole in the reconstruction and development processes,UNDP BiH initiated the ICT Forum under the auspices of the BiH Council of Ministers. In the first phase, more than90 local experts were engaged in preparing concept stud-ies, which included strategic proposals and were based on an assessment of the present situation. The studies wereintended to inform and provide support for defining infor-mation society policies. The second (and current) phasebuilds on these studies and moves on to consolidate a strategic approach for ICT development, involving firstand foremost developing a national Information Societystrategy. The eReadiness Assessment Report, an integralpart of the ICT Forum, designed to measure the ability or readiness to integrate ICTs and e-commerce into the BiHeconomy and society, is key to developing an ICT strategy.The findings of the Report provide evidence that the ICTForum has been a unique and effective process, and for the future, inform the emerging strategic approach for national information society development.

UNDP in Bosnia

The UNDP ICT for development (ICTD) strategy focuses on relevant and sustainable tools for access, the mobilisa-tion of capital means for such deployment, the human andinstitutional capacity for use, a relevant content and appli-cations development, and the adoption of an enabling pol-icy environment. In fact, the UNDP office in Bosnia andHerzegovina (BiH) has been involved for a number of yearsin ICTD activities, consisting mostly of connectivity projectsand support to public access facilities.

Recognising the need for a strategic involvement in the ICTDpolicy debate, the UNDP BiH office undertook organisationof a series of roundtables bringing together a large numberof stakeholders interested in ICTD, including regulators, tele-com operators, Internet service providers, the media andother content providers, the ICT industry, educational insti-tutions, user and other civil society organisations, and the ICT for development community. Named the ICT Forum,the process has allowed parties to discuss issues and prob-lems relevant to their respective activities, reach consensuson possible solutions for a number of such problems, andidentify areas where policy decisions needed to be taken in order to enable a proper environment for the use of ICTsin a broad range of development interventions.

Through this approach, UNDP BiH is better able to focusICTD programme activities on strategic policy interventions

that have a maximum of downstream impact, and to identi-fy areas where it can engage in a systematic mainstreamingof ICTD tools within its other programme areas. UNDP BiHfully embraces the global priorities set by the organisationin its final report of the Digital Opportunity Initiative (DOI),Creating a Development Dynamic (July 2001). The DOIreport identifies ICTs as a catalyst for development, focusingproject initiatives on mainstreaming within the five otherpractice areas of UNDP (democratic governance, povertyreduction, crisis prevention and recovery, energy and envi-ronment, and HIV/AIDS) and underlines the organisation’srole in upstream policy support.

Reconstruction and Stabilisation

Using ICT in a strategic manner to support post-conflictdevelopment and recovery in a country recently devastatedby war is of particular issue for BiH. In this regard, UNDP’sapproach has relied on a programme that focuses on nation-al priorities while also involving a strong regional dimensionand close partnerships with both the Stability Pact andUnited Nations Volunteers (UNV). ICT has the potential to play a crucial catalytic role in the country’s developmenton important fronts such as the economy, governancereform and ultimately, European accession.

Post-war BiH faces many reconstruction and develop-ment challenges:• Poverty is widespread with some 20 percent of people

living at the poverty level with widening gaps betweenregions;

• The current GDP at € 1,000 is only half of its 1991 level;• Privatisation and economic transition require strong insti-

tutional underpinnings, such as clear policies for develop-ment and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI),at government level;

• The legal system requires strengthening – both in terms of post-war reconstruction, and for migrating existinglegal structures to arbitrate e-commerce and informationsociety business practices;

• Opportunities for corruption still exist. These can beaddressed through better information provision andexchange regarding all aspects of transactions for both the public and private sectors;

• Basic telecommunications infrastructure must be recon-structed with a view to supporting the information high-way;

• The revival of multiculturalism and the consolidation of a streamlined, effective multi-ethnic state from a highlycumbersome one that consumes over half of the country’sGDP;

• War damage amounting to USD 27 – 29 billion.It is only eight years since the devastation of war and already

much has dramatically improved. The currency is stable, fullmovement of goods and people is a reality throughout BiHterritory, the humanitarian disaster of the 1990s is over, eco-

42 How to Build Open Information Societies. A Collection of Best Practices and Know-How

Using ICT to Spur Post-conflict Recovery and Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Moises Venancio, Tarik Zaimovic, Haris Hadzialiac and Kemal Bakarsic 1

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nomic growth is amongst the highest in the region (esti-mated at around five percent for 2003), unemployment is on a par with many of the surrounding countries, and overone million of the displaced and refugees have returned.Even FDI has grown to USD 200,000 million in 2002 – in spiteof the absence of a concerted national strategy.

While peace is still monitored by the international com-munity, security and stability prevail throughout the territo-ry. The UNDP Early Warning System (Second Quarter 2003),notes a decrease in the perception that the country willreturn to war should international forces pull-out. However,BiH’s current high level of international assistance willdecline significantly after 2003, engendering further chal-lenges.

ICT Development in BiH

The initial post-war focus was on humanitarian issues,reconstruction and Dayton Accord-related priorities. ICTwas not seen as a priority – either for reconstruction activi-ties or as a standalone initiative. However, factors such as increasing brain-drain, particularly with the young, andthe growing digital divide both within regions of BiH and in comparison with regional and global markets served to highlight the potential of ICT – and the hazards of notdeveloping that sector. Further, given the lost years duringthe 1990s, a renewed emphasis on ICT became even morean imperative, particularly for aspirations of eventualEuropean accession.

UNDP recognised the potential for ICT to spur post-con-flict recovery and development across a number of sectors with the adoption of a strategic and phased approach,enabling e-business potential, governance reform andexpansion of basic social service sectors such as health andeducation.

As such, in 2001, ICT became mainstreamed within the coreUNDP–BiH programme designed to support recovery andthe consolidation of peace, but also national capacities in government and civil society. UNDP also worked in con-cert with the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) to highlight the importance of ICT and a strategic approachfor the sector in BiH.

Phase 1: A National Forum

After a number of small activities promoting ICT use, UNDPmarked the beginning of its new strategic approach in BiHwith the establishment of an ICT Forum. Importantly,the Forum was made up of only local experts. The aim wasto unleash a process with significant amounts of investmentdedicated to raising public awareness and discussionsaimed at producing a document that would form the basisof a shift towards the information society in Bosnia andHerzegovina.

The lack of an enabling ICTD policy environment and the absence of neutral leadership posed serious obstaclesto an appropriate development of ICTs and their potentialimplications for activities. Further, there was a pressing needfor consultation between all ICT stakeholders in the country,in view of facilitating a constructive dialogue among public,private and civil society interests.By documenting the debatesand building the capacity of public institutions, the consul-tation would facilitate the formulation of a policy environ-

ment that would, in turn, enable initiatives in all necessaryfields, namely infrastructures, access, public and privateservices, content development, and human and institution-al capacity.

The Forum and its more than 90 experts undertook a thor-ough and comprehensive assessment of how ICT could be used to galvanise development across all major areas of national post-war recovery and to lay the foundations of an information society. Experts were engaged in prepar-ing concept studies, which included strategic proposals andwere based on assessment of the present situation.The studies were meant as a support to the BiH Council of Ministers in order to define an information society strategy.

The ICT Forum, its experts and public awareness campaignsfocused on the following domains:• Millennium Development Goals and the Information

Society – studies on the economy, education, environmen-tal protection and healthcare concentrated on the devel-opmental priorities described within the UNDP initiative,the Millennium Development Goals.

• Infrastructure of the Information Society – regardinglegal infrastructure, technical and social infrastructure andadministration infrastructure that must change signifi-cantly to respond to the demand of the new society.

• Guidelines and Policies for an Information Society– a compilation of studies on informatisation, the Internetand development of the telecommunications sector,which indicate directions for BiH’s information societystrategy.

• eReadiness Assessment of Bosnia and Herzegovina’sSociety – an integral part of the ICT Forum, this workmeasures the country’s preparedness for integrating ICTand e-commerce into the economy and society.The assessment examined BiH’s telecom sector; how ICT is used in business, education and government; gave pos-sible scenarios of how ICT could be used in environmental,infrastructure and public health sectors; and included a survey of household Internet use.

• ICT Forum Recommendations and Concluding Remarks– the final set of considerations and recommendations,the Forum methodology and an overview of how an infor-mation society is structured. It also contains an overview of EU practices of relevance for the team working on Bosniaand Herzegovina.

ICT Forum Participation and Results

The ICT Forum involved 92 experts, who created five vol-umes of documents totalling 610 pages in English, Bosnian,Croatian and Serbian (in both Latin and Cyrillic). The 16expert discussions averaged about 30 participants per ses-sion, and the 11 public presentations had an average of 70participants. Two local pre-conferences were held in Tuzlaand Banja Luka, and the final two-day conference event in Sarajevo in May 2003 involved more than 600 partici-pants.Thus more than 1,000 people were involved in the ICTForum process.

The results of the Forum were presented at an internation-al conference organised in Sarajevo in May of 2003 whichwas opened by the Prime Minister of BiH, Mr Adnan Terzic.The conference brought together national and internation-al experts as well as representatives of the public and pri-

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vate sectors to review the major conclusions of the Forum.The conference itself involved close partnerships with pri-vate sector companies namely, Oracle, HP, and local compa-nies BH telecom, Whitefield Computers and Prism Research.During the conference, Prime Minister Terzic signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UNDP on developing a National Information Society Policy andrelated ICT Strategies. In essence, the international confer-ence and the resulting MoU were much more than the sumof their parts and heralded a clear shift towards ICT devel-opment approaches in BiH.

Phase 2: On the Threshold of the 21st Century

Subsequent to the initial eighteen months of the Forumand following the signing of the MoU between UNDP and the government, a new phase was opened in Bosnia’s roadto an information society. During this second phase the con-cept studies have been consolidated and built upon withthe goal of devising a strategic approach for ICT development,and most importantly, developing a national informationsociety strategy. During the first phase, the eReadinessAssessment Report was central to the ICT Forum, measuringthe ability or readiness to integrate ICTs and e-commerceinto the BiH economy and society. For the second phase,the Report is important in two respects. First, to providefeedback on progress to date. In this regard, the findings of the Report provide evidence that the ICT Forum has beena unique and effective process. And second, to inform fur-ther strategies for ICT development.

A major landmark in UNDP’s support for ICT and develop-ment in BiH also took place in 2003 with the signing of a strate-gic partnership with the Norwegian Agency for Develop-ment (NORAD) which is currently the linchpin of this next

strategic phase for ICT in Bosnia. Supported by the UNDP/NORAD ICT programme, the government of BiH providesleadership around a number of key priorities:

• Creating and implementing the National InformationSociety Policy (NISP) and Strategy Paper – officiallylaunched on 18 November 2003The BiH ICT strategy will outline the policy framework

within which the overall and sector recommendations willbe implemented, including an action plan with associatedbenchmarks and responsibilities. The NISP should foreseeinformation society development, in terms of both generaland specific sector strategies. It should also create a realisticaction plan bringing all government bodies together to introduce and spread information society projects.

• Establishing a cabinet-level body for such an informa-tion society, as stipulated in the e-Agenda of the eSEEInitiative and the Stability PactThe Agency for Information Society (AIS) is expected to be

the most visible symbol of the BiH government’s newapproach to the development process, and an expression of the political will to provide a government-led stimulus to change, speeding up transformations and extendingbenefits to the largest number of citizens. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) for BiH is a leading partnerin this initiative.

• e-Legislation ProjectThis project (also supported by NORAD) addresses the lack

of the necessary legal environment conducive to realisingthe full potential of information and communication tech-nology for social and economic development in BiH.The objectives are to achieve a legislative environment that

44 How to Build Open Information Societies. A Collection of Best Practices and Know-How

A scene from the ICT forum

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supports the development of ICT for business, governmentand citizens; and existing legislation and related profession-al services that will be easily accessible to government,business and individual clients. There is also a need to har-monise the existing procedures related to the informationsociety or ICT. Expected start date is mid-December, 2003.

• e-Government ProjectThis will address public management modernisation and

reform, which is a top priority for BiH in order to continue onthe road toward the European Union. Its objectives are to encourage public servants to do their jobs well and to promote transparency, democracy and trust in govern-ment institutions in a complicated structure of responsibili-ties (municipalities, canton and entity governments, and the Council of Ministers). Expected to start in mid-2004.

• Environmental Data Registry and Assessment (EDRA)ProjectThis project will establish an effective and interactive system

of environmental information to increase awareness of the con-cept of sustainable development in BiH. The project isalready underway and expected to terminate in May 2004.

• ICT and Youth: The Cisco AcademyIn order reverse the youth brain-drain from BiH and

to prepare tomorrow’s leaders and business persons for theirEuropean future, UNDP teamed-up with Cisco and created a number of advanced classrooms throughout the country.This partnership has opened three classrooms in majorcities of BiH and will expand to another four sites in 2004.The partnership also now involves an active role for ITU in training telecom sector professionals, academics and stu-dents in relevant fields.

Regional Dimensions of Information SocietyDevelopment

The European Union has fully demonstrated recognition of ICTs and the Internet as fundamental elements of an infor-mation society. Thus, the European Commission (EC) hasmade commitments to increase Internet use in order to:• give all citizens, homes, schools, economic subjects and

administrations the opportunity to be online by providinghigh-speed Internet access, which is inexpensive andmore secure;

• create an entrepreneurial and digitally literate Europe by using the Internet; and to

• build an information society for all.

eSEEurope Initiative and eAgenda: UNDP and StabilityPact Partnership

Given the importance of ICT for Europe and therefore for countries seeking membership within the EU, a specialICT-related program based on the eEurope Initiative wascreated by the Stability Pact for potential future members,namely those in South Eastern Europe.

The eSEEurope Initiative originated in Istanbul in October2000 and was established in London in November 2000.The initiative became officially operative the following year,presided over by Sweden, with Croatia and Macedonia sharing the co-president positions. The chairmanshippassed to passed to Serbia and Montenegro in March 2002.At the same time the Secretariat of this initiative was estab-lished in Sarajevo under the auspices of UNDP BiH in part-nership with the Stability Pact. UNDP BiH has continued to host and fund this regional support structure to date.

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Signing a Memorandum of Understanding on developing a National Information Society Policy

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The secretariat supports the Chair and e-envoys from the eightStability Pact countries, and serves as a knowledge reposi-tory and dissemination hub for ICT across the memberstates providing a linkage to EU processes and initiatives for the development of an information society.

The Secretariat, along with the Serbia and Montenegrochairmanship, has coordinated two major activities: 2

• The Letter of Intent for building an information society,signed in Ljubljana on June 4, 2002, by representatives of nine countries that are also Stability Pact members; and

• The eSEE Agenda for information society development,which was a result of months of work by high-rankingcountry representatives, the eSEE Secretariat, Stability Pactexperts and others.The final form of the eSEE Agenda wascreated during two sessions in Sarajevo and Budva in 2002,and was adopted in Belgrade on October 29, 2002.

The eSEE initiative now faces two major challenges:• adopting regional procedures for creating National

Information Society Policies, which will be the startingpoints for all legislative and regulatory issues; and

• preparing duty descriptions and governing bodies’ struc-ture, responsible for the implementation of national poli-cy and strategy.

UNDP, UNV and the Stability PactIn order to support the knowledge management function

of the eSEE Secretariat, UNDP and UNV BiH have also formeda joint and innovative regional partnership involving YouthCivil Society Groups in all Stability Pact countries. The aim of this project is to produce a regional ICT sector statusreport. This endeavour will provide information basic to benchmarking and monitoring Stability Pact memberstates’ progress in achieving information society goals. Thisimportant report with clear implications for the region willbe ready in mid-2004, and will engender the publication of the first annual report of the status of ICT usage in the region as well as the status of the ICT industry.

Conclusions

The ongoing ICT focus and policy development derivebenefits which feed back into and further the process for BiH, including the following:• attention has been and continues to be drawn to the sig-

nificance of an integrated approach to information socie-ty development;

• awareness of the importance of ICT in modern society hasbeen raised;

• comprehensive concept studies designed by ICT Forumexperts form the basis for informed sectors policies (i.e. for e-commerce, telecommunications, labour marketdevelopment, education and training policies, e-governance,the National Environmental Action Plan; and the overalllegal framework for ICT policies). The policies themselvesare the basic documents for the National InformationSociety Strategy;

• a full overview of the ICT situation in BiH, the eReadinessAssessment Report, provides empirical evidence for in-formed ICT strategies and decision-making.

46 How to Build Open Information Societies. A Collection of Best Practices and Know-How

1 Moises Venancio, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative; Tarik Zaimovic, UNDP Programme Officer/ICTD Portfolio Manager; Haris Hadzialiac, ICTD expert,Head of eSEE Secretariat; Kemal Bakarsic, Ph.D., Professor.2 The eSEE Initiative has recently entered a new phase of work and all documents mentioned here as being developed were adopted by all eSEE Initiative members at the June 2003 conference Bled, Slovenia. The initiative is also getting a boost from certain EU initiatives that are not necessarily connected to Stability Pact activities.