eGovernment for All: New Project Launched to Advance the Digital Capacity of Local Governments

Ten local governments in Serbia will have the opportunity to enhance their digital capacities and bring e-services closer to citizens with expert and technical support, as part of the new project “eGovernment for All” (“eUprava za sve”). The project was launched by the Office for Information Technology and eGovernment (ITE), with the support of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, NALED, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The call for applications for municipalities and cities is open until July 18.

Although Serbia has achieved a high level of development in eGovernment, the project comes at the right time, as the local level sometimes lags behind in digital transformation, said Mihailo Jovanović, Director of the ITE Office.

“Digital transformation must be accessible and implemented evenly across all parts of the country. We want every citizen—regardless of whether they live in a large city or a small municipality—to have access to efficient, fast, and modern services,” said Jovanović.

As part of the project, a Digital Transformation Team will be established in Belgrade, based at Ložionica, and composed of experts and mentors who will provide support both on-site and remotely—via phone, email, and training. Their task will be to identify the needs of local governments, deliver training, develop promotional materials, and assist in the implementation of specific services such as eZUP, eInbox, ePayments, eDelivery, and others, explained Snežana Paunović, Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government.

“Within the project, a digital transformation team will be formed in Belgrade, based at Ložionica, composed of experts and mentors to provide support both on the ground and remotely—by phone, email, and through training. Their task will be to identify the needs of local governments, conduct training, develop promotional materials, and help introduce specific services such as eZUP, eInbox, ePayments, eDelivery, and others,” said Paunović.

Data from the Local eGovernment Index (LEI), conducted by NALED, shows that most municipalities and cities have only moderately developed digital services, and only a small number have reached a high level of digital maturity.

“Every day we see how much support local governments need to keep up with the pace of digitalization. We cannot speak of an efficient public administration if a citizen in one municipality can complete everything online, while another has to take a day off work to obtain a single document. eGovernment must be equally accessible to all, and our goal is to provide cities and municipalities with the knowledge, tools, and people to make that happen,” said Vladislav Cvetković, President of NALED’s Managing Board.

For UNDP, this initiative represents an important step toward more inclusive and sustainable digital services throughout the country.

“Together with our national partners, we will support local governments in improving e-services tailored to the needs of citizens and businesses in their communities, ensuring that everyone can benefit equally from the progress brought by digital technologies. This initiative builds on our longstanding cooperation with the ITE Office in implementing digital transformation, particularly in involving citizens in all stages of developing electronic public services,” said Yakup Beris, UNDP Resident Representative in Serbia.

More information about the public call can be found here. The public call “eGovernment for All” is published as part of the project “Serbia at Your Fingertips – Digital Transformation for Development, Phase 2,” implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).