Information Society Development in Bulgaria

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1 3d Interbalkan IT Forum The e-government in the South Eastern Europe September 25-27, 2002, Bucharest Information Society Development in Bulgaria Marieta Popova, Executive Director, Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies (BAIT)

Society Development in Bulgaria Marieta Popova, Executive

2 Plan of the presentation Introduction Background Information Physical Infrastructure, Access and Telecommunications Business Environment, Policy and Regulation Institutional Environment and Human Resources 2

Telecommunications Business Environment, Policy and

3 Plan of the presentation (cont.) Overview of Services, Application, Content and Best Practices E-business E-government E-health E-learning E-content 3

4 Plan of the presentation (cont.) Donor Assistance in ICT in Bulgaria Impact Assessment of Donor Programmes Problems and Recommendations Planned activities Conclusion 4

5 Introduction Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies a key player in ICT in Bulgaria The road to ISIS Aims and scope of this presentation 5

6 BAIT Established in member companies Member of WITSA Partner of EICTA Partner in several EU funded projects: PHARE BSP and ISIS Organizer of the major IT exhibitions in Bulgaria - BAIT Internet & Telecomex Expo and BAIT Expo 6

projects: PHARE BSP and ISIS Organizer of the major IT

7 Background Country Information Macroeconomic stability Bulgaria integral part of the global economic and political environment Excellent education and human potential Traditions in Bulgarian IT sector IT is a priority area for the government Active stakeholders in ICT development 7

Excellent education and human potential Traditions in Bulgarian IT

8 Bulgaria in the IT context Information Society Index of 55 countries, Source: IDC Information and Communication Index of 75 countries, Source: WEF Technological Achievement Index of 72 countries, Source: UNDP Global IT IQ ranking of 100 countries, Source: Brainbench E-readiness ranking of 60 countries, Score: 3.38 out of 10, Source: Economist Intelligence Unit and Pyramid Research Network Readiness Index of 75 countries, Score: 3.38 out of 10, Source: Center for International Development, Harvard University 8

Source: Brainbench E-readiness ranking 2001 48 of 60 countries, Score: 3.

9 Physical Infrastructure, Access and Telecommunications 37 % overall telephone penetration (main phone lines) 22 % digitization of phone lines 83% of households have phone lines installed ISDN penetration still low but fast growing 25 % mobile phone penetration Mobile Internet access still marginal 48% cable TV access in households 3.3 % Internet access via cable (end of 2001) 9

installed ISDN penetration still low but fast growing 25 % mobile phone penetration Mobile

10 Access to Computers 15.00% 14.50% 14.00% 13.50% 13.00% 12.50% 12.00% 11.50% 11.00% 10.50% 10.00% February, % April, % 12% September, % June, % October, 2001 Source: Vitosha Research 10

00% February, 1998 11.10% April, 2000 11.

11 Internet Penetration June, February, September, 1998 September, 1999 April, 2000 September 2000 June, 2001 October, 2001 January, 2002 Source: Vitosha Research 11

20 September, 1998 September, 1999 April, 2000 September

12 Mobile Penetration 25,00% 20,00% 15,00% 10,00% 5,00% 0,00% 0,20% 0,30% 0,80% 1,50% 4,20% 8,20% 14,30% February, % Source: ISPO, ITU, Vitosha Research, mobile operators 12

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 February, 2002 19.

13 Business Environment, Policy and Regulation High competition in IT market The government is the major consumer of ICT products (appr. 60 %) Favourable regulatory framework for doing electronic business Still high administrative costs Active public-private partnership against corruption 13

60 %) Favourable regulatory framework for doing electronic business

14 Institutional Environment and Human Resources Good traditions in IT and technical education in Bulgaria 46 Universities, 29 of them with IT specializations educating more than 6,000 students in computer sciences and more than 5,000 in engineering More than 10,000 IT professionals working in small IT companies Property rights and contractual enforcement still low Still high percentage of gray economy 14

computer sciences and more than 5,000 in engineering More than 10,000 IT professionals working in

15 Overview of Services, Application, Content and Best Practices Three systems for electronic payment E- PAY, BGPAY and NETCARD More than 2,000 domains in.bg TLD and around 2,500 in other TLDs News and MP3 sites are most often visited 15

BGPAY and NETCARD More than 2,000 domains in.

16 E-business B2C: Internet is still predominately used for ordering and payment is on delivery B2B is still insignificant as trend Yet, practically all outsourcing companies have B2B transactions Goods and services traded over Internet 16

insignificant as trend Yet, practically all outsourcing

17 E-government Memorandum of Understanding between BAIT and the Council of Ministers Coordination Center for Information, Communication and Management Technologies within the Council of Ministers supported by UNDP E-Government strategy to be adopted by the end of 2002 Major e-government services currently available 17

Technologies within the Council of Ministers supported by UNDP E-Government

18 E-health Health Care Reform still at the beginning Bulgarian Drug Agency offers online tracking services for registrations of imported drugs Active support from the World Bank for computerization of GPs 18

services for registrations of imported drugs Active

19 E-learning E-learning initiatives at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridsky and Technical University Sofia 5 Microsoft and 38 Cisco Academies Yet low computerization in high schools is a hard burden for e-learning development 19

Microsoft and 38 Cisco Academies Yet low computerization

20 E-content The domination of English in the World Wide Web poses a serious obstacle to the integration of various user groups Major reasons for using the Internet: retrieving professional information, or conducting personal research personal communication 20

Major reasons for using the Internet: retrieving professional

21 E- CONTENT Portals/Search engines Several times a week At least once a day At least once a week At least once a month Less often Never DK/ NA Online news Online newspapers and magazines Government institutions NGOs Business sites Cultural sites Universities and schools Internet providers, computer companies Entertainment sites Source: Vitosha Research 21

22 Donor Assistance in ICT in Bulgaria 39 active projects 8 active donors in the IT field 6 implementing agencies Over 10 million USD contributed 9 types of project activities covered Coordination mechanism under transition to the Government 22

23 Donor Assistance in ICT in Bulgaria by Project Budgets in Million USD Policy and Legislation Internet Connectivity IT Research Telecommunications Equipment Provision Institution Building Pilot experiment Training/Teaching Information Dissemination Source: UNDP 23

24 Donor Assistance in ICT in Bulgaria by Number of Projects Policy and Legislation Internet Connectivity IT Research Telecommunications Equipment Provision Institution Building Pilot experiment Training/Teaching Information Dissemination Source: UNDP 24

25 Impact Assessment of Donor Programmes Bulgarian participation in FP5 IST Programme is quite strong and with significant impact on science and academic life, transfer of know-how and increasing industrial spillovers, spin-offs and competition, yet with low policy and legislative impacts. On the contrary other international programmes (World Bank, United Nations Development Program and others) have sound impact on policy and private sector development as well as on think-tanks involvement in policy research and IT advocacy. Other EU (not IST) programmes had a significant impact on public administration and education system preparation for the Information Society mostly measured by acquisition of new equipment, software and development of integrated systems. A lot of funds were channeled to different training programmes, yet the impact is not that high as expected. 25

26 Recommendations Adopt policies and legislation favourable for Information Society Improve Internet infrastructure and services Focus on e-learning and e-government Create conditions for rapid growth of computerization of homes and schools Increase donor assistance impact by better coordination mechanisms and tools 26

27 Recommendations (cont.) Increase regional cooperation in ICT area Study ICT best-practices in neighboring courtiers to allow easy transfer and learning Develop and finance a number of quick win solutions with high societal or economic impact, creating demand from citizens and organizations to governments and donors for more ICT funding and spending. 27

28 Planned Activities November 29-30, 2002 International Conference The European Experience in e-government Development Sofia IT for Development an Year Later by the end of

29 Conclusions The work done builds awareness on IST start-of-art in Bulgaria; The project will help the IST community to set up new projects in the area and find new partners in the region; We are looking forward to extend sustainable cooperation with other IST development stakeholders in the future 29

30 For further information please contact us: BAIT, Sofia 1504, 13, Shipka Str., Entr.B Telephone: Fax: bait@spnet.net Internet: 30

31 Thank you!

Tentative Action Plan

Republic of Serbia Ministry of Science and Environmental Protection Serbia and Montenegro Tentative Action Plan Draft 1 Belgrade, September 2005 Tentative Action Plan - Draft 1 Section 1 and 2 Information