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Slovenian e-Government
rakerman writes "In its October 20th issue the Economist reports from Ljubljana that 'Slovenia may be Europe's most Internetted government', including 'holding most of its cabinet meetings online'. There is some information at the Slovenian e-government site, in particular check out their detailed strategy for e-commerce in public administration." I''ve read the article; very well done.
Does anyone have a link to the article? It's hard to find anything on the slovinian site.
Maybe some government officals will come to understand us Nerds now...
Brock
-- http://www.safeproxy.org - Free Anonymous Web Surfing
...was the one to the Slovenian association of tourist farms. Being a Nashvillian, I've often wondered where those brightly-colored perennial oddities are grown. Now I know!
hey, we have the first e-goverment! wow, not even in the EU and leading the way already.. hehe, now we only need to qualify for the soccer WCup :o)
I think this is a case of taking technology too far. You know real face-to-face human interaction is really under-rated these days!!
slovenia is in the middle of europe (below austria and next to italy) and you can only blame yourself to not know geography further than your garden
i guess that would make sense
It's timing out for me at the moment, so is this an act of war?
:)
"Not my manner of thinking but the manner of thinking of others has been the source of my unhappiness." - M
Is that Slovenian or Serbo-Croatian?
For those of you with Economist subscriptions, you can view the article online (for free) here to avoid having to search through your printed issue.
For those without Economist subscriptions, you can either buy access for $2.95 to this article, pay $4.95 for a week of access to the online archives, or buy a subscription...FWIW it's the only magazine I still subscribe to in printed form, as it's the only one still worth my money (Rolling Stone and Newsweek having long since become virtually worthless).
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Solvenia? (Score:0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 12, @04:57AM (#2552888) WHere the hell is slovenia and why should we care?
On the map, I cannot find the World Trade Center buildings in New York, but I can find Slovenia. So why should I care about things that does`nt exist in reality?! Sorry, but America is not always the first in every E-shit. Perhaps E-war would be the net big thing for America, but not for Europe. In Europe people DO use their brain in the right way and in Europe people DO care for their own business, so in the Europe, there are NO terrorist attacks. Here`s a little MAP that you`ve been probably using until now. Maybe you should get your self a new map and maybe then you will find Slovenia there.
Slovenia Introduction Top of Page
.si
Background: In 1918 the Slovenes joined the Serbs and Croats in forming a new nation, renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. After World War II, Slovenia became a republic of the renewed Yugoslavia, which though communist, distanced itself from Moscow's rule. Dissatisfied with the exercise of power of the majority Serbs, the Slovenes succeeded in establishing their independence in 1991. Historical ties to Western Europe, a strong economy, and a stable democracy make Slovenia a leading candidate for future membership in the EU and NATO.
Slovenia Geography Top of Page
Location: Southeastern Europe, eastern Alps bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Austria and Croatia
Geographic coordinates: 46 00 N, 15 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 20,253 sq km
land: 20,253 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than New Jersey
Land boundaries: total: 1,165 km
border countries: Austria 330 km, Croatia 501 km, Italy 232 km, Hungary 102 km
Coastline: 46.6 km
Maritime claims: NA
Climate: Mediterranean climate on the coast, continental climate with mild to hot summers and cold winters in the plateaus and valleys to the east
Terrain: a short coastal strip on the Adriatic, an alpine mountain region adjacent to Italy and Austria, mixed mountain and valleys with numerous rivers to the east
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest point: Triglav 2,864 m
Natural resources: lignite coal, lead, zinc, mercury, uranium, silver, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 3%
permanent pastures: 24%
forests and woodland: 54%
other: 7% (1996 est.)
Irrigated land: 20 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: flooding and earthquakes
Environment - current issues: Sava River polluted with domestic and industrial waste; pollution of coastal waters with heavy metals and toxic chemicals; forest damage near Koper from air pollution (originating at metallurgical and chemical plants) and resulting acid rain
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Slovenia People Top of Page
Population: 1,930,132 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 16.09% (male 159,428; female 151,134)
15-64 years: 69.61% (male 681,333; female 662,170)
65 years and over: 14.3% (male 101,354; female 174,713) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.14% (2001 est.)
Birth rate: 9.32 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate: 9.98 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate: 2.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.58 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 4.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 75.08 years
male: 71.2 years
female: 79.17 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.28 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.02% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 200 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Slovene(s)
adjective: Slovenian
Ethnic groups: Slovene 88%, Croat 3%, Serb 2%, Bosniak 1%, Yugoslav 0.6%, Hungarian 0.4%, other 5% (1991)
Religions: Roman Catholic 68.8%, Uniate Catholic 2%, Lutheran 1%, Muslim 1%, atheist 4.3%, other 22.9%
Languages: Slovenian 91%, Serbo-Croatian 6%, other 3%
Literacy: definition: NA
total population: 99%
male: NA%
female: NA%
Slovenia Government Top of Page
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Slovenia
conventional short form: Slovenia
local long form: Republika Slovenija
local short form: Slovenija
Government type: parliamentary democratic republic
Capital: Ljubljana
Administrative divisions: 136 municipalities (obcine, singular - obcina) and 11 urban municipalities* (mestne obcine , singular - mestna obcina ) Ajdovscina, Beltinci, Bled, Bohinj, Borovnica, Bovec, Brda, Brezice, Brezovica, Cankova-Tisina, Celje*, Cerklje na Gorenjskem, Cerknica, Cerkno, Crensovci, Crna na Koroskem, Crnomelj, Destrnik-Trnovska Vas, Divaca, Dobrepolje, Dobrova-Horjul-Polhov Gradec, Dol pri Ljubljani, Domzale, Dornava, Dravograd, Duplek, Gorenja Vas-Poljane, Gorisnica, Gornja Radgona, Gornji Grad, Gornji Petrovci, Grosuplje, Hodos Salovci, Hrastnik, Hrpelje-Kozina, Idrija, Ig, Ilirska Bistrica, Ivancna Gorica, Izola, Jesenice, Jursinci, Kamnik, Kanal, Kidricevo, Kobarid, Kobilje, Kocevje, Komen, Koper*, Kozje, Kranj*, Kranjska Gora, Krsko, Kungota, Kuzma, Lasko, Lenart, Lendava, Litija, Ljubljana*, Ljubno, Ljutomer, Logatec, Loska Dolina, Loski Potok, Luce, Lukovica, Majsperk, Maribor*, Medvode, Menges, Metlika, Mezica, Miren-Kostanjevica, Mislinja, Moravce, Moravske Toplice, Mozirje, Murska Sobota*, Muta, Naklo, Nazarje, Nova Gorica*, Novo Mesto*, Odranci, Ormoz, Osilnica, Pesnica, Piran, Pivka, Podcetrtek, Podvelka-Ribnica, Postojna, Preddvor, Ptuj*, Puconci, Race-Fram, Radece, Radenci, Radlje ob Dravi, Radovljica, Ravne-Prevalje, Ribnica, Rogasevci, Rogaska Slatina, Rogatec, Ruse, Semic, Sencur, Sentilj, Sentjernej, Sentjur pri Celju, Sevnica, Sezana, Skocjan, Skofja Loka, Skofljica, Slovenj Gradec*, Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenske Konjice, Smarje pri Jelsah, Smartno ob Paki, Sostanj, Starse, Store, Sveti Jurij, Tolmin, Trbovlje, Trebnje, Trzic, Turnisce, Velenje*, Velike Lasce, Videm, Vipava, Vitanje, Vodice, Vojnik, Vrhnika, Vuzenica, Zagorje ob Savi, Zalec, Zavrc, Zelezniki, Ziri, Zrece
note: there may be 45 more municipalities
Independence: 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)
National holiday: Independence Day/Statehood Day, 25 June (1991)
Constitution: adopted 23 December 1991, effective 23 December 1991
Legal system: based on civil law system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed)
Executive branch: chief of state: President Milan KUCAN (since 22 April 1990)
head of government: Prime Minister Janez DRNOVSEK (since 15 October 2000);
cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 24 November 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); following National Assembly elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually nominated to become prime minister by the president and elected by the National Assembly; election last held 15 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2004)
election results: Milan KUCAN elected president; percent of vote - Milan KUCAN 56.3%, Janez PODOBNIK 18%; Janez DRNOVSEK elected prime minister; percent of National Assembly vote - NA
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Drzavni Zbor (90 seats, 40 are directly elected and 50 are selected on a proportional basis; note - the numbers of directly elected and proportionally elected seats varies with each election; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: National Assembly - last held 15 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2004)
election results: percent of vote by party - LDS 36%, SDS 16%, ZLSD 12%, SLS/SKD 10%, NSI 9%, SMS 4%, SNS 4%, DeSUS 5%, other 4%; seats by party - LDS 34, SDS 14, ZLDS 11, SLS/SKD 9, NSI 8, SMS 4, SNS 4, DeSUS 4, other 2
note: the National Council or Drzavni Svet is an advisory body with limited legislative powers; it may propose laws and ask to review any National Assembly decisions; in the election of NA November 1997, 40 members were elected to represent local, professional, and socioeconomic interests (next election to be held in the fall of 2002)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the Judicial Council); Constitutional Court (judges elected for nine-year terms by the National Assembly and nominated by the president)
Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party of Retired (Persons) of Slovenia or DeSUS [Janko KUSAR]; Liberal Democratic or LDS [Janez DRNOVSEK, chairman]; New Slovenia or NSI [Andrej BAJUK, chairman]; Slovene National Party or SNS [Zmago JELINCIC, chairman]; Slovene People's Party or SLS (Slovenian People's Party or SLS and Slovenian Christian Democrats or SKD merged in April 2000) [Franc ZAGOZEN, chairman]; Slovene Youth Party or SMS [leader NA]; Social Democratic Party of Slovenia or SDS [Janez JANSA, chairman]; United List of Social Democrats (former Communists and allies) or ZLSD [Borut PAHOR, chairman]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: ABEDA, ACCT (observer), BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Davorin KRACUN
chancery: 1525 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone: [1] (202) 667-5363
FAX: [1] (202) 667-4563
consulate(s) general: New York
consulate(s): Cleveland
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Nancy ELY-RAPHEL
embassy: Presernova 31, SI-1000 Ljubljana
mailing address: P. O. Box 254, Presernova 31, 1000 Ljubljana; American Embassy Ljubljana, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-7140
telephone: [386] (01) 200-5500
FAX: [386] (01) 200-5555
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red, with the Slovenian seal (a shield with the image of Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak, in white against a blue background at the center; beneath it are two wavy blue lines depicting seas and rivers, and above it are three six-pointed stars arranged in an inverted triangle which are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje, the great Slovene dynastic house of the late 14th and early 15th centuries); the seal is located in the upper hoist side of the flag centered in the white and blue bands
Slovenia Economy Top of Page
Economy - overview: Although Slovenia enjoys one of the highest GDPs per capita among the transition economies of Central Europe, it needs to speed up the privatization process and the dismantling of restrictions on foreign investment. About 45% of the economy remains in state hands, and the level of foreign direct investment inflows as a percent of GDP is the lowest in the region. Analysts are predicting between 4.0% and 4.2% growth for 2001. Export growth is expected to slow in 2001 and 2002 as EU markets soften. Inflation rose from 6.1% to 8.9% in 2000 and remains a matter of concern.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $22.9 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.5% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $12,000 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4%
industry: 35%
services: 61% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 20.7% (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.9% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 857,400
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate: 7.1% (1997 est.)
Budget: revenues: $8.11 billion
expenditures: $8.32 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)
Industries: ferrous metallurgy and rolling mill products, aluminum reduction and rolled products, lead and zinc smelting, electronics (including military electronics), trucks, electric power equipment, wood products, textiles, chemicals, machine tools
Industrial production growth rate: 6.2% (2000)
Electricity - production: 12.451 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 34.44%
hydro: 29.58%
nuclear: 35.98%
other: 0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption: 10.024 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports: 2.2 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports: 645 million kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products: potatoes, hops, wheat, sugar beets, corn, grapes; cattle, sheep, poultry
Exports: $8.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities: manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food
Exports - partners: Germany 31%, Italy 14%, Croatia 8%, Austria 7%, France 6% (1999)
Imports: $9.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, food
Imports - partners: Germany 21%, Italy 17%, France 11%, Austria 8%, Croatia 4%, Hungary, Russia (1999)
Debt - external: $6.2 billion (2000)
Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $5 million (1993)
Currency: tolar (SIT)
Currency code: SIT
Exchange rates: tolars per US dollar - 225.93 (January 2001), 222.66 (2000), 181.77 (1999), 166.13 (1998), 159.69 (1997), 135.36 (1996)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Slovenia Communications Top of Page
Telephones - main lines in use: 722,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1 million (2000)
Telephone system: general assessment: NA
domestic: 100% digital (2000)
international: NA
Radio broadcast stations: AM 17, FM 160, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 805,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 48 (2001)
Televisions: 710,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 11 (2000)
Internet users: 460,000 (1999)
Slovenia Transportation Top of Page
Railways: total: 1,201 km
standard gauge: 1,201 km 1.435-m gauge (489 km electrified) (1999)
Highways: total: 19,586 km
paved: 17,745 km (including 249 km of expressways)
unpaved: 1,841 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: NA
Pipelines: crude oil 290 km; natural gas 305 km
Ports and harbors: Izola, Koper, Piran
Airports: 14 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 6
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 4 (2000 est.)
Slovenia Military Top of Page
Military branches: Slovenian Army (includes Air and Naval Forces)
Military manpower - military age: 19 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 523,336 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 416,237 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 14,513 (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $370 million (FY00)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.7% (FY00)
Slovenia Transnational Issues Top of Page
Disputes - international: progress with Croatia on discussions of adjustments to land boundary, but problems remain in defining maritime boundary in Gulf of Piran; Austria has minor dispute with Slovenia over nuclear power plants and post-World War II treatment of German-speaking minorities
Illicit drugs: minor transit point for cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe, and for precursor chemicals
All my crapflooding comes from here : www.matkurja.com/, I just searched Google.
So what`s so funny here ?!?
What is it with you Americans? That you are ignorant and rude is bad enough, but that you are proud of it really disturbs me.
What is it with you Brits? That you're flaming homosexual pedophiles is bad enough, but that you're proud of it really disturbs me.
Their detailed strategy will certainly take some time to digest (and perhaps several cups of coffee). Interesting post though... perhaps their smaller size allows them to take such giant steps. My country (US) seems like it keeps tripping over its own feet whenever it attempts to deal with technology. Hopefully Slovenia will show the rest of the world a thing or three...
http://www.riik.ee/en/
take for instance a state law that might get passed. you want to let your representivitve know how you feel about a certain subject. so you write him letters and send him email and corrospond with him. great. then you find out in the news papers that he's decided to vote for the opposite when he told you something completly else.
what i am trying to get at here is lets say they want to pass parking tickets on red cars only for the state of georgia... so people of smalltown georgia log on to their local representives page and enter in a an internet uid and password which were assigned at the latest voter registration or came in the mail. they then vote how they feal on the issue and include a comment. likewise, all the representives would do the same to the state. now then the small town people of georgia feal more involved and can see the results much quicker. think of this for the national election. people could log on securely and vote. people with out computers could go to librarys since most are equiped with computers. and all though a paper trail would be nice for such things as we saw in the last election paper or not if someone wants to buy the election they will.
but there are other advantages... say you want to move somewhere, you could go to their local page and see how the town votes and feels on certain subjects and see if you fit in that area
perhaps this is all a pipe dream, but i think it would be wonderfull to see
-- botsex is {grep;touch;strip;unzip;head;mount}
The article is here, but only if you have a subscription to The Economist. You can get the >60% academic discount by subscribing here.
Oddly, the subscription form doesn't ask if you're a student. Apparently, as far as The Economist is concerned, it's all academic.
Full Text:
(Copyright 2001 The Economist Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Slovenia may be Europe's most Internetted government
DIMITRIJ RUPEL, the foreign minister of Slovenia, a small country at the eastern end of the Alps that managed to slide peacefully out of what was Yugoslavia and into something that more closely resembles Austria, enjoys showing visitors round his office. At one end sits a computer wired to the Slovenian secret-service mainframe. Mr Rupel says he is one of only four people in the country who get messages on such a machine. They come twice a day, and he must read them at a sitting. "There's no way to save them or print them out," he explains.
At the other end of his office, a slinky black laptop takes pride of place on his desk. Mr Rupel boots it up and shows off a software system that allows him access to almost everything and everyone he needs in the Slovenian government. In between promoting Slovenia's bid to join the European Union and NATO Mr Rupel says he taps away on his laptop for up to three hours a day. In the mornings he shoots off messages to other ministers and answers e-mail from ordinary citizens. In the evenings he sometimes pecks out a column with his personal view of world diplomacy which he then pastes on to the Slovenian foreign ministry's own website.
His office, like those of other Slovenian ministers, is almost paperless. Every official document comes to him electronically. Mr Rupel used to lug a "pile of papers half a metre high" to cabinet meetings. Now he takes only his laptop.
That is, if he goes at all: Slovenia is pioneering electronic government by holding most of its cabinet meetings online. Each of the country's 15 cabinet ministers receives cabinet business over a secure system. A message informs them of the topic under discussion-- say, privatisation--and lets them vote by clicking a button. They can attach a note and send it to other cabinet colleagues or, if deviousness seems called for, cut their colleagues out of the loop and just message the prime minister, Janez Drnovsek.
The technology, Mr Rupel concedes, has some snags. It is a grind: ministers feel obliged to log on and vote in e-cabinet sessions even when on holiday. No more waffling either. In the good old days of paper, a flustered minister could claim not to have received the relevant document. Now the all-knowing system records exactly which files ministers receive--and when and whether they open them.
Change has been rapid. Pavel Gantar, the minister for all things high-tech, recalls buying his first computer in Munich in 1985 and having to smuggle it back to Ljubljana when it was part of a communist state. "An age ago," he says wistfully. Even a couple of years ago most ministers were computer-illiterate, so they had to let their secretaries handle their e-mails. Now, reckons Mr Gantar, all of them personally attend to their mailboxes.
Things really took off when Mr Drnovsek, a communist-turned- social-democrat who has been prime minister with a small break since 1992, discovered the Internet. "When he e-mails you," admits one minister, "you'd better work out how to reply."
What next? Slovenian ministers already complain of having their evenings at home in front of the football interrupted by the vibrating of their mobile phone, with a text message reminding them of the next day's e-cabinet business. The prime minister is apparently not averse to text-messaging ministers himself.
So will virtual cabinet meetings completely replace the real thing? Mr Gantar thinks not. "Body language means a lot and e-mail obscures that." The cabinet still meets face to face every Thursday to thrash out issues unresolved online, though some ministers usually attend from afar, by videophone.
They propose that the "counselors" in these places may come from the military, which is perhaps concerning. Or, maybe I'm just a karma whore. heh.
The baltic states are still quite difficult for me to keep straight in my head, I confess. The Slovenians have distinguished themselves with this "e-government".
Changing our infrastructures, Governments included, is easier in smaller organisations than larger ones. This I believe is one of the main reasons, that smaller organisations are better suited for innovations and why larger organisations follow, incorporate and acquire them in order not to become obsolete and replaced.
If major changes are to be expected in the way we live and organize ourselves, then I believe the chance for that is higher by supporting and learning from the smaller entities (on their terms), compared to start dancing with the big old lady.
I guess that Slovenia could make this happen thanks to it being such a "young" state. I don't know exactly how long they are independent by now but it should not be much more than ten years.
Older countries (or more generally, organizations), with a tradition of paper, will only be able to move toward e-government very slowly. Primarily because people are reluctant to change in general, but paper also makes a lot of "excuses" possible (see article). Another big issue is that a lot of people require signatures, mostly to be backed up and blame someone else in case something goes wrong. As digital signatures still aren't accepted here (in Europe) normal (paper) signatures are still required.
In my organization, some people even make paper copies of e-mails in order to classify them in an ordner...just because they have done so (classifying "normal" mail) for years!
-- Dan
I'm from Slovenia. I can tell you that the article is a nice coup for the Slovenian govt marketing dept and pretty much nothing else.
Yes, I can find all the government departments on the net. Yes, there is an "internet ministry". Yes, they all have a nice matching spiffy web graphics. Yes, I can access all the laws online.
So what?
Can I file my tax returns via the net? No.
Can I contact govt officials via the net _and get an answer_? No.
Can I do anything via the net instead of waiting in a queue? Nope.
Did they abolish the monopoly on leased lines and voice communications, held by a company that the govt ownes? Are the voice calls and modem calls cheap? Can I choose my phone operator? No, no, and no.
To top it off, due to the 9/11 terrorist strikes the govt has now usurped the right to check all email (and other forms of communications) without a court order - a thing constitutionally possible just in a state of emergency (read war). Does the parliamentary commision that keep tabs on the police actions object? Nope.
Unfortunately, this is just another example of pretending to give more control to the public while in fact reducing it.
Yan
---
Hello, Mr. Govt Man.
I think this line's only filler
Slovenia was attacked by a phenomenon called the Slashdot Effect. The government was left paralyzed and devastated by this formidable weapon.
It's about time Slashdot started bringing down governments!
Here in Belgium government is serious about e-government. As from next year, businesses will be able to file tax returns via the web. We already can contact government officials *and* get an answer (most of the time, anyway). A lot of official law-related stuff (including new law publishing) is done via the web. Some government contracting is done via e-commerce.
;-). Still, I think we have a long way to go before we can really say we have an e-government here. But we are on the right way. For those interested: here's the root link for the Belgian Federal Government on-line.
So I guess it's time the Economist writes an article about e-government in Belgium
Maybe it's because we're hated all over the world and have recently been brutally attacked for no reason. Is that enough?
No, actually, being rude, obnoxious and ignorant is EXACTLY the reason you got attacked.
Most of the ex-communist countries have nowadays bragged about their achievements. It's just a show off. Being "the most networked goverment" does not nullify the other areas where their country is still in mid 20th century. Have any of you guys visited Slovakia recently? I have, and I can say there are million things that should be made better before moving to the modern problems like the Internet.
It's pretty sad to see a goverment laying tax money to an Internet project when 70% of the country's population have never even used the Internet.
I almost subscribed, but just then they relegated their tech section to the quarterly issue, and I changed my mind. The tech section was quite good.
Geez, I'm posting alot of off-topic on this thread. Not a good day for karma, methinks.
Like Dalziel said in an episode of the great police series 'Dalziel and Pascoe' I recently saw:
I'm not here to solve all the injustce in the world, love.
Wow, the Economist had an interesting blurb about e-government nearly a month ago (the magazine comes out before the cover date) and it makes Slashdot today? Hey, last week they did a whole special report on "the next society". I bet they've printed some pretty good stuff this week too...
/.
The Economist is a truly interesting news magazine. It's worth reading. I'm beginning to have my doubts about
The real problem is entropy.
At least through this questions:
Can I file my tax returns via the net? Yes.
Can I contact govt officials via the net _and get an answer_? Some of them.
Can I get the contact of govt officials via the net ? Yes.
Can I do anything via the net instead of waiting in a queue? Yes. Mainly related with creating companies, but there are somethings.
Did they abolish the monopoly on leased lines and voice communications, held by a company that the govt ownes? Are the voice calls and modem calls cheap? Can I choose my phone operator? Officialy (if not in practice), no (when compared with USA) and yes.
But we have a great F1 commentator ;)
Since we just /. 'd their site, didn't we just shut down the Slovenian government????
Slovenia is a country, where your "democratic" president Bush met "democratic" president Putin for the first time. Geography is not a bad thing ;-)
that was slovenian.
there is no language called serbo-croatian. there is serbian that is spoken in serbia and there is croatian that is spoken in croatia.
-- http://electronicintifada.net --
Hey..I seem to remember the same claim being made about Estonia. In both cases though, it's a lot easier to do with a small country (and BTW, both countries are great to visit - Ljubljana is a happening place and Talinn is just beautiful). It's easy to forget that in the 80s, France was way ahead of everyone with the Minitel system..it was proprietary, cumbersome and basic, but it worked.
I think it'll be great if/when they get most governmental services online. I think making it quick and easy to do stuff like vote in presedential or local government elections would definately be a positive thing. Politicians could also easily take polls on certain issues to help determine public opinion on the topic, which may help in determining what type of laws to pass, how they should be written, etc. etc. I wonder if they will ever get this far or will people be too afraid that the system could be hacked or somehow exploited? Seems though that it could be much more secure than the system we have in place now.
Here in Indiana they have quite a few online services available. I have renewed my car registration and paid for my plates online for the past two years. A few clicks of the mouse and my plates are in the mailbox in a week.
JavaPriest wrote:
Here in Belgium government is serious about e-government. As from next year, businesses will be able to file tax returns via the web. We already can contact government officials *and* get an answer (most of the time, anyway). A lot of official law-related stuff (including new law publishing) is done via the web. Some government contracting is done via e-commerce.
Well, it's no wonder. You Belgians have a 5 point average IQ advantage over the Slovenians. (Scroll down to see country IQ table.)
Belgian average IQ: 100
Slovenian average IQ: 95
-nukebuddy
I just happened to buy a copy last week, and it was great. For example, there was an article about a journalist that managed to get fake IDs in Afghanistan, including documents that make her eligiable to polical asile in the west. (freaking scary, means many of the political refugees in the west may well be terrorists).
Sigged!
..first learn how to spell Slovenia that talk about retardation.
You're partly wrong: "Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian , language belonging to the South Slavic group of the Slavic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Slavic languages ). Although it is actually one language, Serbo-Croatian is designated as Serbian when spoken by Serbs (mostly belonging to the Orthodox Eastern Church) and written in a form of the Cyrillic alphabet, but as Croatian when spoken by Croats (mostly Roman Catholics) and written in a modified version of the Roman alphabet." (From Lycos Reference)
Considering how most of us are at least partially of European descent, we come by it honestly.
Besides, being "ignorant, rude and proud of it" sounds very French, based on my time in that country.
The Independent: Reverend Spooner Arrested in Friar Tuck Incident - ISIHAC, Historical Headlines
I'm humor-impaired and can't tell if giany is kidding or just being anti-US, so I'll ditch the humor. Being US-centric is not good, but being a jerk to those who are is worse.
In France there are Algerian terrorists. So much so that a local group of students decided to avoid Paris on their tour of France. They have had a huge problem with these guys.
In England/Ireland you have the IRA. They might not have destroyed big buildings, but since when is big-building-destruction the qualification for terrorist? Isn't bombing subways terrorism? I seem to remember hearing a while ago about terrorism in London. Long time ago, though, don't keep up with British news. Oh - ever heard the U2 song Sunday Bloody Sunday? You should.
In Spain you have some group with an acronym that I can't remember off the top of my head. They're a Basque separationalist group. They leave bombs outside of banks, in dance clubs, near government agencies. They're not 'time to time', they happen fairly frequently. They're 'localized' to about 1/4th of the country.
Germany, in case if you were off somewhere in the few days following the 11th, made several arrests. Seems like a bunch of terrorists related to the attacks were hiding out in there.
Gee, that seems to be the major European countries. Pretty terrorist-free. Mmm hmm.
[quote]
In Europe people DO use their brain in the right way and in Europe people DO care for their own business, so in the Europe, there are NO terrorist attacks.
[/quote]
So we Americans use our brain in the wrong way, we don't care about our business? I'd say we care a little too much for our business and not enough for everyone else's, which is the problem. US = uneducated about the rest of the world is pretty common. Well, it's not really that we're uneducated, we just don't keep up with current events in other countries.
The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom came out today. Slovenia, alas, dropped in status from having a "mostly free" economy to a "mostly unfree" economy. It seems they need to get their priorities in order.
i do not support violence..
but, the violence in Northern Ireland over the last 25 years was as a direct result of Britains policies in Northern Ireland since the partitioning of Ireland in 1922.
There was institutional discrimination against the catholic community in Northern Ireland, and the govt in England turned a complete blind eye to it. In the 1960s unemployment amongst catholics was at 30 to 40%, while only at 10ish% for protestants. The Police force, business, the institutions of regional government were all dominated by the Protestant/Unionist community in Northern Ireland, and for the most part they used their power to oppress the catholic/nationalist minority. All with a blind eye turned by the UK government in England, or even it's approval.
So some of this oppressed minority people turned to violence. not a solution i would condone, but neither can you condone what went on in Northern Ireland post-WWII in the name of the United Kingdom.
Note that there also were many out of this community who tried peaceful means to change their plight. They'd hold peaceful civil rights marches. And they'd be met and beaten by the RUC, or on one occasion mown down by British paratroopers. (Bloody Sunday Jan 30 1972, Derry, 13 civilians shot dead by the Para's).
NI was a mess, a brutal mess and it produced some brutal people who committed some terrible acts. But the cause of it all was british actions and inaction.
there does seem to be light at the end tunnel now though. they've gotten it down to politicians throwing words at each other, rather than bombs.
anyway...
I use Friend/Foe + mod-point modifiers as a karma/reputation system.
Well, essentially the language called serbo-croatian, was official language of former Yugoslavia and was constructed of Serbian (mainly) and Croatian language. Two mentioned languages differ on many accounts and are essentialy two different languages. Though they ARE similar, so native Croatian speakercan can understand native Serbian speaker, and vice versa, there will be understanding problems if you are foreigner who learned one of those languages.
Those languages are similar between, as they are both similar to Slovakian (not Slovenian), but that are still three different languages.
Slovenian is again more different to those three mentioned above.
if you need the map of Slovenia, i have a better one, it's only availeble in Slovenian language, and it's part of E-Government ...and it really rocks .... HERE .. it has all kinds of maps ... U can even search by a house number .. and you will find it .. u even have a picture (from the plane)of each house .... BTW.: Slovenia IS NOT in EU and NATO, but it is one of the top candidates
Greetings from Slovenia
Serbo-Croatian is less ONE language than English is. Do you know the difference between British, American, Australian, etc? OK, well, the difference between Croatian and Serbian is a bit smaller in pronounciation, but bigger in writing: as you mention they use TWO DIFFERENT ALPHABETS...
I'm from Slovenia too
.. Answer Maybe (Even if you mail your dad he has a possibility to not write back to you :)
...LOOK AROUND... and they have some usefull tools that i sometimes use ....
.. u know it ... they are beggining to abolish it (but slowly) ... I HATE THAT TOO :)
My answer to U:
Can I file my tax returns via the net? They are working on it (insider info)...
PS: DDV (Added value tax (i think))- they've "set it up" faster then most all of other countries (insider info)
Can I contact govt officials via the net _and get an answer_? Contact - YES
Can I do anything via the net instead of waiting in a queue? Actualy the are, but if you are slovenian, check out the slovenian version of the page, they ARE a some things that u can do via net (for example: Medical Insurence for travelling in other countries,...)
About monopoly on leased lines and voice communications.. well
Aaaaah! OK!
I always wondered why Ethiopia did not have its government online!
I always thought that it was because they have other priorities (like finding something to eat for example)...
Thank you to open my eyes!!!
No, seriously, could you please explain me where you see any links between online government and average IQ!
From experience with government departments its often a case of being sent to different departments, organisations, local, regional national government etc. and everytime it's always just for basic stuff. What I mean is the systems are usually there for historical reasons and get built on rather than redesigned which suggests a large amount of wasted effort.
Why do we have to go in, collect a form, find the other forms needed, queue up and submit them and then wait for information to come back? It would be easier to do it all online and far less boring for the workers. Imagine, no driving to the office, no queueing, no wasted time and the whole system automated. I could even do it in my lunch break from my desktop rather than giving up several hours of my time.
I don't disagree about face to face sometimes being necessary (i.e. in complex cases) but it should be restricted to that. People get bored if they have to do the same thing again and again for years, make their lives interesting and it benefits everyone. Freedom through Technology!
Now of course all we need is secure digital identification which everyone has and is acceptable to their government, widespread access to the Web/on-line services and a forward looking government.
I recently came back from a visit in Central Europe. Along the way I spent some time in Slovenia. It's ironic that the government is so wired, because it's near impossible to find a computer with internet access in the capital, Ljubljana.
Everyone I asked knew of only one computer and it was in the hotel. It's amazing how many people relied on one computer for their internet usage. I guess it's possible that everyone has internet at home and there is little need for internet cafes.
I have been in some out of the way places where it's been a lot easier to get online. Go figure.
it's pretty neat here, only 2M people, you can walk to the president and ask him things personaly.. .. any we all have computers at home yes. SiOL is now wide spreading aDSL (the whole country is covered)
heh
That's what you get, when the whole country is connected with one isp, which has a mere 310 Mbit connection to the outside world...my internet connection was lagging all day :( But hey...I could read the e-gov site, since it's only 6 hops away ;)
Well, in Singapore, the government and most statutory boards host their services online, accessible to all with an internet connection and proper identification.
0 /a chieve2.pdf
From a central portal: http://www.gov.sg you can do practically anything from registering a business, a patent, sign up for National Service (conscription), apply for a provisional driving license, file your taxes, check your CPF (a kind of social security), apply for public housing, register on the list of voters, and practically everything that you might want to do as a citizen.
Besides this, Singapore boasts a computer literate judiciary. Most judicial documents are electronically transmitted, if possible. That probably contributes to singapore having one of the most efficient judicial system in the world:
http://www.gov.sg/judiciary/subct/justout/ar200
And of course, statutory boards communicate with each other electronically. this allows services to be integrated so that for instance the IRAS (IRS in singapore) can check with the housing board what kind of property you own, the Army can check your performance in school, and so on.
Not everything works perfectly of course.. the usual problems with getting government online and interconnected. But we try.
So I hope you will understand why i'm not especially impressed by this article. =)
and I'll have a tattoo on my butt until they switch.
phew. just don't go mentioning this to any serbs or croats out there :P. serbo-croatian *was* an artificial language - it existed only in school books. this language died along with the former country, yugoslavia.
Coulda fooled me.
French rig factor with explosives
Teen killed with explosives in Northern Ireland
Violence erupts in Macedonia
And that's just off 1 news site today.
A good friend of mine is of Slovenian and in an effort to bring me up to speed with the Slovenian govt's E-initiatives, she has been teaching me Slovenian. I thought I'd pass on what I've learned so far; spellings are phonetic (haven't learned how to read yet)
Ocusee moya clobasa (Taste my sausage)
Hochesh egrat tap-tap (Do you want to play tap-tap)
Yasmeeslin da bom coohil yitseh (I think I'm going to cook some eggs - note: 'cook some eggs' is a euphemism for farting)
That's all I've learned so far, but I'm eager to learn more about this beautiful language !
STFU tu loj eden ... pa kaj mate sploh s kickboxingom ko pa niti clani kickboxing zveze niste ... ne si tu gori sramote delati z takim LAME POSTom .... k nekaj brezveze neko reklamo gor dajes ko je taktak 99% bralcev ne razume
U ASSHOLE
Read more about Serbo-Croatian.
Are you sure that there has been no reason? Maybe because of the Palestina problems? That`s just one of them. Take care of your own business and everything will be ok. There is no country on the world that need to be the world cop. America probably wants to be the world cop. Bad police department, very bad. Too many casualties. Another plane? The same city? Not a terrorist attack? I think that`s no freedom. Unfortunately. What goes around, comes around. Unfortunately. I`m mourning with you guys, but stop being so ignorant and rude to everything that is not from America. There is a world on the other side of the ocean. And it`s a beautiful one. With a history. If you know what I mean.
Actually Croat is not the same as Serbo-Croation because Serbo-Croation is Serbian Spoken in southern Croatia!
The article mentions that they use the internet for most of their cabinet meetings. After obvious recent events, the US Gov't should do the same.
Not just cabinet meetings, but all congressional activity. We've got the technology to do so, and if Govnet ever becomes a reality, such a thing should definitely be explored. Why, you ask? What would happen if Washington DC where anihilated by [insert terrorist activity here] during a legislative session? No more senators or representatives, presidents, or the many organizations vital to the operation of our country that are headquartered in DC.
What would our country do with no Federal leaders to turn to? So the Vice President is holed up in a cave somewhere. Now we have one leader overseeing everything! Use your imagination - the panic, the anarchy.
Talk about a total dismantling of our society.
It's rough. The US Code is online, but it's a miserable read. Find it here: www.access.gpo.gov/congress/cong013.html.
:-)
Laws in progress (and insane shit that thankfully never makes it into law) can be found at thomas.loc.gov.
Too many hours browsing this shit will drive you crazy, make you want to move to Belgium.
Someone blew them up.
Buckets,
pompomtom
"There's an exception to every rule. Except for some rules"
I am not British.
Why do Americans think that anyone that isn't American is British? Fluency in more than one language is quite common - outside the U.S., that is.
He he..Look who's talking:)..You little poor guy!
> Actually Croat is not the same as Serbo-Croation because Serbo-Croation is Serbian Spoken in southern Croatia!
Say, was Srebrenica not enough a massacre?
not only that,
but it is home of the world's first virtual state:
http://www.ljudmila.org/embassy/
"The direction controls are the same in Nethack as they are in vi." "Yeah, I hardly ever die in vi anymore."
IRA ..... aaah ...... they haven`t destroy any big building and their acts are localized on the North Ireland. In Spain there are some little terrorist acts commited from time to time but all of them are strictly localized. Other parts of Europe are safe.
ETA is "localized" to any city of Spain they want and some spots in France where they reside, train and rob explosives.
And recently the police has informed that ETA planned to mark their comeback to killinng in 1999 by blowing up Torre Picasso in Madrid. But the tons of explosives couldn't arrive.
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
Slovenia:Romunia 2:1 ! ! !