New Forms of Governance in South-East Europe with Special Emphasis on Serbia

Abstract

New forms of governance, regional strategic platforms and partnerships should overcome administrative, political and financial obstacles in a country in transition which is in a less advanced position compared to Western Europe. SEE1 countries have not been successful in completing a complex transition and transformation process towards the membership in European Union but also in embracing ICTs to the maximum extent possible as a new development opportunity in the era of globalization. The main goal of this paper is to examine the economic, political, organizational and social conditions necessary for a successful implementation of new forms of governance in Serbia and SEE countries. In this paper we also explore the emerged forms of e-Governance in Serbia having in mind that this process cuts across a broad range of technical, legal, economic and institutional issues. Our aim is to identify the key gaps and obstacles for evolving and developing new forms of governance in countries which had been to a large extent shaped in the period of communist rule. These countries are not ready for at least some elements of new modes of governance. Therefore, there is need to re-establish existing modes of governance through strengthening and reforming institutional and judiciary system, improving the quality of legislation and providing institutional, political, managerial and especially technical support for these actions. Today's governments face an important challenge, not only in terms of providing better information to citizens through the Internet, but also in terms of increasing productivity and reducing cost. The Internet is a mediating and disruptive technology that should have a crucial impact on improving e-Governance in SEE countries. SEE countries must aim to foster Internet infrastructure development and to implement higher bandwidth services which will enhance e-Government services. Despite the current factors and trends in SEE countries that contribute to the future Internet growth, we have witnessed a gap between those who have and those who do not have the possibility to use the Internet related technology and services. One of the major obstacles in accelerating progress is lack of competencies or knowledge on the part of leaders at various government and entrepreneur levels to design and implement successful e-Governance initiatives, particularly in the area of e-Democracy and e-Inclusion, which specifically aim at strengthening Human Governance. The absence of training and educational programs and intra-regional knowledge transfer mechanisms are key issues to be addressed. The Democratic and Human Governance dimension of ICT remains a serious challenge, with major progress still to be made. Such areas of e-Democracy as e-Participation, e-Inclusion, e-Transparency that are being emphasized by the EU i20102 strategic framework are not being properly addressed. This is partly because e-governance is neither fully understood nor prioritized by policy makers, government senior executives, and development practitioners. In order to foster economic development and apply local assets, knowledge and skills SEE countries must generate and exploit new forms of governance, partnerships and entrepreneurship. The SEE countries have to facilitate development of e-Government system in order to create efficient and effective government.