Favourite mix: social security and e-governance
I’m just back from Tirana (Albania), where together with my colleagues from the e-Governance Academy, I conducted a seminar on information exchange and social security. There is little that could interest me more than the combination of e-government and social security, so this event was both fun and stimulating. The presence of good company, a new city to explore (never had been there), and pleasant weather and atmosphere made it even more satisfying. And, in more ways than one, the whole event was quite important to me.
The seminar was commissioned by the Council of Europe, as an activity under the Social Security Co-ordination And Social Security Reform Programme (SSCSSA), which they run jointly with the European Union. This programme is in some ways a continuation of a previous three-year action, in which I had been involved from the beginning.
This (and the previous) programme is meant to assist countries in South-East Europe (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Turkey, as well as Kosovo) in further enhancing the regional coordination of the social security systems and facilitating institutional, legislative and administrative reforms in the field of social protection according to EU standards.
I have been quite active in advocating that proper attention be given to the administrative side of social security co-ordination. This, in essence, comes down to building multilateral co-operation structures and organising structured (electronic) information exchange. And that, in turn, is a story if semantic, organisational and technical interoperability.
Under the previous programme, we attempted to set up the basics for such a system, but that interest, for various reasons, did not translate into concrete action – something I have always regretted. With this seminar, the issue is back on the table, and there is a real chance that this activity can lead to creating the necessary awareness on the decision-making level.
That will not happen overnight, of course, but I feel we have made a start now. The challenges are expressed, and there is a sense of urgency and of need that was not there before. A next step – motivating ministers, heads of institutions, horizontal government entities, … to take action, and explaining how this action can be taken – is now plausible.
Apart from that, I was happy to be asked to organise this event for another reason altogether. This was a mission with the e-Governance Academy, the organisation I do most of my work for. The team from eGA is pretty diverse, and together we hold a massive experience on many aspects that have to do with the use of ICT in the business of government.
I had talked with my colleagues about social security before, but it has always been difficult for me to find an opportunity to fully explain the specific issues in the administration of social security systems, let alone in the co-ordination of social security. Indeed, even if the challenges for any government administration are in many ways similar, there are some very different accents and points of attention when it comes to social security and – probably even more specific in this context – social contributions.
Hearing me explaining these topics in the seminar has helped my colleages to better understand that specificity. Which will make it easier for me to draw attention to the theme in my daily job, and to further develop a specific training package on e-governance and social security.
A breakthrough? Let’s hope so. But at the very least a useful experience for all involved.
Tags: Albania, awareness, Council of Europe, e-Governance Academy, information exchange, social security co-ordination
