Croatia among the leading EU countries in cross-border digital data exchange

“Croatia is among the most successful EU countries in introducing a system of cross-border digital data exchange,” said Justice Minister Damir Habijan at the 'Europe Goes Once Only' conference, which is being held in Zagreb on Thursday and organized by the ministry and the European Commission.

The conference is focused on connecting public administrations of member states to the Once-Only Technical System (OOTS), a European platform that enables citizens and businesses to quickly and securely exchange data and evidence across borders, such as diplomas, certificates and other public documents.

Minister of Justice, Administration and Digital Transformation Damir Habijan emphasized that the establishment of the Central Interoperability System is one of the key projects of Croatia's digital transformation.

“For ten years, intensive work has been done to prepare the digital and IT infrastructure so that we are at the very top of the EU today. The 'once only' principle means that public bodies may no longer request a document that already exists in electronic form in the registers of other bodies within the Union,” said Habijan.

He stressed that digitalization must remain focused on citizens and the economy, and that processes using artificial intelligence "must remain under human control and serve a more efficient public administration and judiciary". He added that all stages of the project, financed with 15 million euros from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Next Generation EU mechanism, have been successfully completed.

Modrušan: Success through long-term investment in digital infrastructure

The Director of the Directorate for the Development of State Information Infrastructure and Electronic Services, Nikola Modrušan, stressed that Croatia is among the leaders in the EU thanks to long-term investments in digital infrastructure.

“OOTS provides European citizens with simple, centralized access to their data, regardless of whether they are in their own country or abroad,” he said. He added that it is a project that eliminates bureaucracy and borders in data exchange. The system covers 21 life situations prescribed by the regulation, including education abroad, with the necessary documents automatically exchanged between national registers.

He also pointed out that Croatia is in the "top five" countries for the implementation of a unique digital gateway. This, he added, "shows that we have extremely high-quality IT experts and a strong synergy of departments that have been investing in IT infrastructure for years."

The representative of the European Commission, Athanasios Karalopoulos, addressed the participants, and the conference brought together representatives of public administrations from the entire region.

Source: HRT