Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications

The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Danail Papazov, presented the national Digital Bulgaria Programme durig his participation at the Global E-Government Forum (22-23 October) in the South-Korean capital, Seoul. The Forum was dedicated to the challenges and the new tendencies in the field of e-governance and electronic services for citizens and businesses. Ministers, representatives of institutions engaged in the development and functioning of the e-government, and scientists took part in the international event.

“The main objective of the Programme is the provision of high-speed Internet on the territory of the whole country so as by 2020 over 50 per cent of the households and the business would use the world-wide web and e-services at a speed of more than 100 Mbps”. This was stated by minister Papazov during his speech at a high-level round table. In his words, in order to achieve this objective, the issue with the coverage on small towns and rural areas should be solved firstly. This would be made possible through investment projects in rural areas via the development of wireless broadband access in the municipalities as well as of high-speed connection in schools, hospitals and town halls. These projects are to be financed through public-private partnerships and the new Operational programmes for the 2014-2020 period.

The second main objective, listed by Minister Papazov, is the development and supply of e-services for the citizens and businesses. He reported that a new legal basis has been prepared as the national strategy has been revised and a new Law on E-Governance has been developed. The projects in e-government are aimed at gradual upgrade of the e-Governance infrastructure and further development of a unified media to exchange data and e-services. The minister said that the updated e-Governance Portal is already functioning. Several hundred electronic or information services have been uploaded there, as well as links to several institutions. By the end of 2013, a period for trial exploitation of the new vision and functionality of the portal is planned, and by 2014 it will allow the usage of real e-services.

During his visit to the Republic of Korea Minister Papazov met his counterpart in charge of Science, Information and Communication Technology Mun Ki Choi and the Minister of Security and Public Administration  Jongno-gu. During the talks they discussed the convening of the third session of the Bulgarian-Korean Committee for cooperation in the field of information technologies and communications with representatives of the ministries of the two countries.