First State Data Center opens – Payment by card enabled at eGovernment portal

The first State Data Center, in which key information and communications infrastructure important to efficient functioning of electronic government and development of new services for the citizens and the business sector is located, opened in Belgrade on December 12, 2017.

The Office for Information Technologies and Electronic Government is realizing this project in cooperation with Telekom Srbija, which invested close to EUR 9 million in designing and implementing technical infrastructure.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that “the data center will enable budget savings and savings for tax payers and citizens measuring in millions in the future” and added that no state service needed its own data center any longer, as everything would be centralized.

From now on, the users of the national portal eGovernment can pay for administrative fees for personal documents, extension of registration and other services from the list of 720 various electronic services fully electronically and online by using payment cards Master, Maestro, Visa and Dina, issued by banks in Serbia.

– This is a key step in digitization, because the eGovernment portal offers, for the first time, full electronic service of state institutions – Brnabic pointed out.

Let us remind that the national portal eGovernment has been available to the public since June 2010. Access is free, and renewal of license plates extension and replacement of driving licenses are among the most popular services.

Brnabic announced that, from the New Year, it would be possible to pay for the services on the portal through integrated electronic banking (e-banking) or electronic money (eWallet).

Brnabic said that the state aimed to become the leader in electronic government in the region in a few years.

In addition to the centralized Office for IT and eGovernment, which started operating at full capacity, she explained, the National Assembly also recently adopted the Law on Electronic Document, Electronic Identification and Trust Services in Electronic Business, which is of great importance for eGovernment.

Furthermore, as she pointed out, the Ministry of Justice completed the draft law on protection of personal data, which has been up for public review since December 1. The review is to take until January 15.

– I thank the NBS for its great support in the electronic payment project – she said and reminded that “the state was the only body which citizens were unable to pay by card for the services it provides them”.

The State Data Center already features equipment for issuing time stamps, and the equipment for the Central System of Electronic Birth Records and the Center for Information Security of State Institutions (CERT) will be installed by the end of the year.

The director of the Office for Information technologies and Electronic Government, Mihailo Jovanovic, said that equipment of all state institutions would be gradually put into the facility in the next year so that the Office might start providing government cloud services.

– Also, from now on, we will be in charge of all procurement of IT infrastructure of state institutions. This will lead to serious budget savings – Jovanovic pointed out.

Predrag Culibrk, Director General of Telekom Srbija, said that the company's data center met the strictest international standards and that “for this reason, it is the first natural choice of both the business community and state institutions on the way to digitization”.

– Regarding what Telekom Srbija enables partners through Data Center services, we see three things: savings for partners, as it relieves them of the need to make big investments in IT infrastructure, security and safety of data and equipment located in our data center and constant access to data – Culibrk emphasized.

Over three million citizens without valid address

Brnabic also said that over three million citizens in Serbia didn't have a valid address, living in streets without numbers, and that a register of address data was being prepared.

According to her, the second phase of the eBaby project, which will enable young parents to apply for parental allowance in maternity wards, without having to go through additional administrative procedures, is being completed as well.

– We are also continuing the activities towards discontinuing stamps and establishing electronic signatures and filing – Brnabic added.

Payment through eGovernment portal fully safe

The system of payment at the eGovernment portal is very safe and requires only basic computer literacy. A user needs to enter their name, the number and validity period of the CVC code from the payment card in specially marked fields and subsequent receives a text message confirming payment. Thanks to this option, users no longer need to go to the bank or the post office and waste time in queues.

– The usage of payment cards on the national portal is fully safe. It has been protected by the most secure connections and features the latest, most quality certificates. At the moment, the online payment gateway of Komercijalna Banka is used in processing payment cards, whereas, in the upcoming period, the systems of all the remaining banks offering this service in our market are expected to be implemented – says the Office for IT and eGovernment.

Spare power supply of Data Center for up to 48 hours

The State Data Center is located in the building of TK Centar, owned by the Republic of Serbia, which contains the “heart and soul” of Serbian TC and IT, the Office reminds.

The center was designed and built in line with the latest technical and safety standards. It meets the Tier 3+ standards, and the services it provides are certified in line with the safety standard ISO 27001, as well as the quality standard ISO 9001 and the service provision quality standard ISO 20000.

As an example of a high degree of reliability, the Data Center's power supply is realized through three connections and four diesel generators. Even if regular power supply fails, the generators secure the autonomy of the Data Center's operations for 48 hours, the Office for IT reminds.

M.V.

Kancelarija za informacione tehnologije i elektronsku upravu

Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

State Data Center

information and communications infrastructure

electronic government

Ana Brnabic

eGovernment portal

eGovernment

administrative fees for personal documents

renewal of license plates

electronic services

electronic payment

online payment

payment cards

Master card

Maestro card

Visa card

Dina card

digitization

electronic banking

ebanking

electronic money

eWallet

time stamp

Central System of Electronic Birth Records

Center for Information Security of State Institutions

CERT

Mihailo Jovanovic

government cloud

Predrag Culibrk

issuing birth certificates

replacement of driving licenses

vehicle registration

extension of vehicle registration

document replacement