This criticism comes despite Hungary's efforts to build solid foundations for the provision of such services. A recent survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) praised Hungary for its overall business and legal environment, its excellent IT education system and highly developed skills in the workplace. Hungary, along with its neighbor Romania, was praised particularly for its large pool of talented computer programmers.
However, the country also fell short in several key areas required to operate successful e-government programs, leaving it trailing behind fellow CEE countries such as Estonia, Czech Republic and Slovenia.
Unsurprisingly, connectivity, in particular public access to the Internet, was criticized by the report. The EIU also pointed out that the Hungarian Government "has been very slow to implement procurement programs for government departments, reflecting the sluggish development of the country's overall information society objectives".
While Hungary was commended for having a grand vision for the implementation of e-governmental services, a report stating the aims and objectives through to the year 2006 was only completed in 2003, several years behind competing economies.
Most government websites in Hungary are simply designed to deliver information and do not allow the user to perform transactions other than the sending of email. The report suggests that Hungary needs to invest more time, effort and money building complete transaction processes into sites, allowing individuals and businesses to interact with the state.
If Hungary is to remain competitive in Europe, especially when its CEE neighbors are fighting for investment promised by EU expansion, then it must lose its reputation as a bureaucratic, ex-Socialist state.
This means an end to pointless paper pushing and red tape. A less sluggish approach to e-government could help destroy this image and create a country where the emphasis is based on quality, speed and efficiency.
Autor: John Hayes
Quelle: The Budapest Sun, 07.10.2004
