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Albania

Electronic portal on water resources administration and management (AL0036)

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: Albania Second Action Plan for 2014-2016

Action Plan Cycle: 2014

Status: Inactive

Institutions

Lead Institution: Ministry of Environment

Support Institution(s): NA

Policy Areas

E-Government, Water and Sanitation

IRM Review

IRM Report: Albania End-of-Term Report 2014-2016, Albania Mid-Term Report 2014-2016

Starred: No

Early Results: Did Not Change Did Not Change

Design i

Verifiable: Yes

Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information

Potential Impact:

Implementation i

Completion:

Description

The interested parties applying for a license or authorization for the use of water resources face a complicated and long procedure of application. The lack of a national inventory of permits for the use of water resources is also a disadvantage that causes conflicts between the institutional stakeholders and the interested parties. The Ministry of Environment, through the Directorate of Policies for Water Resources, will undertake the creation of an integrated water management system that will improve the cooperation of public and private actors through the use of new technologies for license applications and control. This system will help increase the transparency on the use of water resources in Albania. This commitment seeks to improve governance of natural resources for a better water management by reducing the cases of corruption, strengthening the public awareness on water management. The creation of an online register of water resources users will positively affect transparence and public access to information.

IRM Midterm Status Summary

For Commitment details, see Albania Mid-Term Report 2014-2016.

IRM End of Term Status Summary

Commitment 2.2. Electronic Portal on Water Resources Administration and Management

Cluster 3: Open Access on Natural Resources Data – 2.2 and 3.1

This cluster is composed of two commitments, as follows:

Commitment 2.2. Electronic Portal on Water Resources Administration and Management

Commitment 2.2. Text: The interested parties applying for a license or authorization for the use of water resources face a complicated and long procedure of application. The lack of a national inventory of permits for the use of water resources is also a disadvantage that causes conflicts between the institutional stakeholders and the interested parties. The Ministry of Environment, through the Directorate of Policies for Water Resources, will undertake the creation of an integrated water management system that will improve the cooperation of public and private actors through the use of new technologies for license applications and control. This system will help increase the transparency on the use of water resources in Albania. This commitment seeks to improve governance of natural resources for a better water management by reducing the cases of corruption, strengthening the public awareness on water management. The creation of an online register of water resources users will positively affect transparence and public access to information.

Responsible institution: Ministry of Environment

Supporting institution(s): N/A

Start date: 2014 End date: 2016

Commitment 3.1. Electronic Access to Protected Areas

Commitment 3.1. Text: Electronic access to a registry of protected areas increases the participation and the inclusiveness of the public opinion and interested stakeholders for activities related to protected areas, hunting areas and national legislative initiatives in the field of nature conservation and biodiversity. The access to the portal will allow consultation of legal documents related to environment protection, a database of new Protected Areas (PA) or extension of existing PA, information on Hunting Areas and associated GIS digital maps. The creation of this portal will strongly contribute in the increase of transparency and public participation; in fact the portal will allow interactive exchange of opinions on draft laws, regulations, and strategies in the field of protected areas.

Responsible institution: Ministry of Environment

Supporting institution(s): N/A

Start date: 2014 End date: 2016

Commitments Aim:

These commitments were proposed by Albanian civil society members, and they aim to improve transparency in the administration and management of natural resources, such as water and protected areas. The commitments entail the publication of concessions to private companies to use natural resources and the creation of a public database on polluted areas. Additionally, the commitments call for awareness-raising campaigns to inform citizens on the consequences of pollution in their communities.

Status

Commitment 2.2

Midterm: Limited

The Law on the Integrated Management of Water Resources (2012) mandates the creation of an electronic portal called the national register of permits, authorizations, and concessions. At the time of the action plan adoption, there was a water use database on the website of the Ministry of Environment. Available at bit.ly/1W7xVCN. The database showed authorizations on the use of water resources and was available in Excel format. The portal on water resources administration and management represents a much more comprehensive undertaking. It is part of a complex assistance project initiated by the World Bank in May 2013 in cooperation with respective ministries and the Technical Secretariat of the National Council of Water. The project provides assistance to the government in designing the national strategy of integrated water management, developing the water cadastre, and creating the electronic portal on water resources administration and management.

At the midterm, the electronic portal on water resources administration and management was in the early stages of development, and its progress depended on the development of water cadastres. The government’s midterm self-assessment reported this commitment as not implemented. IRM progress report, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/sites/default/files/Albania_Second%20IRM%20Report_for%20public%20comment.pdf.

End of term: Limited

The government’s end-of-term self-assessment states that this commitment was transferred from the Ministry of Environment to the Ministry of Agriculture, but no further action has taken place.

The design of the portal has not advanced since September 2015. The water cadastre remains at an early stage of development. In early 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture opened a tender for technical supervision, verification, and independent validation of a Geographical Information System (GIS) water cadastre. APP, Bulletin No. 4, 1 February 2016, https://www.app.gov.al/ep/DF_DocumentViewer.aspx?id=e74ba95d-41c0-43ed-9df6-fcdf288185b7. According to the terms of reference, this service contract will be carried out through 34 working days over a 12-month period, thus extending into 2017.

Commitment 3.1

Midterm: Limited

At the time of the OGP action plan's publication (July 2014), a database of protected areas was online at the Ministry of Environment’s website along with a map of protected areas. The development of this portal was entrusted to the National Agency of Protected Areas. At the midterm, the development of the portal was at an early stage. The portal was meant to provide more detailed information on every protected area, including plans, activity, flora, fauna, etc. The government’s midterm self-assessment suggests this commitment was partially implemented. However, it does not report on specific implemented activities, with the exception of creating the template database for electronic access to protected areas. As the commitment’s description suggests, the portal will serve also as a channel for public consultation of legal documents related to environmental protection. IRM progress report, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/sites/default/files/Albania_Second%20IRM%20Report_for%20public%20comment.pdf.

End of term: Limited

Although the National Agency of Protected Areas has carried out significant work to establish a database of protected areas, the commitment’s implementation remains limited considering its intended scope. The agency has designed a complete database (HTML format) of protected areas as a subsection of its website, including basic descriptions and information about each of these areas. See section at http://akzm.gov.al/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=category&task=category&id=5&Itemid=289&lang=en. However, it does not include digital maps, and it did not hold an interactive consultation forum on draft laws, regulations, and strategies on protected areas.

Did it open government?

Both commitments are highly relevant to OGP values and are in line with civil society recommendations to improve transparency and to open access to natural resources data.

Commitment 2.2

Access to information: Did not change

Commitment 2.2 had limited progress, which has resulted in limiting the actual results of this important initiative. CSO stakeholders stated that although the commitment had good intentions the timeline for implementation was unrealistic.

Commitment 3.1

Access to information: Marginal

Civic participation: Did not change

The complete implementation of the commitment would have improved access to information via the portal, as well as GIS links and civic participation through consultations. The national agency offers basic information on protected areas, which marginally improves access to information as these facts were not publicly available prior to this commitment. http://akzm.gov.al/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=category&task=category&id=5&Itemid=289&lang=en. Since the portal does not provide a way for the public to comment on legislation, this commitment has not created any opportunities for citizen participation.

Carried forward?

Commitments were not carried forward in the new action plan.

Albania's Commitments

  1. Transparency of government reporting

    AL0061, 2018, E-Government

  2. E-government

    AL0062, 2018, E-Government

  3. Improved business regulation

    AL0063, 2018, Capacity Building

  4. Safe communities

    AL0064, 2018, Anti-Corruption Institutions

  5. Improvement of database/portal with coordinators’ data of the right to information and transparency programs

    AL0044, 2016, E-Government

  6. Budget transparency

    AL0045, 2016, E-Government

  7. Integrated Registry of Citizens’ Housing

    AL0046, 2016, Citizenship and Immigration

  8. Establishment of electronic Registry for public notification and consultation

    AL0047, 2016, E-Government

  9. Digital archive

    AL0048, 2016, E-Government

  10. Creating a database for archiving and publication of research funds and programs in Albania

    AL0049, 2016, E-Government

  11. Commitment to publish online central and local government legislation in open systems and for free

    AL0050, 2016, Capacity Building

  12. Commitment to Open Standards for Contracting

    AL0051, 2016, E-Government

  13. Starred commitment Implementation of the Law "On protection of whistleblowers", capacity building, amendments and its bylaws

    AL0052, 2016, Anti-Corruption Institutions

  14. Provision of electronic services

    AL0053, 2016, Capacity Building

  15. Establishment of multifunctional centralized system for building permits

    AL0054, 2016, Capacity Building

  16. Establishment and distribution of digital counters

    AL0055, 2016, E-Government

  17. Service passport standardization

    AL0056, 2016, Capacity Building

  18. Citizen Card

    AL0057, 2016, Capacity Building

  19. Electronic system of registration of e-prescription in the Republic of Albania

    AL0058, 2016, E-Government

  20. Electronic Monitoring System of Forests

    AL0059, 2016, Anti-Corruption Institutions

  21. Integrated electronic system for professional licensing of individuals and legal entities that will operate in the field of study design and supervision of commissioning of construction works

    AL0060, 2016, E-Government

  22. Standardization of corruption complaints

    AL0031, 2014, Anti-Corruption Institutions

  23. Electronic registry of energy and industry permits

    AL0032, 2014, E-Government

  24. Implementation of public expenses module in "open data" format

    AL0033, 2014, E-Government

  25. Promoting OGP values among local authorities

    AL0034, 2014, OGP

  26. Database on Economic Assitance Beneficiaries

    AL0035, 2014, E-Government

  27. Electronic portal on water resources administration and management

    AL0036, 2014, E-Government

  28. Single window

    AL0037, 2014, E-Government

  29. Electronic access to protected areas

    AL0038, 2014, E-Government

  30. National geoportal

    AL0039, 2014, E-Government

  31. E-­Albania

    AL0040, 2014, E-Government

  32. E-­document

    AL0041, 2014, E-Government

  33. Starred commitment Law on whistleblowers protection

    AL0042, 2014, Legislation & Regulation

  34. Police Service Offices

    AL0043, 2014, E-Government

  35. Open data portal

    AL0001, 2012, Open Data

  36. e-Acts

    AL0002, 2012, E-Government

  37. e-Parliament

    AL0003, 2012, E-Government

  38. Extension of the governmental network, GOVNET

    AL0004, 2012, E-Government

  39. e-government interoperability framework, e-GIF

    AL0005, 2012, E-Government

  40. Government datacenter

    AL0006, 2012, E-Government

  41. Excise system

    AL0007, 2012, E-Government

  42. Starting of the e-Tax system

    AL0008, 2012, E-Government

  43. Starred commitment Online state matura

    AL0009, 2012, E-Government

  44. The regulation on ethics in research and publishing

    AL0010, 2012, Education

  45. Digitalization of higher education accreditation process

    AL0011, 2012, E-Government

  46. U-Gov system

    AL0012, 2012, E-Government

  47. Online inspections of courts and judicial hearings

    AL0013, 2012, E-Government

  48. Digitalization of the file transfer process

    AL0014, 2012, Judiciary

  49. e-Employment project

    AL0015, 2012, E-Government

  50. e-Concessions procedures

    AL0016, 2012, E-Government

  51. Amendment of the law “on the right to information for official documents”

    AL0017, 2012, Justice

  52. Drafting a new law on "notice and consultation"

    AL0018, 2012, Legislation & Regulation

  53. Tracking project

    AL0019, 2012, E-Government

  54. Digitalization of the notary register

    AL0020, 2012, E-Government

  55. Online citizens’ claims in the judiciary system

    AL0021, 2012, E-Government

  56. Work inspection, online complaint

    AL0022, 2012, E-Government

  57. Financial module of all educational institutions

    AL0023, 2012, Education

  58. Starred commitment Audio and video recording of judicial hearings

    AL0024, 2012, E-Government

  59. Starred commitment e-Albania portal

    AL0025, 2012, E-Government

  60. e-Inspection portal

    AL0026, 2012, E-Government

  61. Starred commitment Portal www.gjykata.gov.al

    AL0027, 2012, E-Government

  62. Disclosure of the list of payments made daily by the government units

    AL0028, 2012, Fiscal Transparency

  63. e-Procurement system for all small purchases of public procurement

    AL0029, 2012, E-Government

  64. Implementation of the EITI recommendations

    AL0030, 2012, Extractive Industries