Citizen Card (AL0057)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Albania Third Action Plan 2016 – 2018
Action Plan Cycle: 2016
Status:
Institutions
Lead Institution: Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services Albania (ADISA)
Support Institution(s): Ministry of Innovation and Public Administration and all line ministries; With impact for CSO-s and private sector
Policy Areas
Capacity BuildingIRM Review
IRM Report: Albania End-of-Term Report 2016-2018, Albania Progress Report 2016-2018
Early Results: Marginal
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Yes
Ambition (see definition): Low
Implementation i
Description
Minister of State for Innovation and Public Administration, in cooperation with the Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services Albania (ADISA) undertook the creation of a public document, which, for the first time, will be provided to guarantee citizens and institutions, information on baseline standards for public service delivery at the counter. Institutions and citizens did not know this kind of information previously. This commitment is to be fulfilled by ADISA, as the authority responsible for standardizing methods of delivering public services at the counter, creating the Citizen's Card, which will include for each service/information on ways/channels for obtaining the service: • Rules of conduct at the physical counters; • Rules for the application at the physical service counters; • Rules for obtaining answers to the physical counters; • Rules for appeal; • Models of visual representation at the physical counters; • Service’s necessary elements at the physical counters; • Rules of communication and organizating of information on services; • Rules on the use of shapes and functionality of different channels for delivery of public services from the point of view of natural and legal persons; • Classification of services; • Codification of services; • Forms for service application. Drafting and publication of the card extensively in print or electronic format would ensure increase of transparency, speed of service, service delivery, continuous improvement, performance and it provides alternative means to fight corruption. Status quo or problem addressed by the commitment Develop the Citizen Card is based on Law No. 13, dated 02.18.2016 "On the provision of public services at the counter in the Republic of Albania", Article 35, which provides that: Standardization of delivery of public services at the counter made by national models, as well as European and international models, are based on DCM. No. 343, dated 05.04.2016 is ADISA. The term "model" means: • Rules of conduct at the physical counters; • Rules for the application at the physical service counters; • Rules for obtaining answers to the physical counters; • Rules for appeal; • Models of visual representation at the physical counters; • Service’s necessary elements at the physical counters; • Rules of communication and organizating of information on services; • Rules on the use of shapes and functionality of different channels for delivery of public services from the point of view of natural and legal persons; • Classification of services; • Codification of services; • Forms for service application. Every standard consists of several processes, guaranteeing the standard itself. Finally, processes are measured through indicators whether standards are at the appropriate levels. Main Objective Citizen’s card aims at ensuring increase of transparency, speed of service, service delivery, continuous improvement, performance and it provides alternative means to fight corruption.
IRM Midterm Status Summary
14. Citizen Card
Commitment Text:
Minister of State for Innovation and Public Administration, in cooperation with the Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services Albania (ADISA) undertook the creation of a public document, which, for the first time, will be provided to guarantee citizens and institutions, information on baseline standards for public service delivery at the counter. Institutions and citizens did not know this kind of information previously.
This commitment is to be fulfilled by ADISA, as the authority responsible for standardizing methods of delivering public services at the counter, creating the Citizen's Card, which will include for each service/information on ways/channels for obtaining the service:
- Rules of conduct at the physical counters;
- Rules for the application at the physical service counters;
- Rules for obtaining answers to the physical counters;
- Rules for appeal;
- Models of visual representation at the physical counters;
- Service’s necessary elements at the physical counters;
- Rules of communication and organizing of information on services;
- Rules on the use of shapes and functionality of different channels for delivery of public services from the point of view of natural and legal persons;
- Classification of services;
- Codification of services;
- Forms for service application.
Drafting and publication of the card extensively in print or electronic format would ensure increase of transparency, speed of service, service delivery, continuous improvement, performance and it provides alternative means to fight corruption.
Responsible institution: Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services Albania
Supporting institution(s): Minister of State for Innovation and Public Administration and all line ministries
Start date: 2017 End date: 2018
Editorial Note: For full commitment text, please refer to https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Albania_NAP3_ENG.pdf.
Context and Objectives
This commitment represents a legal obligation under the law 'On the provision of public services at the counter in the Republic of Albania.' In other words, this commitment aims to ensure the routine publication of a citizen’s card, which is an infographic explaining e-services offered on e-Albania. After speaking with the Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services (ADISA), the leading institution, the IRM researcher found that the card should include basic information on: means and channels to obtain a service; requirements and working hours; measurable elements such as costs and deadlines; and points of contact and the process of addressing complaints.[Note130: Information provided by ADISA, October 2017.]
According to the action plan description, the citizen’s cards aim to ensure the increase of transparency, service delivery, and performance, as well as providing an alternative means to fight corruption. Representatives of ADISA suggested the card increases transparency and allows for improvement of services.[Note131: Email communication and telephone interview with ADISA Director Anisa Gjika. October 2017.] Based on the information provided by ADISA, a citizen’s card represents a legal obligation for providing qualitative e-services and with that, also a pre-condition and necessary 'infrastructure' on which basis ADISA will be able to measure efficiency and quality of e-services. The commitment text provides a lot of detail on what the new citizen’s card should include. This commitment is relevant to access to information, as it provides information on how to obtain services and rules of appeal.
The potential impact of this commitment is minor. The e-service information provided on the citizen’s card is the basic information that would guide users through e-services, such as agency, point of access, how to use the service, etc.
Completion
ADISA has reported that the development of the citizen’s card started in 2015 and continued through 2016. During the reporting period ADISA has developed the following elements of the citizen’s card: information on corruption and transparency, speed of the service, execution of the service, continuous improvement and performance.[Note132: Email communication and telephone interview with ADISA Director Anisa Gjika. October 2017.]
In December 2016, the draft of the citizen’s card was submitted to 18 institutions, as reported to the IRM researcher by ADISA.
In May 2017 ADISA and the Minister of State for Innovation and Public Administration (MSIPA) carried out a consultation with high schools and subsequently designed a template, identifying what information should be included on the citizen’s card. In June 2017, additional consultations with responsible institutions were carried out in order to agree on the measures they should undertake for delivering on the citizen’s card obligation.[Note133: Information provided by ADISA, October 2017]
When conducting a focus group, the IRM researcher found that participants were not aware of this commitment, although the majority of them were familiar with the e-Albania portal and, to a certain extent, the digital counters.[Note134: Focus group discussions with youth, women and participants from remote areas, August – September 2017.]
Next Steps
Although this commitment is a step forward in improving public services, the IRM researcher recommends this commitment not be taken forward to the next action plan.
IRM End of Term Status Summary
14. Citizen Card
Commitment Text:
Minister of State for Innovation and Public Administration, in cooperation with the Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services Albania (ADISA) undertook the creation of a public document, which, for the first time, will be provided to guarantee citizens and institutions, information on baseline standards for public service delivery at the counter. Institutions and citizens did not know this kind of information previously.
This commitment is to be fulfilled by ADISA, as the authority responsible for standardizing methods of delivering public services at the counter, creating the Citizen's Card, which will include for each service/information on ways/channels for obtaining the service:
- Rules of conduct at the physical counters;
- Rules for the application at the physical service counters;
- Rules for obtaining answers to the physical counters;
- Rules for appeal;
- Models of visual representation at the physical counters;
- Service’s necessary elements at the physical counters;
- Rules of communication and organizing of information on services;
- Rules on the use of shapes and functionality of different channels for delivery of public services from the point of view of natural and legal persons;
- Classification of services;
- Codification of services;
- Forms for service application.
Drafting and publication of the card extensively in print or electronic format would ensure increase of transparency, speed of service, service delivery, continuous improvement, performance and it provides alternative means to fight corruption.
Responsible institution: Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services Albania
Supporting institution(s): Minister of State for Innovation and Public Administration and all line ministries
Start date: 2017 End date: 2018
Editorial Note: For full commitment text, please refer to https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Albania_NAP3_ENG.pdf.
Commitment Aim:
This commitment aimed to create a “citizen card” to ensure transparency on standards for public service delivery and increase performance of public services, as well as providing an alternative means to fight corruption. According to the Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services Albania (ADISA), a citizen’s card represents a legal obligation for providing quality e-services, and also a pre-condition and necessary “infrastructure” on which basis ADISA can measure efficiency and quality of public e-services. Additionally, the commitment foresees in detail what information the new citizen’s card should include to guide users through e-services, such as agency, point of access, and how to use the service, etc.
Status
Midterm: Substantial
ADISA reported that the development of the citizen’s card had started prior to the commitment in 2015 and continued through 2016. During the commitment’s implementation period, ADISA developed the following elements of the citizen’s card: information on corruption and transparency, speed of the service, execution of the service, and continuous improvement and performance. [80]
In December 2016, ADISA reported to the IRM researcher that the draft citizen’s card had been submitted to 18 institutions, In May 2017 ADISA and the Minister of State for Innovation and Public Administration (MSIPA) carried out a consultation with higher education institutions and subsequently designed a template, identifying what information should be included on the citizen’s card. In June 2017, additional consultations with responsible institutions were carried out to agree on the measures they should undertake for delivering on the citizen’s card obligation. [81]
End of term: Complete
During 2018 the government continued consultations on the citizen’s card with state institutions [82] and also with the public. [83] A draft citizen card was published on the governmental portal for public consultations, but it had not received any feedback from the public. [84] The citizen’s card was approved by the Council of Ministers through Decision No. 623 dated 26 October 2018. [85]
Did It Open Government?
Access to Information: Marginal
The information provided on the citizen’s card is the information that would guide users through e-services, such as agency, point of access, and how to use the service, etc. [86] The card, adopted in October 2018, is useful to improve understanding of and accessibility to public e-services, including citizens’ rights and obligations (although this information can also be accessed by other means such as telephone, websites of institutions, website of the Commissioner for the right to information, and the Ombudsman, etc.). Therefore, the contribution of this commitment to access to information was marginal.
Carried Forward?
At the time of writing this report, Albania had not published its new action plan. It is recommended to develop content and expand the use of the citizen’s card through the OGP agenda as long as it offers new information useful to citizens.
[80] Anisa Gjika, ADISA Director, interview by IRM researcher, October 2017.
[81] Information provided by ADISA, email communication with IRM researcher, October 2017.
[82] ADISA official, interview by IRM researcher, June 2018.
[83] Deputy Prime Minister Senida Mesi inviting youth groups for public consultations, https://www.facebook.com/senidamesi.al/photos/a.1831004317221721/2138893386432811/?type=3&theater
[84] The public consultation portal, https://konsultimipublik.gov.al/Konsultime/Detaje/88
[85] Council of Ministers through Decision No. 623 dated 26 October 2018 published on Official gazette no 155 date 2 November 2018, http://www.qbz.gov.al/Botime/fletore_zyrtare/2018/PDF-2018/155-2018.pdf
[86] Explanation on citizen’s card on ADISA Review, page 44, http://www.adisa.gov.al/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Revista_ADISA.pdf