July the 27th, 2021 - Transparency isn't something the Croatian authorities are all that used to. With corruption apparently being tackled with a wave of new mayors and local government units doing things differently, one continental Croatian town is going a step further. Meet transparent Samobor.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, in July, Samobor became the only city in all of Croatia to boast an automated display of all of the payments, invoices, contracts and purchase orders made by Samobor's administration in one place, thanks to the digital service iTransparency made by the Zagreb IT and consulting company Libusoft Cicom.
This digital service enables the creation of a transparent Samobor, the publication of timely, accessible, accurate and credible information on the implementation of budget items, which, among other things, prevents irresponsible actions and misuse of public funds, while local government units are encouraged to publish and explain their own budget documentation.
At the same time, the general level of information available to people, the media, entrepreneurs and even investors about local strategies and actions and their results has been raised, and it's all available in just a few clicks on the following website: https://transparentno.samobor.otvorenigrad.hr/isplate.
The director of the company responsible for the development of the newly transparent Samobor's service, Marko Ignjatovic, explained just how the system works and what it means for this city.
“Samobor is currently being provided with insight into payments made out to both individuals and legal entities, as well as incoming invoices, contracts and purchase orders, which will provide people with an accurate insight into all operations. On top of that, further improvements in functionality are being made to make new search and filtering capabilities available; according to time and the desired classification.
The possibility of corruption is definitely now reduced to a minimum and from our experience so far, we can say that the first results are visible very quickly. Unlike some competing solutions, our iTransparency system simply connects to other systems, and all of the data comes in automatically. In this way, additional costs and the possibility of mistakes are avoided, and business itself is facilitated,'' stated Ignjatovic.
The value of the project ranges from 20 to 30,000 kuna. and the company's team gradually developed and upgraded it over the years, while the introduction of the system in Samobor was worked on intensively for two weeks.
The iTransparency service is just one of the nine functionalities of the company within the LC Platform Open that can be implemented in the business of counties, cities and municipalities.
"So far, about 20 cities and about 10 municipalities have joined the project, and some more are currently in the process of being introduced. Digitisation and transparency are no longer a matter of choice but a legal obligation. As a direct consequence of the introduction of digitalisation and transparency, JLP (R) S is becoming more open to people, it's becoming easier and faster to communicate digitally, we can facilitate business insight, and it allows for more efficient budget management and the optimisation of investments,'' said the director.
Most of their team, out of a total of 140 experts, are based in Zagreb, but in order to be more easily accessible to many users, some are located in four business centres in Dalmatia, Primorje, Istria and even further east in Slavonia.
So far, they have achieved successful cooperation with more than 1,200 users, which include budget users, utility companies, residential building managers, companies and non-profit organisations, meaning that the newly transparent Samobor is one client in a long line for this successful Croatian enterprise.
“Thanks to 29 years of experience and numerous references, we've become leaders in the segment of software solutions intended for local and regional self-government units. We're proud to be able to stand out in the field of customer support, consulting services, online education and consulting, system and technical support, design and implementation, etc. Thanks to this transformation of business and comprehensive service, in addition to being an IT company here on the Croatian market, we've also profiled ourselves as a successful consulting company,'' stated Ignjatovic.
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