ZAGREB, October 23, 2019 - Computer fraud has been on a steady rise in Croatia, the Police Directorate told a press conference on Wednesday on the occasion of European Cyber Security Month.

"In the first nine months of this year we recorded a rise in computer fraud of 10 percent compared to the same period last year. Most of the reported cases related to so-called CEO fraud where a person impersonating the CEO of the targeted company sends an email to the accounts department to transfer a sum of money to another account. There are also increasing reports of so-called Nigerian prince scams where naive citizens are asked to pay hefty sums," said Renato Grgurić, chief of cyber security at the Police Directorate.

Given that perpetrators of such crimes are from African countries, police have difficulty tracking them down because of a poor exchange of information with police services in those countries, while information exchanges with EU countries via Europol are more than good, he said.

Citizens were advised to be extra cautious when sharing personal data on social media and to make online payments using only secure websites. "Any suspected attempt of fraud should be immediately reported to the police," Grgurić said.

Svan Hlača of the National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) underlined the importance of raising public awareness of cyber security, with emphasis on network and information security.

He said that this year the National CERT would focus on maintaining the high level of security for internet users and using modern information and communications technologies given that the number of non-technical incidents relating to fraud, unsolicited emails and harassment was on a steady rise.

More IT news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, October 10, 2019 - Croatia will sign a statement of cooperation establishing a European Blockchain Partnership, the government decided at its cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The government endorsed the Declaration Creating a European Blockchain Partnership and authorised Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts Darko Horvat to sign the document.

Blockchain technology enables distributed public ledgers that hold immutable data in a secure and encrypted way and ensure that transactions can never be altered.

"Distributed ledger technology” (DLT) is finding a broad range of uses. Data storage, financial transactions, real estate, asset management and many more uses are being explored.

Horvat underscored that blockchain technology is completely transparent and immune to manipulation, corruption and absolutely trustworthy and tested.

He added that this technology is applicable to a broad range of industries - energy, health, security, finance, all data storage registers, etc.

The minister noted that most EU member states had signed the declaration which creates an international space for research and development of that technology as well as access to funds of 300 million euro which will be made available to member states.

He explained that 24 EU member states had signed the declaration on the use of blockchain technology and that many had already recognised its value.

Horvat presented the example of Slovenia which created 13,000 jobs directly or indirectly connected to developing blockchain technology and related projects.

One of the benefits of this technology could be to remove the possibility of mishandling the counting of votes and election results, Horvat added.

More IT news can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, September 26, 2019 - Croatia ranks 51st in the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2019 among the world's 63 leading economies, slipping seven spots from last year, the National Competitiveness Council (NVK) said on Thursday.

The ranking was topped by the United States, ahead of Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Hong Kong, Norway and the Republic of Korea.

The results were published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) from Lausanne, of which the NVK is a partner.

The IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking measures countries' capacity and readiness to adopt and explore digital technologies as a key driver for economic transformation in business, government and wider society. It examines three factors: knowledge, technology and future readiness, and uses statistics and opinions of business leaders.

The study found that the factors positively affecting Croatia's position in the ranking are knowledge (the pupil-teacher ratio in tertiary education, the number of women with degrees, the number of women researchers and high-technology patent grants) and technology (expenditure on research and development).

The weaknesses identified include international experience, foreign highly-skilled personnel, employee training, immigration laws, development and application of technology, agility of companies, use of big data and analytics, knowledge transfer, and private-public partnerships.

The considerable fall in the ranking shows Croatia's lack of readiness to adopt technologies and create a stimulating environment to keep up with global, and especially digital, development, NVK president Ivica Mudrinić said.

It is high time we activated our resources in seeking solutions that will speed up our development and increase Croatia's competitiveness, he added.

More news about Croatia’s IT sector can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, September 7, 2019 - Hrvatski Telekom (HT) has invested over 7.5 billion kuna (1 billion euro) in digital infrastructure in Croatia in the last four years, providing households, businesses and the public sector with better and faster access to the Internet and digital content, CEO Kostas Nebis said in the coastal city of Šibenik on Friday, adding that more investment projects are planned.

"I really believe that through investment HT, being a large company, can contribute even more to society, economic development and the digital economy in Croatia, but that would also require the government to reduce parafiscal taxes, especially the right of way and radio frequency charges," Nebis said at an annual meeting with the press, his first since taking over the company's helm four months ago.

"The construction of mobile and fixed convergence networks and services, simplification and digitisation of user experience, and development of HT as a digital company with the adoption of new technologies are our main development goals, along with the further development of broadband services and ICT," Nebis said.

Management board member Boris Drilo said that HT's largest project was the comprehensive modernisation of the mobile network, which is due to be completed by the end of year. His colleague Saša Kramar said that HT had so far digitised over 30 percent of domestic companies with over 25,000 employees, and carried out over 10 "smart cities" projects.

More news about IT sector in Croatia can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, August 28, 2019 - ICT expert Marko Rakar says the data showing that more than one in five Croatians have never used the Internet are not especially worrying as it makes sense that there are people, notably older ones, without access to or the need for the Internet.

A recently published Zagreb Institute of Economics analysis and data of the European Commission's Digital Economy and Society Index show that 21% of Croatians have never used the Internet, whereas the EU average is 11%.

When it comes to the use of Internet services, Croatia is within the EU average. As many as 91% of Croatian Internet users read news online, as against 72% in the rest of the EU.

Sixty-two percent of people who do not use the Internet are older than 65 and 34% of those in the 55-64 age group have never used it.

Rakar says one of the reasons why the Internet is not used is the number of people who are older, have lower education and are poorer. The fact that Croatia has more smartphones than inhabitants suggests that a large number of people do not even realise they use the Internet, he adds, noting that anyone watching cable TV, for example, uses the Internet.

According to national statistical office (DZS) data from December 2018, 82% of households in Croatia have Internet access. Rakar says this means that practically everyone in Croatia has it, as those without it either have a smartphone, and therefore have unregistered Internet access, or can access it elsewhere.

He says there are rural areas and islands without or with poor Internet connection, but the state is investing in fixing that and subsidising the construction of telecommunication networks there.

A DZS survey shows that 57% of respondents who do not have an Internet connection cited no need to use the Internet, a considerable number cited too high service and equipment prices, insufficient knowledge about Internet use, concern for the protection of privacy, and available access at another location.

Rakar says Croatia should not be compared with Denmark, for example, where only 2% of inhabitants have never used the Internet, because of their different economies, histories and infrastructure.

Asked if there is a link between the digitisation of bureaucratic services which citizens use and the interest of the elderly in the Internet, he says there is.

"The digital services the state promotes are not digital services at all, just a bureaucratic service working on the screen. That's not the point of digitisation. A real digital society... looks at all the needs of citizens, businesses, the state and everything else and then does all the processes in the most simple and most automated way so they are available to everyone, and we are just not doing that."

Croatia is behind most EU member states in the digitisation of public services and surveys show that its business community uses the Internet less than the rest of the EU. Rakar says computer literacy in 2019 is essential for any competitiveness, not just the state and businesses, but individuals too.

"A person who hasn't mastered at least basic computer skills is cut off in the digital world. They can no longer communicate because everyone communicates via the Internet on social media and apps. Another problem is keeping informed, as they can no longer see what happens around them," Rakar says, adding that elementary computer skills are essential to any job in the 21st century.

More IT news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, August 26, 2019 - As many as 21% of Croatia's population has never used the Internet, as against 11% in the whole of the European Union, the Jutarnji List daily wrote on Monday describing this statistics for Croatia as alarming.

The daily newspaper quotes the findings of the European Commission's Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI).

DESI is a composite index that summarises relevant indicators on Europe’s digital performance and tracks the evolution of EU member states in digital competitiveness, also shows that there are still large disparities across EU member-states regarding the use of internet services

For instance, in Croatia every fifth citizen has never used Internet services as against a mere 2% in Denmark.

Broken down by age, all in the age cohort up to 25 years in Croatia use the Internet. Internet use is widespread among Croatians aged between 25 and 34, and a mere 1% of the Croatians in this age cohort have never used the Internet, however, 62% of Croatians aged above 65 have never been online, the Jutarnji List daily writes.

"Over the past year, all EU countries improved their digital performance. Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark scored the highest ratings in DESI 2019 and are among the global leaders in digitalisation. These countries are followed by the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Ireland, Estonia, and Belgium. Some other countries however still have a long way to go, and the EU as a whole needs improvement to be able to compete on the global stage, " the Commission has said while presenting the latest DESI index for 2019.

More IT news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, July 29, 2019 - A Japanese high-tech invention called MUAMA Enence Instant Translator enables communication in 40 languages, including Croatian, the German website WOWTechLife says.

"MUAMA Enence is a state-of-art Japanese technology which allows you to instantly communicate with another person no matter what language he or she speaks. This tiny but genius device instantly records and translates over 40 languages, which makes communication easy & fast. You can use it when travelling, for business meetings or whenever you wish to say something in a different language. With Enence you instantly communicate in almost any language in the world," the website says.

The device is easy to use although it is equipped with the latest technology. "All you need to do is to choose the language in which you want to communicate and record your words or sentences. You can even record really long sentences and Enence will translate everything perfectly," WOWTechLife says.

The device allows two people speaking two different languages to hold a conversation with ease.

"Just press the A button and start talking. Then release the A button and your Enence Translator will automatically translate your speech into a selected foreign language. Your foreign friend will hear your translated speech in a native speaker-like manner. Press button B - let your foreign friend speak. Then release the B button and your Enence Translator will automatically translate their speech back into your native language."

The supported languages include Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.

More IT news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, July 15, 2019 - The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Division of the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) says that ICT should be defined as a strategic industry and that specific incentive measures should be taken to retain its specialists in the country and boost the sector's competitiveness.

Presenting their demands to the government in the form of "five small measures" and an analysis of the ICT sector over the past ten years, the association's representatives told a press conference earlier this week that it was highly important for Croatia to keep its digital talent and professionals in the country in the next ten years.

HUP director-general Davor Majetić said that the global economy was digitised and that therefore the results and status of the ICT industry were even more important.

"What 20 years ago was computerisation, with only a few computers in companies, is now digitisation, and in order for it to become a reality, a strong ICT sector is needed. That's why this industry is also very important for all other sectors," Majetić said.

He said that in Croatia last year the ICT industry had started the largest number of companies, generated the highest revenues, created the greatest added value and paid the largest amount of taxes and contributions per employee into the state budget, slightly over 4,400 kuna (600 euro), while contributions from other industries ranged from 1,000 kuna (135 euro) to 2,500 kuna (337 euro) per employee.

He went on to say that last year ICT was the second largest exporter after the metal industry and the second largest employer after the food industry, and that in the last ten years it had observed the large increase in employment as personnel costs had risen by 70 percent, from 3.8 billion kuna (513 million euro) in 2008 to 6.5 billion kuna (878 million euro) in 2018.

The head of the HUP's ICT Division, Boris Drilo, presented growth estimates for the industry until 2025, according to which the ICT sector could have 55,000 employees by then, of whom 28,000 in computer programming, while revenues could reach 45 billion kuna (6 billion euro), of which 12 billion kuna (1.6 billion euro) or 23 percent would account for exports.

More IT news can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, June 12, 2019 - Croatia ranked 20th on the European Commission's 2019 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), climbing two places, the Commission reported on Tuesday.

Since 2015, the Commission monitors the digital competitiveness of member states through DESI reports.

Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Great Britain and Luxembourg are the forerunners. Slovakia, Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria were ranked below Croatia.

Croatia's score increased thanks to an improved performance in some of the DESI dimensions measured. Croatia performs well in fixed broadband coverage and improved 4G and NGA coverage, but still performs low in connectivity.

Croatia made progress on internet and digital public services use. Croats are among the EU’s keenest readers of online news, and Croatian businesses use social media, big data and e-commerce. Still, one fifth of Croatians are not yet online. Despite growing demand on the labour market, the supply of ICT specialists is below the EU average.

Among all DESI dimensions, Croatia ranks highest in human capital, with the highest share of ICT graduates.

The Commission's report notes that Croatia has no overreaching digital skills strategy but currently addresses the issue through various strategic documents. It is preparing the ‘National Development Strategy Croatia 2030, which will become the country’s main strategic document.

During the course of 2018 and 2019, Croatia has launched over 40 different digital projects that will further shape the digitisation of the Croatian public administration, the report says.

When it comes to connectivity, despite some progress Croatia, ranked second to last in the EU.

Fixed coverage, at 99.5%, is above the EU average of 97%. Mobile broadband take-up has improved slightly, but also remains below the EU average.

Croatia has improved its fast broadband (NGA) coverage to 83%, which is now the EU average level. On ultrafast (100 Mbps and above) broadband, Croatia is lagging behind significantly, with only 39%, compared with an EU average of 60%. The rate of fast broadband subscriptions increased markedly last year (up from 7% in 2017 to 19%), but remains very low.

The goals set for 2020 as regards NGA coverage are hard to achieve, despite the existence of two national EU-co-financed NGN schemes with a budget of 224.4 million euro (of which 209.2 million euro comes from the ERDF). Both programmes focus on areas where high-speed connectivity is neither available nor planned due to the lack of commercial interest. While the funding is available, the implementation of both programmes is seriously delayed and the milestones are being postponed, putting at risk the absorption of the available funds, the EC says in its report.

The first 5G commercial networks are expected to start operating in 2020.

In the human capital dimension, Croatia ranks 13th out of EU countries, slightly below the EU average. Increasing number of Croats are going online and digital skills oscillate around the EU averages. Croatian SMEs lack sufficient ICT specialists, since at least 57 % of those that needed such specialists in 2018 reported difficulties in filling vacancies. The number of ICT graduates continues to grow. Female ICT specialists represent a very small proportion of total female employment - only 0.9% of employed women.

As for the integration of digital technology within businesses, Croatia ranks 18th among EU countries.

As for digital public services, Croatia ranks 22nd, below the EU average. Croatia performs very well in e-prescriptions, and there is a high level of online interaction between public authorities and members of the public. 75% of online users actively embrace e-government services.

In 2018, Croatia performed better than in previous year as regards pre-filled forms. Furthermore, the availability of e-government services for business is on the rise. Croatia performs well the provision of e-health services and it ranks 10th in the EU as regards online users (22%). 97% of general practitioners use e-prescriptions and 51% of them exchange medical data, the report notes.

It also notes that Croatia has launched the development of an electronic process to link all the data of registering companies and start-ups by developing an electronic one-stop-shop through the e-citizen system. This platform offers services to SMEs, including an e-business service for accessing documents to do with taxation, health insurance or pension matters, while e-fees enable administrative fees and charges to be paid by electronic means. e-Citizen enables easier communication between members of the public and the public sector and makes public sector services more transparent.

In 2019 Croatia is launching the Shared Service Centre (SSC), the e-government cloud solution, to further speed up development of public digital services, the report notes.

More IT news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, May 20, 2019 - Users of Huawei mobile phones in Croatia should not worry about the termination of cooperation between that Chinese company and the U.S. Google, as all applications and services available on their phones will stay the same, however, the situation regarding future buyers remains to be seen, says Dragan Petrić, an executive editor of the IT magazine BUG and Croatia's representative to the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA).

Petrić notes that the sale of Huawei phones has been on the rise in Croatia just as all over the world.

The US has just put Huawei and 70 of its affiliates on an exports blacklist. Google has suspended business with Huawei that isn't covered under open source licensing, Reuters reported Sunday, following the Trump administration's decision to effectively ban the Chinese company in the US.

Petrić told Hina on Monday that this move had unexpectedly complicated the situation on the mobile phone market. We do not think that this will affect customers much or cripple the business of the strong Huawei, although it can have an impact on the extremely strong trend of growth of that Chinese technology giant at the global level, Petrić said.

Dražen Tomić, the owner of the ICT Business portal, said that everything was still unclear. It remains to be seen how the situation will unfold and how Huawai will respond, he said, adding that for most Huawai phone users it would not be a big problem if they were not provided with Google updates.

The head of the Croatian central state office for digitisation, Bernard Gršić told Hina on Monday that this was new information and that the developments should be analysed. He would not answer if Croatia's government would follow the example of the USA and Google.

Croatia has recently signed a memorandum of cooperation with Huawei.

Asked whether some projects had been launched under that memorandum, Gršić said a few meetings were held on future models of cooperation.

Croatia pursues its own policy, but it will be in compliance with EU policies, Gršić said.

More IT news can be found in the Lifestyle section.