ZAGREB, 6 Feb 2022 - 20 years since its introduction, project Free Electronic Books had more than 4 million users at the end of 2021 and nearly 300 titles, of which more than 250 are written by contemporary Croatian authors.

In 2021, a record 31 titles were published as part of the project. Of the 298 titles published to date, 264 are currently available on the project website.

Last year's titles were published with the financial support of the City of Zagreb, the City of Rijeka and the Ministry of Culture and Media.

According to data provided by the Google Analytics service, in 2021 the project website registered 243,250 users, who read 1,208,869 e-books online and downloaded another 68,629 e-books. This means that users read and/or downloaded a total of 197,498 e-books in 2021.

The most read fiction book in 2021 was the novel "Sloboština Barbie" by Maša Kolanović (4,599 readers), followed by Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" (3,788) and the novel "Tuđi život" (Someone Else's Life) by Marina Vujčić (3,014).

The most read poetry book was "Tri jeseni" (Three Autumns) by Anna Akhmatova (2,357).

As many as 48 titles had more than a thousand readers last year, said the Society for Promoting New Media Literature.

At the end of 2021, the project surpassed 4 million users, which is nearly 200,000 per year, and books were read and/or downloaded 2,336,009 times, which means that each title had over 7,800 users on average.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

February the 4th, 2022 - Croatian public notaries are looking to Germany and adopting a much more digital approach. To those of us who have utilised public notaries (and their infamous stamps) in this country, this will come as very welcome news.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the mandate of the new leadership of the Croatian Chamber of Notaries (UHJK) is looking promising and much more digital indeed. Through the continuation of digitalisation of notary services, we can expect even more services to be made available on screen, including a high degree of legal certainty and dispute prevention, and services involving legal affairs which are related to property rights.

Bodies for a new three-year term were elected at the election assembly, and the president is Zvijezdana Raus-Klier. According to the current news, the plan of the Chamber is to further improve business that will facilitate access to citizens and increase legal security when using the services of Croatian public notaries, especially when it comes to public registers such as land registers and court registers.

"Our purpose and task is to be at the service of all citizens, to prevent disputes, provide security for land registry and court register data and in this context we're going to continue to improve the processes and level of service of the notary profession," said Rausch-Klier.

UHJK plans to finalise many new projects which involve the digitalisation of Croatian public notaries, so from the summer onwards, with the help of a new application related to eNotar, it will be possible to establish a company remotely or make changes to an existing one.

Croatian public notaries should also ''be relieved'' of dealing too much with land registers this year, as proposals for land registry entries and the issuance of excerpts will be able to be resolved electronically. In addition to that, a brand new IT system of registers is being developed maintained by the Chamber (wills, anticipated orders and debentures), with the possibility of introducing new digital registers (such as for powers of attorney and notarial deeds).

The entire digitalisation process for Croatian public notaries is in fact the digitalisation of preventive justice, and this in particular is realised within a separate IT system with the highest levels of digital and legal security, under the supervision of HJK, and not through commercial platforms.

With the support of the Ministry of Justice and Administration, Croatian public notaries up and down the country will soon implement the so-called German model for public notaries ''at a distance'', which will certainly be a relief to not only those carrying out these services but those seeking them.

All this will be done through a combination of videoconferencing and electronic identification and insight into a photo of the party in question from their identification document, and then the parties will be in a ''secure virtual room'' together without the need for physical presence in an office.

It is an application that, as was explained, will be easy to use for all involved parties, but at the same time be maximally secure in terms of cyber security, the protection of personal data, cthe onfidentiality of secrets and compliance with regulations on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Travel costs will be lower, time (and nerves) will be saved, and people will be able to use their time more economically, while documents generated by e-mail will be "available and stored in a suitable e-form and immediately enforceable in e-registers and e-databases such as the land registry, the court register, tax databases, pension and health insurance databases, and the like.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 2 Feb 2022 - Croatia's construction and zoning ministry has developed a new e-service, a construction site diary application within its zoning information system, the ministry stated on Wednesday.

The development of the whole module was financed by the European structural and investment funds. The total project cost amounted to HRK 4.85 million (647,000 euros), with 85% of these costs having been covered by the European Regional Development D+Fund.

The application enables authorized persons such as those in charge of construction sites as well as investors, to gain insight on all construction projects and worksite processes, including all events and activities that may impact progress.

The ministry says the new e-service will facilitate the implementation of investment projects.

For more, check out our business section.

ZAGREB, 13 Nov, 2021 - Croatia has made slight progress in the digitalisation of its economy and society, moving up by one spot to 19th place in the European Commission's 2021 edition of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI).

"All EU Member States have made progress in the area of digitalisation, but the overall picture across Member States is mixed, and despite some convergence, the gap between the EU's frontrunners and those with the lowest DESI scores remains large. Despite these improvements, all Member States will need to make concerted efforts to meet the 2030 targets as set out in Europe's Digital Decade," the Commission said in a press release.

The DESI tracks member states' progress in digital competitiveness, human capital, broadband connectivity, integration of digital technology, and digital public services.

The best performers are Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Croatia lags behind Slovenia, but is ahead of Italy, Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria.

Although Croatia moved up to 20th place on connectivity, it still lags behind the EU average, with a score of 45.4 against 50.2. It scored best on integration of digital technology, ranking 13th with a score of 40 against the EU average of 37.6.

Croatia placed 16th on human capital, with a score of 46.7 against the EU average of 47.1. It performed worst on digital public services, ranking 24th with a score of 52 against the EU average of 68.1.

"While Croatia has good fast broadband coverage (86% national and 39% rural), its overall fixed broadband take-up is slightly below the EU average. One of the positive developments in connectivity is the assignment of harmonised spectrum for 5G in August 2021. This is a stepping stone for further acceleration of the digital transformation and is bringing benefits to both businesses and individuals," the report said.

"The level of at least basic digital skills remains slightly low compared with the EU average. In contrast, for above basic digital skills, Croatia comes in above the EU average. Croatia is progressing its successful implementation of the e-Schools programme, with all Croatian schools (1,320) included in the second phase of the programme," it added.

Croatian enterprises continued to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies, and there has been a sharp rise in popularity of e-invoices, with enterprises’ usage up from 12% in 2018 to 43% in 2020, following the amendment of the Public Procurement Act which made e-invoices mandatory for enterprises.

The report notes that the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development expects to finalise the 2021-2027 National Plan for the Digital Transformation of the Economy mid-2022. The 2021-2029 Smart Specialisation Strategy and the National Plan for the Development of Artificial Intelligence are also under development.

The Commission says that Croatia has taken several steps to provide more digital access to the public administration, for example through the eID notification platform for electronic payment of fees, and that the National Recovery and Resilience Plan lays out an ambitious roadmap, with reforms and investments touching on all dimensions of the Digital Economy and Society Index.

"While Croatia is making modest progress to reach the Gigabit Society objectives, significant improvements are still needed. High right-of way fees are an impediment to VHCN (very high capacity network) deployment. Efficient VHCN deployment could be further facilitated by absorption of EU funds, implementation of the connectivity toolbox and addressing the lack of coordination in permit granting between central and local government, in particular on permit granting and fees. The recent assignment of harmonised spectrum suitable for 5G usage is an important step towards digital transformation, enabling Croatia to take full advantage of a digitalised economy and society, both for households and businesses," the report concluded.

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October the 7th, 2021 - The Croatian Recovery Plan, more precisely the Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO) has been talked about at length recently. In the challenging post-coronavirus age, at a time when global economies are still reeling from the unprecedented and utterly devastating impact of the global pandemic, few things are more important to Croatia than this massive EU payout.

The Croatian Recovery Plan envisages as much as 9.5 billion kuna going directly to the country's much needed digital transformation, which should force Croatia well and truly into modern times and away from excessive paperwork, standing in lines and wasting time.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, in this day and age, smart industries represent the wheel of development of the Croatian economy and society, and the precondition for this doesn't lie solely in digital transformation, but also in the cooperation of the Croatian Government, the domestic economy and the academic community.

Recognising the importance of education about the Smart Industry model in Croatia, Poslovni dnevnik organised a conference entitled Smart Industry 2021, during which, State Secretary of the Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society, Bernard Grsic, spoke about smart industries in the focus of national plans, more precisely the Croatian Recovery Plan.

''Digital transformation is a change from one thing to another, and first we need the awareness that we can and do actually want to do it. Man is at the centre of these events and we mustn't simply allow technology to do everything itself. Priorities for implementing this policy in the field of the digital transition of the economy relate to encouraging digital transformation and the application of advanced technologies in the economy and in society, strengthening strategic digital capacities and increasing the level of digital maturity of enterprises, establishing standardised platforms for connection and business, and the proper development of state information infrastructure.

The Smart Industry seeks to strengthen the competitiveness of a particular industry, which means not only an industrial transition but also social transformation, openness and cooperation from the government, as well as from the economy and from universities. In the Croatian Recovery Plan, the contribution to digital transformation stands at 20.4 percent, this is equal to more than 9.5 billion kuna, which is to be distributed across all segments of society.

The goal is to seize this opportunity and accelerate the digital transformation in the Republic of Croatia, create high-paying jobs in the domestic economy for the implementation of the Croatian Recovery Plan and ensure fast and efficient public administration, as well as position Croatia above the EU average on the DESI index,'' concluded Grsic.

For more on the Croatian Recovery Plan (NPOO), make sure to check out our dedicated politics section.

October 1, 2021 - The European Youth and IT Industry Panel, part of the European Future Conference, talked about the importance of the IT sector and AI technology. The host city of Osijek is already displaying fantastic results in the field as a digital Osijek becomes more and more of a reality.

The last day of September, which is the unofficial start of new victories and losses for the Croatian youth (due to the beginning of the school year and final deadline exams for students), has been completed with a suitable discussion on the future of new generations.

Osijek, the biggest city in the Eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, was the host of the ''Youth and the IT Industry Future'' panel, one of the thematics panels from the European Future Conference.

Along with the Croatian Parliament and Croatian counties, the European Parliament Office in Zagreb hosts thematic discussions in ten cities which are home to universities.

''The European Future Conference is a series of public debates that allows citizens to express their ideas and come up with suggestions for the reforms and future policies of the EU,'' explains the European Parliament Office in their press release.

They added that the centerpiece of the conference is a multilingual platform where citizens can exchange ideas, connect with each other, and have their say on burning issues outside of these organised events.

The panel in Osijek delighted the mayor, Ivan Radić, one of the opening speakers. Radić stated that Osijek has a lot to say and show when it comes to the IT sector as the city aims to rebrand as a place of excellence for this field, aiming for a more digital Osijek.

There is no better proof of that than the Osijek Software City Association, established in 2021 with the goal of promoting the IT sector towards the local community.

''Several leading IT companies in Osijek realised that the youth needs to be introduced to the IT industry in an approachable way,'' said Osijek Software City representative Ivan Ostheimer.

Thanks to their hard work, many local companies in Osijek now hire experts and produce quality software that can then be exported to the global market, in spite of the still challenging economic situation.

The background goal of the European Future Conference is to show people that European Parliament representatives aren't simply being hermits and hiding themselves in the EU Parliament in Brussels or Strassbourg. In that spirit, the Croatian MEPs Karlo Ressler (European's People Party) and Sunčana Glavak (Croatian Democratic Union) participated in the event (Ressler in person and Glavak via video link).

Ressler is the Vice President of the special EU Parliamentary Committee for artificial intelligence (AI). He stated at the panel the European Union currently has ongoing discussions on regulating this new technology. The goal is to find a balance that would use the potential of AI without stopping the industry, while also avoiding negative scenarios such as manipulation attempts that would damage people's lives.

Glavak pointed out how digitalisation now has a key role in every EU policy.

''The goal is for that at least 80% of the EU population to have digital skills by 2030“, said Glavak.

With the panel in Osijek demonstrating the current successes of the IT industry, the aim for a digital Osijek, and seeing the attendance of both political elites and professionals, it seems that this Eastern Croatian city is on a very good track.

Learn more about Osijek in our TC page.

For more about diplomacy in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

September the 30th, 2021 - The Zagreb water system is no stranger to various issues, and with the recent bursting of water pipes in the Tresnjevka part of the city, questions about upgrading how it is all handled, as well as digitalisation, have come to the forefront.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, very frequent ruptures of Zagreb water pipes, which we've been witnessing all the more over recent days, cause enormous problems for residents, do significant damage to the economy and show how important it is to have an optimised and "smart" management system of something as complex as the Zagreb Water and Sewerage system.

The digitalisation of such systems is one of the main activities of the Zagreb-based company Schneider Electric, which is part of the eponymous global corporation based in France.

Here in Croatia, it is most represented in low-voltage electricity equipment and water management systems - in Croatian practice, more drainage because it is a segment that has recently been strongly co-financed from EU funds.

The biggest project of all is in Vukovar

Schneider's efforts, whose largest water project so far is the one with wastewater regulation in Vukovar, to be more strongly present in the modernisation of Croatian water management, especially in large cities, are also along these same lines.

As Tomislav Scrbak, Schneider Electric's sales director for Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, explained at a press conference held in Zagreb on Tuesday, the modernisation and digital management of water supply and sewerage systems are a necessity today because, in addition to security of supply and ecology, they are costly, and those higher costs are ultimately paid for by normal people.

"All modern industries today are optimised and digitised, and the same is the case with strategic sectors such as water systems. Although little has been done in Croatia so far on this issue, there are some bright examples, such as that in Ljubljana (Slovenia),'' said Scrbak.

From this company, whose main segments are IT, energy, industry and construction, they pointed out that they expect a lot from the reconstruction of Zagreb from the 2020 earthquake.

"Our business model is ''open source'', that is, we go into every project with partners because our equipment is open and adaptable for any kind of connection. We're already a leader on the Croatian market of low voltage electrical equipment, we have cooperation in the production of transformers with Koncar, and we're going to the Zagreb renovation project with our partners because Schneider rarely appears independently as a supplier and contractor, and we focus more on equipment production and system integration,'' explained Scrbak.

The company believes that the newly renovated buildings in the Croatian capital should have at least the basic equipment of a "smart home" for energy efficiency in terms of electricity, heating/cooling and water consumption, which, they point out, is now a technology whose price is negligible.

They added that their building management systems are used mainly by all commercial construction, while in residential ones, it is less frequent and more modest.

“Investors in apartments are mostly interested in the lowest possible starting price per square metre for sale. They're less concerned about total energy costs over a period of five, 10 or 20 years. The exception is investors such as VMD, who are already calculating multi-year costs from the very beginning and estimate that a minimal increase in the price at the beginning brings them long-term big savings,'' stated Schneider Electric.

It is otherwise company that operates in more than 100 countries and globally employs 130,000 people with revenues of 25.2 billion euros, as they had last year. Their main global competitors are Siemens and General Electric.

For more, make sure to check out our business section.

August 30, 2021 - If you want to learn more about navigating fake news and contributing to the battle against misinformation, you might want to apply for the Digital Activism Solidarity School in Kaštel Kambelovac. Here's how you can apply by September 10, 2021.

Summer education programmes aren't unusual in Croatia, as TCN reported earlier in May, the five-day Summer Business School organised by Step-Ri Science-Technology Park and the American Embassy in Croatia in June attracted business enthusiasts and entrepreneurs to Rijeka to learn more about the field.

In the final rays of summer 2021, from September 24-26, another education programme will bring its students to learn in the cozy Mediterranean environment of Kaštel Kambelovac. The Digital Summer School, organised by the SOLIDARNA Foundation, aims to promote digital and media literacy to combat the spread of fake news and misinformation.  

As the SOLIDARNA Foundation website states, the three-day workshop will teach the participants to recognise and fact-check fake news. It will also teach people to actively participate in content produced on social media, creating and launching a content alternative to fake news. Finally, the participants will also learn how to use satire in the promotion of human rights and how to communicate their values effectively.

''This workshop is intended for students, socially active individuals and to everyone else under 30 years of age who are interested in manufacturing digital content promoting human rights and fighting against fake news,'' says the public call on the website.

Experts from both Croatia and the wider region will share their knowledge on the subject. The experts include Tijana Cvjetićanin, a journalist at the Bosnian fact-checking site Raskrinkavanje.ba, Emina Bošnjak, executive director of the Sarajevo Open Centre (SOC), Borna Sor, a Croatian satirist (no stranger to TCN) and digital communication expert, Luka Kerečin.

Participation in the workshop is free, with both secured transport, accommodation, and food, but with a limited amount of places. Participants need to bring a laptop with them. Those who want to apply need to send a brief motivation letter about their interests and their past aexperience in activism toThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by September 10, midnight at the latest. The title of the mail must be “DIGITAL YOUTH ACTIVISM” and for all additional questions, you can send an inquiry to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Founded back at the end of 2015 and guided by the teachings of Eleanor Roosevelt, the SOLIDARNA Foundation says it wants to return human rights home ''to the hearts, minds, and lives of ordinary people.''

''The SOLIDARNA Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarity creates new opportunities for all citizens to act in solidarity, in our common effort to protect human rights and meet fundamental human needs, reduce inequalities and expand freedoms in all spheres of society,'' explains SOLIDARNA on its website.

With digital nomads and the digital industry being a more and more recognisable source of income and business in the country, digital literacy and being able to differentiate between facts and lies on the internet is ever more important.

Learn more about digital nomads with our TC guide.

For more about education in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

July the 21st, 2021 - Just how is the much talked about Croatian digital transformation actually going? While the pandemic has seen an acceleration in some respects, according to Biljana Borzan, Croatia still isn't anywhere even remotely close to where it should be.

As Novac/Iva Badanjak writes, Croatian digital transformation is something not only desperately needed here, but is one of the European Union's top priorities for the next decade.

The digital transition of society and the economy should lead to new opportunities for businesses and consumers and the development of digital competences and digital jobs. Digital technologies also have a key role to play in transforming the European economy and society to make the EU climate neutral by 2050, one of the goals agreed by Union leaders.

Various Croatian MEPs were asked to give their views and positions of the Croatian digital transformation in relation to that of other EU member states and the rest of the world.

Biljana Borzan, vice president of the Club of Progressives of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, pointed out that according to the digital index, which combines important elements related to the degree of digitalisation such as human capital, infrastructure, the digitalisation of public administration, etc., Croatia is, rather unsurprisingly, slightly below the EU average.

"However, there are big differences within the EU, and the four strongest European countries are all behind the USA in terms of digitalisation, but the EU as a whole is behind a large number of countries such as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada or New Zealand,'' added the Borzan.

When asked what needs to be done in order to further encourage the Croatian digital transformation, Borzan believes that it is necessary to provide quality infrastructure across the Republic of Croatia.

"Although a large number of households in Croatia have access to the Internet, there are very big differences between urban and rural areas. In addition, Croatia has not come far in preparing for future technologies, and as far as the 5G network is concerned, only one single test has been conducted so far. The great success of local communities in attracting funds from the WiFi4EU programme for free internet in public spaces should, however, be commended,'' said Borzan, adding that special attention should be paid to strengthening the issue of digital literacy and bridging the digital divide.

"It's important that digital is an option for end users, but not the only option," it was noted.

As an opportunity for Croatia, Borzan points out the new Digital Programme, which is a 7.6 billion euro-heavy package, and can be used by small and medium-sized enterprises, and refers primarily to investment in digital technologies and infrastructure. It is also intended for investment in the development of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the development of digital skills and through sectoral digitisation.

"I hope that Croatia will use it better than we have used the European Union funds that have been available to us so far," the MEP concluded.

For more, follow our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 28 June 2021 - Croatia is near the very top among European countries in terms of development of the digital services it offers to citizens, and a total of 89 e-services are available to citizens, Jutarnji List daily reported on Monday.

According to data from the Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society, there are 1,281,911 users of the e-Citizens system in Croatia. During the pandemic, the number of users rose by as much as 50%. On 1 March 2020, there were 839,935 users, and by 26 May, the number had gone up by 441,976.

Interior Minister Davor Božinović told Jutarnji List that 2020, the year of COVID, had forced people or at least hurried them into looking for solutions in the digital world.

"Every time when we move the solution to a problem or the exercise of a right into the digital sphere..., we send a clear message to citizens: We appreciate your time, we are thinking of your health," Božinović said.

It all started back in 2014 with the issuing of new electronic ID cards and launching the e-Citizens system as a central place for e-services.

Of all the applications available, citizens use the application of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) the most. To date, as many as 773,165 applications have been submitted, including 8,401 applications for an e-driver's licence, 3,965 for an e-passport, 4,149 for e-registration of temporary residence of Croatian citizens and 122,568 e-registrations of permanent residence of newborn children.

MUP's IT experts also launched the Enter Croatia project. It is used by foreigners who intend to stay in Croatia, and they can submit their data in advance via the website in order to reduce waiting times at the border. The program has now been upgraded with digital COVID certificate. Over the past year, 2,469,931 announcements of arrival in Croatia have been received through the application. The application also includes a portal via which digital nomads can apply for a temporary stay of up to 12 months. Thirty-six digital nomads have applied to date.

The Commercial Services Agency (AKD) has announced new digital projects, such as the new generation of ID cards and passports, biometric residence permits, and EU digital COVID-19 certificates.

"We will also establish a platform with electronic services for e/m-Signature and e/m-Stamp, create an ID mobile application and enable valid electronic signatures via mobile phones and tablets," said AKD CEO Jure Sertić.

As of 2 August, the e-ID card will be merged with the health insurance card but not with the driver's licence. Minister Božinović points out that an EU directive prescribes the appearance and content of the form of driver's licences and that an ID card cannot contain a driver's licence.

In September, the e-Citizens system will be upgraded to include the 2021 census of the population, households and dwellings. Citizens will be able to register using an electronic census questionnaire, Jutarnji List said.

For more news from Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated news page.