NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR INFORMATION SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT AND ACTION PLAN The analysis of the strategic measure and the responsible authorities for each of the foreseen e-Government objectives is as follows: 1. Citizen participation in the Information Society building. Citizens have a key role in the information society building process, not only as services beneficiaries, but also as participants in the process, realised through the following activities: • Web-portal design for participation of the citizens in debates, asking questions and initiating new ideas within the frames of the local and central Government (e-democracy); • Participation of experts in the process of proposing laws, by-laws and other initiatives through designing an e-legislation portal for attorneys, barristers, scientists and others (e-legislation). 2. Infrastructure at a satisfactory level. In respect to the public administration (Government, state administration bodies and local selfGovernment units) requires conducting specific activities for ICT-infrastructure provision, that involves the following: • Provision of advanced ICT-solution in the Governmental institutions, including ICT-hardware and software equipment and information systems; • Provision of a single computer network for electronic data exchange between the Governmental institutions and creation of pre-requisites for confidential, secure and safe communication; • Providing a centralised Internet access node; • Providing a system for electronic documents exchange and management and information exchange between the Governmental institutions; • Equipping the municipalities with ICT-equipment and connection to Internet with function of public access points; • Introduction of fast and cost-effective Internet. 3. Legal and institutional framework for Information Society development. The provision of a legal framework by adopting a Law on Information Society is the prerequisite for initiating the implementation of this Strategy. The Government is to encourage the Information Society development through: • Tax relieves for electronically provided ICT-technology services; • Stimulation measures aimed at reducing the Internet-access rate; • Introduction of standards for information systems protection ISO 17799, as well as the ISO 9001 standards for quality of services provided by the public administration in the Republic of Macedonia; • Adopting a national policy on information-communication security and security certification of ICT-systems for classified information; • Security projects for institutions; • Provision of accessibility to public information, acts, laws and documents in electronic format, accessible and free of charge for all users; • Initiatives for creating contents that would attract the usage of on-line services by the citizens. NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR INFORMATION SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT AND ACTION PLAN 29