NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR INFORMATION SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT AND ACTION PLAN 49 2.6 E- CITIZENS . . . One cannot asses the greatness and the power of his mind . . . Hegel E-services that shall take into account the needs of the citizens, are one of the fundamental reasons for the overall transformation towards a knowledge-based society. They shall bring a genuine improvement in the quality of the life of the citizens, as well as their increased participation. At the same time, the reforms that shall be indirectly initiated shall have a positive impact on the communication culture of the authorities both at all levels, and among all sectors in the society. 2.6.1 Current Situation Given the data provided by ITU7, the level of Internet users in the Republic of Macedonia is 49 on 1000 persons, which just by itself is an unsatisfactory data. Although the new Law on Electronic Communication provides for a favourable environment, it is in the interest of all of us to find out a quick and efficient manner of increasing the number of Internet users. This is also in correlation with the general level of knowledge among the citizens of the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) and as well as in correlation with the political will for securing a favourable environment for this growth. With the increase of the number of citizens who shall seek their services through ICT, the savings shall be increased in the public administration, the unnecessary expenses in the business sector shall be reduced, and the transparency, responsibility and accountability in the process of communication with the citizens and with the non-Governmental organisations shall be increased. At the moment of preparation of this Strategy, the number of e-points8 is unsatisfactorily small and the entire infrastructure is not functionally developed. In accordance with the analysis of the Metamorphosis foundation9, the elementary knowledge of the citizens in respect to computer usage as a precondition for functioning of the e-services is at the level of 50,3%. However, it should be noted that in the group of citizens that do not poses elementary knowledge predominate the citizens with lower level of education, the unemployed, those older than 40 years of age, the inhabitants of rural areas as well as citizens of similar target groups. This fact reveals a realistic hazard for widening of the digital divide for this group of people that amounts to over 1 million inhabitants in a period of transformation towards a knowledge-based society. A positive fact is that over 60% of them have expressed readiness for learning of ICT. The broadband access to Internet (one of the basic preconditions for growth of the number of Internet users), in the regions in which these citizens live, is either technically or financially unfeasible. Bearing that in mind, the e-points seem to be the only realistic solution for this target group at this moment. Bringing of the Law on Free Access to Public Information represents a sound basis for protection of the rights of the citizens related to the access to information. In the course of 2005, as a legal obligation the institutions shall have to make the public documents and information also 7 8 9 International Telecommunications Union (ITU) - http://www.itu.int, gives the data for December 2002. The Government of the Republic of Macedonia in the responses to the Questionnaire of the EC had provided the following data: "below 5%", which in general sense corresponds with the stated data. The breakdown of internet penetration by states according to ITU is available at: http://www.internetworldstats.com/europa2.htm# mk Public Internet Access Points In the course of 2004 Strategic Marketing and Media Research Institute from Skopje had conducted a research ordered by the Metamorphosis foundation, the findings from which are available in the publication "General Data on the ICT Situation in the Republic of Macedonia 2003-2004" http://metamorphosis.org.mk/mak_vesti_detal.asp?id=100. NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR INFORMATION SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT AND ACTION PLAN