The czech republic aims very high in digitising the country

The two-day conference on digital transformation in Prague held the 22nd and 23rd of November in 2022 was filled with discussions and information about how to navigate the world of digital government administration. It was organized during the Presidency of the Czech Republic in the Council of the European Union, and there were delegations from numerous countries - including Denmark. Regional Digitisation Lead from the Danish Embassy in Prague, Dario Zoric, participated in two different panel discussions talking about the next steps in the digitisation of the Czech Republic. 

“The reason this conferences is important is because it raises awareness of digitisation and gives people a chance to listen to the human side of the concept and not just technical parts,” says Dario Zoric.

The Czech 5th Annual digitisation conference “Smooth Navigation Through the World of Public Administration marked the end of the Czech EU Presidency in the Council of the European Union and the European Commission. It featured a wide range of subjects from communication, launch strategies and cybersecurity to digital identity and best practices. According to Dario, one topic was especially important. 

“Communication might be the most important part of launching a digital solution. There has to be a strong focus on communication towards the citizens both during but also after development, so people see how this digital solution can improve their lives and why they should care about it,” says Dario.

Among the speakers were media professionals, government officials and relevant stakeholder organisations. 

The digital agenda is one of the long-term key priorities of the Czech government and has been a main focus during the EU presidency. The concept of a European Digital Wallet that gives all Europeans the same identification system is among the proposed ideas of digital transformation.

According to Dario Zoric, it is essential to create an atmosphere of trust with citizens, as you implement a nationwide public digital platform.

“As mentioned, communication is vital from the moment of concept inception. It gives people a feeling of involvement and partial ownership over the systems that will affect their lives, so it doesn’t feel like something that is pushed on-to them. Digitisation has to have a human-centric approach, where it first and foremost solves a problem for the citizen,” he says.

Ivan Bartoš, Deputy Prime Minister for Digitisation and Minister of Regional Development in the Czech Republic, wants his country to be one of the most digitised in Europe. The strong push for digitisation will mean a lot of international commercial cooperation and the Danish tech companies will have very strong positions here due to their successful track records.

“Danish companies have very long standing experiences in dealing with communication and creating trust when rolling out a digital solution. They know how destructive it can be when not done properly, and how far you can be set back by just one thing going wrong in this aspect,” says Dario Zoric.