Conference

10/03/2015

A two-day conference “Austrian-Kosovar Days 2015” has started at the UBT in Prishtina. Representatives from the Austrian Government and other Austrian institutions, as well representatives of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo are participating in this scholarly event.


The conference is organized by the UBT in cooperation with the Austrian-Kosovar Association, the Alpbach Club Kosova, with the support of the Austrian Embassy in Prishtina, members of the Austrian Kosovo Society in Kosovo, and other important Austrian stakeholders. 


Among the topics that were presented during the opening session, which will be discussed during the two days of the conference, include: Kosovo’s European Future, Austria’s experiences as a country marking 20th anniversary of EU membership, current challenges of Kosovo in its European Union integrations bid, the E-governance as the basis for good governance, e-governance as carrier of reforms focusing on health care, e-governance as a key factor for reforms in Kosovo’s education, economic cooperation between Austria and Kosovo, economic reforms based on e-governance as key factor to future investments of Austria in Kosovo, the e-governance and cooperation in the field of innovations between Austria and Kosovo as key factor for urban and cadastral management, and other topics.


In his opening remarks, UBT Rector Dr. Edmond Hajrizi thanked the participants for being part of the conference, He also thanked the co-organizers of the conference, which, as he put, would provide an opportunity to address a number of the topics of interest for the Kosovar public and wider. 


Mr. Hajrizi noted that the UBT is honored to host this event of the Austrian-Kosovar partnership, describing the conference as an important event in promoting and implementing integrated management.   He said Kosovo involved a high dynamics, a new system, and a new generation of people, and that one of the key priorities were technology, globalization, and human resources.


“We will transform the leadership into partnership with the European countries,” Dr. Hajrizi said among others.


Mr. Mahir Yakcilar, Minister of Public Administration in the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, said the country’s institutions and citizens we committed to building a European Kosovo.


“The Kosovo Government and the Ministry of Public Administration are committed to moving forward with the application of information technology and at the same time to educate people who will become prepared to use the information technology, e-governance, and to build a European Kosovo,” Minister Yakcilar said.


He thanked the organizers of this international conference on e-governance, which, as he put it, is of a paramount importance for the country in terms of the advancement and development of the e-governance in Kosovo.


“The Government of the Republic of Kosovo is committed to reforming the public administration and advancing the e-governance through administrative processes and digitalization of the processes in order to provide qualitative services, efficient application in public enterprises, and more efficient and quicker governance.  To such an end, the Government of the Republic of Kosovo has adopted strategic documents which help electric communications and electronic services.  In 2008, we adopted a strategy on the e-governance while now we have started drafting a strategy for the next five-year period which part of the strategy for reforms in the public administration and the innovation strategy,” said among others Mr. Mahir Yakcilar, Minister of Public Administration in the Kosovo Government.


Addressing the conference, Mr. Christian Rupp, coordinator in the Austrian Government on e-governance, said Kosovo had a solid basis for development, noting that the UBT had the conditions and premises to be a successful stakeholder. 


Commenting on the technology developments in general, he said management played a key role in this respect.  “Technology plays a small part — I could say about 20 per cent — while the rest, which is 80 per cent, involves change of management.  In order to be successful, we need to change the management, to have force of changing (a good management), and we need provision of information,” he said.


Mr. Rupp noted that he was satisfied with the electronic systems that enable provision of electronic services.  “The public sector sends officials documents in an electronic way; answers to the questions of the clients are given in an electronic form; we receive electronic invoices, not printed ones, and this is all legal,” Mr. Rupp said among others.


Kujtim Gashi from the Kosovar Agency for Information Society spoke about the legal framework related to this field, which was adopted in 2013 and 2014.  He said a solid basis was created for the Kosovo institutions to move toward modernization of the public sector. “The Kosovo Government and Assembly have adopted important strategic documents of e-governance which help the development of the e-governance in Kosovo,” he said.


Mr. Gashi mentioned a number of the laws that have been approved by the Kosovar lawmakers, including the law on the protection of personal data, which is a very important one in this field.  He noted that work was underway to adopt a new strategy which would mark significant improvements in this field. 


One of the special guests of the conference is Adriana Boersma, manager of the Microsoft network in over 20 countries.   Addressing the conference, Mrs. Boersma initially spoke about the importance of the Microsoft for the life of the people and easy as possible accesses to the online services. 


“I am honored to be here.  Kosovo is a beautiful country, with many challenges, but with good opportunities for development in different fields.  The new technologic tools have made it possible for the people to have access to electronic services.  Students have been offered access to learning,” Ardiana Boersma said.


She emphasized that the information technology possesses high potentials for the data protection, security of information, and ICLOUD services.  According to her, Microsoft helps reaching objectives, overcoming the challenges and difficulties, and offers higher efficiency in provision of electronic services. 


Mrs. Boersma thanked and supported the UBT president for the partnership in the field of technology and development, expressing her willingness to offer her help to this sector of services and data.  “We want to help you and you have big opportunities in the field and sector of public and electronic services,” Mrs. Boersma said among others.


Mentor Hoxhaj from the State Agency for the Protection of Personal Data noted that one of the main tasks of the agency was finding a balance between the transparency and privacy.  This, he said, involved an ongoing challenge related to the development of the information, which also involves transparency and freedom of expression.


“Finding this balance is one of the ongoing challenges.  We are making efforts to find tat balance and we are working to such an end.   In order to understand better all the challenges and the opportunities that we have together, we need to understand in which world we are living.  We are living in a networked world, we are fully digitalized, and the space we operate and our society are all saved in bits and bytes.  The amount of the information generated within a day is extremely huge.  If in 2013 around 4 trillion gigabytes were generated, in 2014 we have doubled this figure. to eight trillion gigabytes,” Mr. Hoxhaj said among others.


Adriana Boersma: Internet Helped People To Change the World

Following her address to the conference “Austrian-Kosovar Days 2015,” Adriana Boersma, manager of the Microsoft Network in over 20 countries, answered to some of the questions of the UBT News Magazine.


Asked to say if the conference will help the young people understand the importance and the benefits of the electronic networks, she said: “First of all, I think it is a huge opportunity for the students to participate and to be able to see new ideas from other countries.   The students had the opportunity to learn something on the privacy, security, and transparency, which are very important for building a future in Kosovo.  I hope Microsoft can provide a platform in order for you to be successful in the first environment-related tasks.”


“I think internet has helped the people to change the world.  People, students for example, find it easier to use it and they are changing the world, because they have a platform called internet and it is changing day after day with new ideas,” Mrs. Boersma said.


Asked to comment on the protection of the data that the servers of big companies provide, she said: “We do not need to have a database because the iCloud offers the services in order to have safe information, just like the Microsoft representatives explained this today.  We do not need to worry about the things you want to keep, save, and access them.  We do not need to worry about the information technology.  You know how easy and simple you can protect the data through the Microsoft iCloud.  You may be productive by using the Microsoft platform and to start working with new ideas.”