Analysis of introducing one stop shop administrative services: A case study of the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

Reforming the administrative procedures through the implementation of an e-Government programe is an on-going important process for governments around the world. The benefits of using ICT as a catalyst for increasing the efficiency of administrative procedures are well known and confirmed. The implementation of computer based information systems and providing a possibility for institutions to share data and documents among themselves will create conditions for introducing one stop shop electronic services, which will lead to simplifying administrative procedures. The new simplified administrative services will be of great benefit to citizens. Yet, the institutions will face a significant reduction in the number of issued documents required for providing administrative services, which will lead to positive financial implications. In that regard, the goal of this paper is to make an analysis of the financial aspects of introducing one stop shop services in the Republic of Macedonia by using computer based information systems. The analysis was conducted using public data for the administrative services which are currently provided by a closed set of 16 Macedonian government institutions. In this analysis we calculate the financial implications on citizens, businesses, institutions, and other entities in the society. The result of the analysis is the calculation of the overall savings for the society, which can be used by decision-makers in order to adjust the degree of investments in information systems and necessary complementary assets needed for introduction of these services.