The Prague Post
http://www.aaaradiotaxi.cz/index.php?xSET=lang&xLANG=2
October 13th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Prague accommodation
Prague Art & Antiques Prague Art Prague Antiques
Prague Real Estate
Shuttle Bus to/from Prague Airport

Home » Archives » Business

Open access

With Czech Point, ODS takes first step toward culling bureaucracy

By Paul Voosen
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
April 4th, 2007 issue

VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
From left, Prague 13 Mayor David Vodrážka, Topolánek and Langer christen the system.
There’s almost always a long line at the Criminal Records Office, tucked behind the Supreme Court and across the street from Pankrác Prison. Picking up proof of a crime-free record from the office is a necessary evil for starting a business in the Czech Republic, one of 10 procedures that drag the process out for 24 days on average, according to the World Bank.
It’s just one of a multitude of bureaucratic hurdles that entrepreneurs face in this country.
“There’s a fair amount of red tape that any business has to go through in order to register,” said Rick Kovar, co-chair of the American Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Council. Many documents are required, each with an attendant government ministry and queue.
This may start to change, as the Interior Ministry fires a shot across bureaucracy’s bow, launching the first computer terminals of a new centralized information system, called Czech Point, in 35 municipalities, at a cost of up to 10 million Kč ($475,500). Following a pilot program, the ministry plans to expand the project this year to 1,200 town halls, post offices and district offices of the Economic Chamber.
Advocates of the system, including eStat, the efficiency-focused think tank that drafted plans for it back in 2005, say once Czech Point is fully operational, it will eliminate the need of citizens and businesses to wade through a bureaucratic morass that has its roots in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
“Our goal is that we will receive a request from a businessman and Czech Point will take care of everything, of all the documents required,” said Zdeněk Zajiček, a deputy at the Interior Ministry overseeing the project and who is formerly of eStat.
“We don’t want to bother people with queuing anymore,” he said. “The state has all this data and has access to them. So why force citizens to put all the documents together?”
For now, terminals provide certified documents from the business and trade registry and the land registry, IT Ministry spokesman Jan Ferenc said. Information is found while you wait (instead of requiring a return visit) for a 50 Kč fee, comparable to current charges.
The ministry hopes to expand access to the country’s criminal database this September, Zajiček said.
“That’s going to be more difficult because the criminal record is not normally open to the public,” he said. “We’ll have to cooperate with the Justice Ministry on this.”
Eventually, the system should provide access to any information in public registers, Ferenc said. Terminals will allow citizens to certify documents and signatures and transform them into digital versions, which will be filed at appropriate state agencies electronically.
The ultimate goal, besides providing increased efficiency for the public, is a reduction of operating costs of the government, said Edvard Kožušník, director of eStat. This is in line with the pro-business and liberalizing ideologies of eStat and the Civic Democrats.
“The government and its authorities should not stand in the way of entrepreneurial activities,” Kožušník said. “The vexation entrepreneurs feel in dealing with the administration should disappear.”
The reduction in operating costs, which could include the trimming of jobs, will face opposition.
“Bureaucracy is very sturdy and carries an enormous amount of inertia,” Kožušník said. “We don’t face resistance from people, but from the system.”
Expansion of Czech Point to fulfill its potential can’t happen under current legislation, Ferenc said. The second phase will require the approval of the eGovernment bill, which is currently being circulated for evaluation. The proposed law would give electronic documents official weight equal to their paper counterparts.
The last — and most complicated — law the state must pass is a bill reforming the registry system, creating four centralized databases holding all of the public information the government has collected on its people and their businesses. The bill is in the draft stages, and Ferenc expects it to be passed within the year.
Centralization of information raises the hackles of critics concerned about privacy and who will restrict access of clerks operating the terminals. Ferenc finds the concerns ill-founded.
“This information will not be easily accessible,” he said. “Data protection is one of the key points of the project, and a lot of attention is being paid precisely to this issue.”
The government launched Czech Point at Prague 13 Town Hall March 28 in a ceremony that included Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and Interior Minister Ivan Langer.
Before toasting a Czech Point logo with champagne, Langer told a crowd of City Hall clerks that the change is an innovation not only for the Czech Republic, but for the rest of Europe. He hopes the European Union will follow the country’s lead, he added.
Topolánek introduced the system in the context of the rest of the government’s planned public finance reforms, introduced April 3.
“This is going to have a radical influence on providing public services in the country,” he said.
Naďa Černá and Hela Balínová contributed to this report.

Paul Voosen can be reached at pvoosen@praguepost.com


Other articles in Business (4/04/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.