MJAFT! and the project partners, through the project “Increasing Civic Engagement in the Digital Agenda – ICEDA”, co-funded by the European Union, are pleased to inform you that 15 sub-grants (small grants) have been awarded through the first cycle of the small grant scheme LOT 1: Awarding sub-grants for e-Government Support Centers.
The 15 small grants were awarded to 3 civil society organizations from Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, which in the upcoming period, as part of the ICEDA network, will work on the establishment and management of civic centers for e-Government support where they will help their target groups use certain e-services and spread digital literacy.
Below you can find more information about the awarded small grants and the CSOs who have also become part of the ICEDA network, through which they will work together to promote digital literacy, skills, and inclusion at the regional, national, and local levels.
Albania
- Artivista Center: “Digital Agenda Applied for Local Development” in partnership with Nehemiah Gateway Albania, aims at increasing the engagement of CSOs in the shaping and implementation of the Digital Agenda in the two local communities Prrenjas and Pogradec. The project will focus on doing research and analysis to mobilize the project, the establishment and operating of the Digital Agenda Applied Locally – DAAL Centers in the school Nehemiah Gateway Albania (Pogradec), and conceptualizing and implementing a Digital Literacy campaign in both municipalities.
- Epoka e Re (New Epoch): “E-Governance – Youth for Community – “EG-Y4C” “ aims at providing innovative access to public information and other services by youth for the community and vulnerable groups, and increasing the civic engagement and access to public services in the 9 rural Administrative Units of Fier Municipality. To achieve these goals, apart from establishing an e-Government support center in the Youth Center Epoka e Re (Fier Municipality), they will organize focus group discussions with the Administrative units of Fier Municipality in order to gather information about the difficulties citizens face in accessing different public services, workshops with municipality representatives on the most requested services by citizens and their potential for digitalization, development of the Fier Local Platform FLP, training for e-services of the municipality, workshops for the media on the new platform and the new e-services, and raising awareness activities.
- European Youth Association: “Promoting the Digital Services for Citizens in Elbasan and Durres” in partnership with Posta Shqiptare Sha (Albanian Post s.a), aims at providing the citizens with wide access to the e-services of the government through the Postal Service. They are going to establish the e-support center for citizens within the Albanian Post premises and will assist the citizens in using 33 e-services. The project aims at achieving its goals also through the establishment and training of a Pool of Volunteers who will hold stands for assisting the citizens in the Albanian post, promotion of the easy access of the services through social media and short presentations, and setting up a social media profile and interactive web page.
Kosovo
- Democracy Plus: “Fix my community through ndreqe.com” ‘s main objective is to foster online civic participation through engaging citizens to report their complaints and increase responsiveness from institutions. In partnership with the Municipalities of Obiliq, Fushë Kosovë, and Vushtrri, they will foster the creation of E-Government Support Centers in each of the municipalities in order to report issues via ndreqe.com. The project will also increase the responsiveness of Kosovo municipalities in addressing issues reported by citizens on the platform.
- Forum for Civic Initiatives: “CSOs going Digital” in the next 18 months will cooperate with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration – Department of CSO, to make it possible for all CSO-s to register and use the online portal ojq.rks-gov.net. They will open a small office within the Department where they will provide on-spot support for CSO on how to use the portal and other details for the service. Moreover, the team behind FIQ will work on increasing the capacities of CSO-s and media regarding the Digital Agenda.
- Kosovo Youth Council: “Sporteli2” in cooperation with the non-profit organization edIT will start the development of a user-friendly portal as part of the project “Sporteli24” which aims to facilitate the access by providing guidelines to e-services for citizens thus increasing quality in receiving online E-governmental services. This platform will also be an integrated part of the institutionalized platform where the e-services are published. The project will hold a lot of outreach activities to promote the usage of e-services offered by public institutions. The organization will be working with all public institutions to list their services, however close collaboration will be with the Agency for Information and Society.
Montenegro
- Center for Youth Education: “E-services 4 Me” sensitizes the awareness rising about e-services and their benefits, along with the establishment of the center that will have close cooperation with the Municipality of Podgorica. It will be the first local and professional e-center in the city. The main activity of the e-center will be focused on supporting the promotion, development, and transparency of e-services in this Municipality. Step by step instructions for the already existing e-services of Podgorica will be available at the center’s premises, as well as help via phone, and via email. The center will also promote the already existing services to the citizens while targeting the younger population through social media promotion. Through their cooperation with the Municipality, CYE will closely work on supporting the development of at least one new e-service for the citizens that would be focused on young entrepreneurs.
- Roma youth organization “Walk with us- Phiren Amenca”: “E-center Digital Classroom” has a strong partnership with the primary school ‘’Božidar Vuković Podgoričanin’’. They will establish an e-center located within the school’s premises and it aims to reduce the digital divide between the Roma and non-Roma population. The center will serve as a constructive support system in accessing and running Government e-services used in education. Within the center, teachers and students will get assistance on how to navigate in online space as well as on how to use the Government education-related e-services. Within the e-center and with the support of their partner school, Digital classroom will work on preparing, publishing, and distributing to the schools the Handbook for digital teaching that will consist of concrete guidelines for creating digital and innovative content on Governmental educational platforms as well as clear instructions for e-services used by teachers dnevnik.edu.me.
- Super Hub Pljevlja: “Digitalizing The North” will work on establishing an e-center within the local startup center with the support of the Municipality of Pljevlja, and help with using the existing e-services within the eGovernment portal will be available to the citizens of Pljevlja every working day from 11 am to 2 pm. Besides, free consulting and support services for startup entrepreneurs, innovators, and interested teams will be available at all times. The organization will also create training for the local officials, and a media series of 12 shows that will cover specific e-services and will be broadcasted at the local TV station, as well as available online, taking into consideration that a lot of elderly people watch TV, especially in the rural areas.
North Macedonia
- Association for Citizen’s Tolerance and Cooperation (ACTAC): “E-service as a Self-Service Shop” aims at sensitizing the citizens about the possibilities of the Digital Agenda and the use of e-services. The activities will cover the municipalities of Prilep and Dolneni where the target group is the population with a low socio-cultural standard, Roma people, illiterates and/or “technically illiterate people”, the elderly, people with long-term unemployment, people with basic IT literacy, people from disabling environments, rural ethnic and confessional mixed population. The project will establish 3 types of info center: physical in Prilep (open for citizens 3 days per week), online (informative, educational and support platform for the use of e-services and production and broadcasting 18 educational multimedia products for e-services); mobile (20 traveling info sessions on 20 different locations for providing on-spot support to the citizens for the usage of specific e-services and digital skills).
- Rural Coallition: “Digitalization in agriculture – NOW!” aims at increasing trust in the institutions of the system by increasing the use and quality of e-services by the local community. This will be achieved through increasing the visibility of issues related to the Digital Agenda in the sector of agriculture and rural development, improvement of the level of digital literacy and knowledge of digital tools and services to the rural population in North Macedonia, but also through strengthening the online trust and security of the e-services system through establishment and practice of digital tools and communication. Local media will be also involved in the part of presentation and promotion of Digital Agenda on the local level, while by creating a rural digital platform and establishment the local e-support center in Kichevo, the project will contribute towards increasing the quality and comprehensibility of e-services, but also increasing the percentage of their utilization by the rural population. The project activities will be implemented in 5 regions in the country (Pelagonia, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast, and Polog region) and the organization will have direct cooperation and support from the Ministry of agriculture, forestry and water supply, and the municipalities Vrapchishte and Krivogashtani, in order to ensure a systematic approach in the digitalization of the sector.
- SmartUp – Social Innovation Lab: “Inclusive and successful digital transformation for all – “DIGIT-ALL” “ aims at establishing an operational e-government support center under the City of Skopje and developing a support program for citizens for using the e-services that the City offers. The Center will be established in the frame of the already existing Info Center as part of the premises of the City of Skopje and will be open for the public from Mon-Friday 10 am – 15 pm. The activities of the e-center are complementary with the Info Center activities, as many citizens recognize it as a “help center” for issues regarding city administration services, and the main focus would be on providing support for the usage of the E-tax system, e-submission for subsidies (Inverter subsidies, Bicycle subsidies. Subsidies for e-scooters, Subsidies for pellet stoves) and submitting e-applications for financial support (grants) from the budget of the City of Skopje for CSOs and individuals (Public call for projects in the field of education, sports, culture, business incubators, and innovation centers, the interest of young people, associations and foundations – NGOs, and social, child and health care.). Apart from these activities, the project also focuses on the redesign of specific e-services and digital applications for citizens that are provided by the City of Skopje.
Serbia
- Center for Social Integration: “Digitization – a link for the future” in partnership with the City of Vranje aims at educating the citizens, with the accent on vulnerable groups, in order for them to acquire basic digital skills and create audio/video guide on a web platform with instructions on how to use the e-Government portal. They intend to achieve this through educational workshops with citizens (especially members of vulnerable groups and lower social classes) on the basics of using the Internet, web browsers, email addresses, MS-office, and e-Government. They foresee the creation of an interactive web portal as an e-Government support center for the needs of practical instructions to citizens on how to use the e-Government portal, development of a manual on basic digital competencies, and creation of an easy-to-understand and efficient audio/video content showing the use of the Internet and e-Government, step by step. Through this project, the organization will establish an e-Government support center on its premises in the City of Vranje.
- Deli – Space for creative activity: “eGovernment in the City of Nis” in partnership with the Local Economic Development and Projects office of the City of Nis, aims at promoting the Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans at the local level with the focus on local eGovernment usage and its further development in partnership with the Local Economic Development and Projects office of the City of Niš and local media. Through this project, the organization will establish an e-Government support center on its premises in the City of Nis. They will also work on increasing the usage of the existing local e-services of the City of Nis by the citizens through their direct presentations on the counters of public administration and in rural areas. Deli will be a recording video tutorial on the existing local e-services and broadcasting of them in partnership with the local media and social media activities.
- SINHRO: “Promoting Digital Agenda and e-Services in the City of Pancevo” in partnership with the City of Pancevo and CSO “Center for education and education – CETRA”, aims at strengthening the capacities of the local CSOs and media for promoting issues arising from the Digital Agenda, and empowering the participation, role and influence of the CSOs and citizenship in the further development of efficient local and national e-Government systems. It also aims at increasing the citizen demand for usage of quality local and national e-services through education and awareness-raising in the City of Pancevo. Through this project, the organization will establish an e-Government support center on its premises in the City of Pancevo.
The project “Increasing Civic Engagement in the Digital Agenda – ICEDA” is implemented by the Metamorphosis Foundation (North Macedonia), the Academy of e-Governance (Estonia), Levizja Mjaft! (Albania), CRTA – Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (Serbia), NGO 35mm (Montenegro) and ODK – Open Data Kosovo (Kosovo). The project is being implemented with financial support from the European Union.