STRATEGY PROMOTED FOR USAGE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN CROATIA

ZAGREB, July 16 (Hina) - Development and a broader application of information technology in Croatia will help the country's bids to join international political, economic, civilisation and scientific integration processes. Owing to Croatia's almost half- century backwardness in this field, the country must take a short- cut and carry out radical and original models to catch up with the developed countries, said scientists who presented a Draft Strategy for Information Technology Development in Croatia, at the national Sabor on Sunday. The strategy was drafted by a working group, set up at the proposal of Croatian President Stjepan Mesic. The group's head, Velimir Srica, said a crucial role for this progress should be played by the Government, but intellectual and industrial entrepreneurs and companies should ensure major economic conditions for the strategy's implementation. The application of developed information technology will help the state administration and economy to function more efficiently. In addition, it will create more jobs. In relation to the financial aspect of the strategy's implementation, one percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), i.e. some 200 million dollars, should be earmarked annually for this purpose, Srica added. The ultimate goal of the strategy is to enable each Croatian citizen to use Internet for their everyday communications, considering the fact that now Croatia is at the very button in Europe, with only 2.4 percent of population that can use Internet. The document gives proposals and measures for the usage of the information technology in various fields and economic sectors. The success in the implementation of the strategy will depend on national consensus and the willingness of the state to ensure organisation and financial assistance, said the experts who prepared the document. They suggested that it would be good to appoint a minister in charge of information technology, establish a national fund and gather relevant experts. According to the document, there are 1,700 firms in Croatia, capable of the speedy application of new technologies, and about 64,000 legal entities are using information technology in their work. The state administration has over 10,000 computerised jobs, and annually about one billion dollars is spent for the purchase and instalment of the computer equipment. This, however, is much less in comparison to some neighbouring or developed countries. (hina) ms