From the summary of the report:

Encryption tools have been viewed as a means of guaranteeing the fundamental rights of connected citizens. However, in the case of Kosovo, those shaping policy have not maximised the potential of these technologies. This report brings attention to this critical issue, outlining how stakeholders across all sectors can take action to protect the freedoms of citizens. The paper begins by outlining how cryptographic techniques have been used to defend civil liberties while also contextualising them in the Balkan country. The following segments are devoted to unpacking relevant Kosovar law, comparing these existing measures to the European Union (EU)’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  A supplemental table offers details on these key statutes, highlighting specific areas where policy measures could be better aligned with EU standards. Finally, the report ends with a set of recommendations that major actors could consider to uphold the rights of Kosovars in our digital age.

This report was prepared by Aaron Spitler for the Internet Society’s 2022 Early Career Fellowship  Program. The opinions expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of the Internet Society, Jožef Stefan Institute, and Open Data Kosovo. Written consent is required for the reproduction of this publication by any third party. 

Please find the report here.

The last two years have given us a deeper understanding of why digitization is necessary to be a part of our daily duties. Digitalization became a must for many (public) services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it also brought more awareness to the lack of e-services at the country level. As the need for digitalization becomes more evident, supporting mechanisms for this process are noted as well. Enhancing digital skills and understanding of e-Governance in a country is an important part of the digitization process as a whole.

The Digital Agenda (DA) is an extensive term referring to the development of the information society. In order to exemplify the current issues relating to the DA in the countries of the Western Balkans, as well as to place focus on the engagement of the civil society in this process, the project Increasing Civic Engagement in the Digital Agenda – ICEDA is currently being implemented. The ICEDA project is co-financed by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Metamorphosis Foundation (North Macedonia) as a leading partner, then by the e-Governance Academy (Estonia), Partners for Democratic Change Serbia – (Serbia), NGO 35mm (Montenegro), Open Data Kosovo (Kosovo) and by Lëvizja Mjaft! (Albania). 

In line with the topics within the DA, the activities and studies of the ICEDA project are focused on the implementation of e-Governance, raising public awareness, digital literacy, and e-participation. Within this framework, in the period March-May 2022, research consistent with the previous studies (conducted in 2020, and 2021) was conducted. The aim of the research is to provide a comprehensive overview depicting the progress made regarding the implementation of the DA in the country during the past few years and incorporate the efforts made in terms of the ICEDA project. 

Find the report in English here.

Utilizing the past experience with partners from the regional network of NGOs “Action SEE” Open Data Kosovo has prepared the policy paper where it analyses the level of transparency, openness, and accountability of the legislative power in Kosovo for the year 2020. The policy paper is a result of extensive research based on scientific methodology conducted by Open Data Kosovo in the past few months. The aim of the overall research is to provide a detailed overview of the situation in Kosovo, and to contribute to the implementation of the public administration reform where the insights from the Assembly are taken in consideration in the development of the Strategy for Modernization of Public Administration. This paper also aims to strengthen the principles of good governance and help institutions implement them more effectively in their daily work.
Access the policy papers in English, Albanian and Serbian.

Utilizing the past experience with partners from the regional network of NGOs “Action SEE” Open Data Kosovo has prepared the policy paper where it analyses level of transparency, openness, and accountability of the office of the Prime Minister in Kosovo for the year 2020. The policy paper is a result of extensive research based on scientific methodology conducted by Open Data Kosovo in the past few months. The aim of the overall research is to provide a detailed overview of the situation in Kosovo, and to contribute to the implementation of the public administration reform. This paper also aims to strengthen the principles of good governance and help institutions implement them more effectively in their work. The methodology and its indicators have been constantly improved and adapted to the respective year’s demands. This policy paper also brings out a comparative element where ODK has drawn an analysis of improvement along the years when the measurement has been carried.
Access the policy papers in English, Albanian and Serbian.

Digitalization in all spheres and for all social groups (without exception) is an effective mechanism for improving the well-being of citizens. This means improving the electronic work and greater efficiency of institutions, organizations and other social entities. The need for digitalization became even more evident due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as it pointed to the urgent need for mechanisms, tools and adapted regulation for better organization and a fully functioning society. Thereby, the so-called “digital gap” occurred, i.e. – the differences between the citizens in the initial positions – for the access to the Internet and to the appropriate electronic devices, and hence the differences in the levels of their digital skills/literacy.

The Digital Agenda (DA) covers the development of the information society in the broadest sense. In order to actualize the issues of DA in the countries of the Western Balkans, the project Increasing Civic Engagement in the Digital Agenda – ICEDA is currently being implemented. The ICEDA project is co-financed by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Metamorphosis Foundation (North Macedonia) as a leading partner, then by the e-Governance Academy (Estonia), CRTA – Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (Serbia), NGO 35mm ( Montenegro), Open Data Kosovo (Kosovo) and by Levizja Mjaft! (Albania).

Although the topic of DA covers a number of aspects, the activities and studies of the ICEDA project are mainly focused on the implementation of: e-government, raising public awareness, digital literacy and civic participation. Within this framework, in the period March – May 2021, a research consistent with the basic study (conducted in the period May – June 2020) was conducted.

The aim of the research is to measure the progress in relation to the initial state of the areas correlated with DA. The analysis resulted in a report that deals with topics related to the chapters of EU legislation, relevant to the DA, i.e. Chapter 10, entitled – “Information Society and Media”.

Find the research in English here.

This report provides an analysis of the 313 contracts monitored in regard to the emergency procurement in Kosovo for the time period of January 2020 – March 2021. The data info of these contracts have been extracted and monitored by Open Data Kosovo (ODK) using the two main data sources: PPRC and ARBK. As such, the gathered data set has been imported to the Covid-19 Contract Explorer (digital platform developed as part of this project). Another point of reference used when analyzing the datasets regarding the 313 contracts, has been the KDI report which has at focus the analysis of Emergency Tenders of the Ministry of Health (4 March to 28 April 2020).

ODK has partnered up with Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) to monitor these contracts and as a result write this report where the figures behind these datasets are analyzed in terms of technical issues and policy related insights. Another goal of this report is to provide additional recommendations on how to address important red flags from the analysis of such data, which can improve the process of the emergency procurement in Kosovo in both aspects.

To read the full report please click HERE.

*This report is part of the project implemented by the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which focuses on improving COVID-19 procurement in order to increase civil society procurement monitoring capacity in certain countries around the world. The focus of this report is the case study of Kosovo as a partaking country in the implementation of this project. This report has been written in collaboration with the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), who has provided their input regarding the policy related insights as included in this report.

The  second  edition  of  “alGOVrithms.

The  State  of  Play”  is  taking  an  in-depth look at the usage of Automated Decision Making  in  government-citizens relations in   Czechia,   Hungary,   Kosovo,   North Macedonia,  and  Poland.  Research  done were  examining  the  existence  of  relevant legal frameworks, the practice of creating, implementing,  and  using  of  Automated Decision-Making  processes  on  different levels  of  government,  focusing  on  their transparency, accountability, and potential risks of discrimination. During this research, the  authors  of  the  report  were  also particularly  interested  in  understanding how alGOVrithms (the term created by the research  team  to  describe  ADM  systems used by central and local authorities) are being procured and who is involved in the process of their implementation.

The  examples  of  alGOVrithms  presented in the report are sorted by the purpose of their  usage.  We  have  identified  the  tools which  support  the  process  of  allocating judges and other public officials to specific cases;  to  detect  frauds  and  misuse  of public funds; facilitating the administrative and procurement  processes  and  granting allowances  and  other  social  benefits. We  have  also  detected  the  examples of  alGOVrithms  especially  designed  to respond to the challenges connected with the  COVID-19  pandemic.  Among  others, the  reader  will  find  descriptions  of  tools supporting  authorities  in  controlling  the observance  of  the  quarantine,  accuracy of  spending  of  state  aid  by  selected companies, or detecting risks of spreading contamination.

To access the report in English, please click HERE.

To access the policy recommendations in Albanian, please click HERE.

*The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe. The project is implemented by: Czechia (KohoVolit.eu) , Hungary (K-Monitor), Kosovo (Open Data Kosovo), North Macedonia (Metamorphosis Foundation), and Poland (Fundacja ePaństwo).

Utilizing the past experience with partners from the regional network of NGOs “Action SEE“ Open Data Kosovo has prepared the policy paper where it analyses the level of transparency, openness, and accountability of the legislative power in Kosovo for the year 2019. The policy paper is a result of extensive research based on scientific methodology conducted by Open Data Kosovo in the past few months. The aim of the overall research is to provide a detailed overview of the situation in Kosovo, and to contribute to the implementation of the public administration reform where the insights from the Assembly are taken in consideration in the development of the Strategy for Modernization of Public Administration. This paper also aims to strengthen the principles of good governance and help institutions implement them more effectively in their daily work.

Access the policy papers in English, Albanian and Serbian.

Utilizing the past experience with partners from the regional network of NGOs“Action SEE“ Open Data Kosovo has prepared the policy paper where it analyses level of transparency, openness, and accountability of the office of the Prime Minister in Kosovo. The policy paper is a result of extensive research based on scientific methodology conducted by Open Data Kosovo in the past few months. The aim of the overall research is to provide a detailed overview of the situation in Kosovo, and to contribute to the implementation of the public administration reform. This paper also aims to strengthen the principles of good governance and help institutions implement them more effectively in their work. After an evaluation of the proposed aim in the past years, done so for three consecutive years from 2016 to 2018, this paper draws analysis of the level of openness and recommendations for improvement for the year 2019. The methodology and its indicators have been constantly improved and adapted to the respective year’s demands. This policy paper also brings out a comparative element where ODK has drawn an analysis of improvement along the years when the measurement has been carried. The policy of openness must be the policy of all governments in the region, and it must be formulated and treated equally as other important policies. Such a policy should maintain its objectivity in the matter and must not be influenced in any case by current political decisions or other political elements.

Access the policy papers in English, Albanian, and Serbian.

As part of the Monitoring Public Procurement Group, Open Data Kosovo has monitored the contract released by the Municipality of Prishtina with the title “Constructing the Base of the Newborn Monument”.

This infographic presents the findings from this contract and recommendations for the respective institutions. 

Access the infographic HERE