Exploring the Question of Interoperability in Public Administration

Abstract

The goal of this study is to define (or find out) where Hungary currently stands in the development of e-administration solutions. We must admit that Hungary is lagging a decade behind the EU when it comes to e-administration: after all, while the EU took concrete steps to develop the strategy of e-administration in the 1990s, the first initiatives in Hungary were only made at the beginning of the 2000s. I can only hope that the next five years will bring substantial changes in this field; however, launching the new developments, along with their reconciliation and alignment to practical needs will not occur without problems – just like the elimination of the resistance against the new and unknown. The basics of the current regulation are fine. On the one hand, centralization (which already appears in numerous aspects of e-administration) is required; on the other hand, making the various functions and services available on the market to ensure the more efficient and complete service of clients is certainly a good direction. E-administration requires standardization and central decision-making, due to the complexity of its technical background, to ensure the interoperability of its systems, and eventually to achieve its general availability. The question to ask now is where Hungary stands in this endeavour. Are we on the right track?