Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 17th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview IV. Working Group on PA Reform in CEE&CA Author(s) Mirjana Stankovic Development Consulting Group Belgrade Serbia Bora Obradovic, Robert Sundberg Title “Mindset reprogramming” in the process of Serbian local government reform: Systemic solutions that bring changes File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract Local governments in Serbia are making efforts towards public administration reform. Public administration reform in post-socialist Serbia is not easy, requiring great structural, functional and procedural changes. But from this come the adoption of new perspectives and “mindset reprogramming” of both public administration officials and citizens. Serbian local governments are becoming more aware of their role as primary service providers to citizens and businesses. The more progressive of them have already introduced new governance systems towards providing greater efficiency, efficacy, economy and transparency of local government actions. Serbian local governments have established citizen assistance centers, call centers and other, more sophisticated mechanisms. These innovations offer an improved participatory process, increased interaction between citizens and public institutions, closer monitoring of public sector performance and results; but more importantly, are altering the view that local government takes of its citizens and that of its citizens towards local government. The new Call Center of the City of Belgrade and Indjija’s System 48 provide examples of advanced, IT-based methods of public service delivery, of replicable participatory tools and of how such systems can contribute to “mindset reprogramming.” These integrated, one-stop service schemes allow citizens and the business sector to obtain general municipal/city administration services and a wide range of public utility services offered by the local government. If applied properly, such systems increase public workers’ performance and efficiency while positively changing the attitudes and expectations of citizens towards their local governments. The Serbian examples are multi-channel access points, ensuring two-way communication between public service customers (citizens) and their service providers (the public administration). Citizens can make enquiries or get feedback in person, by phone calls, web-mail, e-mail, regular mail or via SMS. Citizens’ requests and complaints are registered through the system and then directed to appropriate local government institutions for response. Information generated by the inquiries and feedback is returned to the call center and ultimately to the customers. Response timeliness is stressed - the very name of System 48 implies and conveys local government’s commitment to provide feedback to citizens within two days. The systems have the capacity to immediately process similar or repetitive requests with known answers, allowing for greater efficiency and more satisfied customers. A “CitiStat” component measures, compares, analyzes and evaluates the performance of all local government institutions in one focal point. It detects bottlenecks and issues that need to be addressed, and provides feedback to local government workers about the quality of their work. Government workers gain positive feedback, enhancing their self-esteem and interest in helping others, while citizens’ positive attitude towards their government increases.
