Overall digitalisation of our business and everyday living environment, sharp increases in big data, the so-called “the Internet of Things” where a growing number of devices that surround us communicate among themselves, as well as alter business models present us with huge daily challenges which cannot be understood otherwise than as a beginning of a new radical change of all business and social systems where guiding principles are:

1. Digital by default
2. Once only principle
3. Inclusiveness and accessibility
4. Openness and transparency
5. Cross border by default
6. Interoperability by default
7. Trustworthiness and security

      »To inspire and get inspired: diversity drives innovation«

1. DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF SLOVENIA

The vision of the strategy is for Slovenia to, by accelerated progress of the digital society, take advantage of the development opportunities of ICT and the Internet, thus becoming an advanced digital society and reference environment for the deployment of innovative approaches in the use of digital technologies on a systemic level. At the same time, high level protection of personal data and communication privacy in a digital society of ubiquitous internet would be ensured. This would create trust and confidence in digitalisation and cyberspace.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia, therefore, favours investments in the digitalisation of entrepreneurship, innovative data-driven economy, and the development and use of the Internet, smart communities, cities and homes. Within these limits it favours research and technology development of “the Internet of things”, cloud computing, Big Data and mobile technologies. Because the Government of the Republic of Slovenia wishes to enable equal integration into the single European digital area for Slovenian stakeholders, it innovatively uses ICT and the Internet in all developmental areas. In the future it will invest in education for the digital society.

In order to digitalise the economy and society, to raise greater general awareness on the developmental importance of ICT and the Internet, to improve digital literacy, for the economically active to develop better e-skills, and to create a larger number of skilled ICT professionals, we connect all stakeholders of Slovenia’s digitalisation, not only the industry, but non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders as well.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia has adopted a long term strategy on the development of information society, the objectives of which are targeted at a secure digital future. The detailed objectives of the strategy are:

• raising general awareness of the importance of information and communications technologies (ICT) and the Internet for the development of society;
• sustainable, systematic and targeted investment in the development of a digital society;
• general digitalisation according to the “Digital by Default” principle;
• competitive digital entrepreneurship and digital industry for digital growth;
• intensive and innovative use of ICT and the Internet in all segments of society;
• high speed access to open internet for all;
• inclusive digital society;
• secure cyberspace;
• trust and confidence in cyberspace and the protection of human rights;
• Slovenia – reference environment for the deployment of innovative approaches in the use of digital technologies.

2. WHAT IS INTEROPERABILITY?

Interoperability is the ability to interact towards mutual goals through sharing information and data between ICT systems. Also interoperability it is a way to efficient reuse of data, information, and knowledge” – knowing that consensus building is not a trivial task.

Within the framework of performance of public services, it means the ability of unequal and various organisations and systems of information and communication technology to achieve through   interoperability levels  (political, legal, organisational, semantic, technical), mutually agreed and useful aims through exchange of information, data and knowledge, while the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) is used only to define, together with organisations that wish to ensure on the basis of cooperation,  joint implementation of public e-services, joint elements like vocabulary, concepts, principles, guidelines, standards, specifications and practice.   At this, we have to encourage the multilinguistics and daily updating of these elements.

3. NIO portal

The national interoperability framework portal called »NIO portal« is a basic cornerstone of the national interoperability framework in Slovenia. NIO portal is intended for the exchange of public sector interoperability solutions and assets, as well as for publication of open data. The NIO portal is a platform which primarily serves as an intermediary for the exchange of solutions, applications and building blocks between public authorities. On one hand, the portal brings together a catalogue of electronic services, and on the other hand, establishes a central point for the publication of open data in the public sector in way that promotes good practice and re-use. The NIO portal repositories can be used as catalogues, containing information on collections and structures of data, their use, administrators or  persons, responsible for data, et al.

The NIO portal enables:

– publishing of standards, good practices and rules,
–     simplifying their search and ways of access to published contents for reuse;
–      the exchange of news among various communities of the Member States which are      developing interoperability solutions for the development of services and mutual interconnection (e.g. the European platform Joinup). 

NIO portal represents the national concept of public administration functioning, directed towards sustainable development and management of electronic business. The users of NIO are represented by all the institutions of public sector, indirectly also by business entities and natural persons.