The fast-paced race to digitize over 95% of public Services has left many senior citizens, including pensioners, stranded and struggling. With over 545,000 pensioners affected, challenges include disability, digital and access, with some of them ending up paying for these Services. Critics call for a more comprehensive approach, highlighting security concerns and the urgent need for alternative solutions to ensure equal access to essential Services.
Author Sali Doçi
"I don't know how to use it at all e-Albania- n. They made a big mistake, that they closed the counters for our age, over 60 years old. The government should have left open offices where we could be helped to get certificates", - this is how Mrs. Nafije (not her real name), a pensioner who lives in the capital, says about the government's decision that was taken on May 1 of the year 2022, to pass 95% of public Services online.
She says that she lives with an assistance of 2.000 lek per month, since she does not have the full years of work to receive a pension, while she says that she also has limited access to technology.
"I have an old cell phone."
Like Mrs. Nafije, over 545 thousand pensioners in the Republic of Albania were affected by the government's decision to close the counters for the provision of public Services and their digitization.
According to the statistics of Eurostat-it for the year 2022, over 80% of the population in Albania uses the internet every day. However, in the statistics of Eurostat-it is emphasized that, in the 55-74 age group, over 50% of them use it the internet mainly to make calls to relatives.
The percentage of the age group of pensioners (65-74 years), who use it the internet to receive public Services, according to Eurostat-it, is 17.91%, a very low figure, considering the digitization of more than 90% of public Services.
In the 55-64 age group, only 29.2% of the population uses it the internet to receive public Services and in the 45-54 age group only 45.9% of the population uses the Internet for this purpose.
In the 35-44 age group, 59.5% of the population has the ability to use the internet and technology in obtaining public Services.
Regarding the age group of pensioners (64-74 years old), and the use of the internet to receive public Services, Albania is also ranked below several countries in the region, which have not taken the same step as our country to digitize over 90% of public Services and close the counters.
The lack of these digital skills, according to the statistics of Eurostat-it, but also according to what the citizens say, it clearly shows the obstacles that exist mainly in the third age, but not only, in terms of receiving public Services.
Migena Meto, a consultant by profession, says that she often finds it difficult to get a service, as keyword research is not always efficient.
"Sometimes it can be a little more complex because with keywords, not always, but it can come up with more than one alternative for what you're looking for, so it can be a little more difficult to find what you're looking for," - says the 34-year-old.
Gent Progni, expert IT, says that the cause of the difficulties faced by citizens in obtaining a service is also related to the inefficient construction of e-Albania-s.
"e-Albania it is not built in the most efficient way possible, because if you open the platform, you will understand that the buttons with the service use, or seal, or search they have no function at the moment you click them. The main problems arise because people search by keywords, eg Land Registry, when they should be searching ASHK. Yes, where does a user know what it is ASHK?! The lonely one, when he goes to the office, says: "I want to ask for something at the Cadastre", a document, a cork, etc. Also, there has never been an explanation of how this platform is used, so we have never seen a video tutorial, a documentation of how it is used, to search for something", says Progni.
In the request for information that ACJQ sent to National Information Society Agency on the ways in which citizens can receive support on the problems they encounter in the use of e-Albania-s, this institution stated that citizens can address their questions and uncertainties to the address of Email-Item helpdesk@e-albania.al.
Besmir Semanaj, professional electronic engineer and expert IT, says only one address Emailis not enough to help the citizens.
"An address Email-i is insufficient to handle the flow of requests, there should be at least one more hotline, where citizens were trained and taught step by step how to use this service", says Semanaj.
In addition to the address of Emailto get support, in December the country's prime minister declared that e-Albania citizens will have the assistance of artificial intelligence in obtaining public Services.
The expert of IT, Gent Progni, says that this artificial intelligence system is not efficient, as it is just a copy of chatbotof GPT-chat.
"These are the decorations and the lights, which are placed more to sell ideas than to provide solutions. If you see the artificial intelligence that is included in it-Albania, has nothing to do with artificial intelligence at all, but is simply a mini GPT-chat. It's not related, it's not an artificial intelligence built based on the platform e-Albania-s. it's Chat GPT borrowed. Artificial intelligence it would be, if we were to make one chatbot, which is totally based on e-Albania-s and there are totally answers for e-Albania-n", says Progni.
With the digitization of public Services, the chancellors have managed to turn the acquisition of these Services into a business. There are not a few offices in the capital, but not only, where you can read announcements, where it is written: "We make applications for obtaining documents in e-Albania".
Idriz Polezhi, 71 years old, from Dibra, says that whenever he needs a certificate, he goes to these businesses.
"I go to the office and get the certificate or document that I need. I pay 50 ALL for the certificate, I give him the code I have and he issues the certificate", says the old man.
For the expert Besmir Semanaj, the distribution of personal data, because citizens do not know how to use it e-Albania-n, remains a real concern, which can bring consequences.
"The biggest risk is identity theft and the use of generated documentation to carry out illegal activities," he says of Albanian Center for Quality Journalism.
The data of Albanian citizens have also been at risk from cyber attacks that have hit the institutions in our country.
Chippers- the Iranians began their activity in 2021 to steal information in National Agency of the Information Society.
On July 18, 2022, the Albanian government declared that all its sites, including the service platform online, e-Albania, were temporarily out of service as a result of a cyber attack.
company ecosystem, hired by the Albanian government to investigate these cyber attacks in cooperation with the American FBI, came to the conclusion that this attack was carried out by actors sponsored by the Iranian government.
The data, which were made public by hacker- who carried out this cyberattack included the names and addresses of more than a thousand undercover police informants, Emailthe private records of the former director of the Albanian police, Gladis Nano, the balance of bank accounts for more than 30 thousand people, etc.
On September 10, 2022, another cyber attack hit Albania again, this time the system TIMS, a system that records the entry and exit of citizens from Albania.
The Prosecutor's Office of Tirana, which is investigating cases of cyberattacks against ANA-it, says that the file was suspended on July 19, 2023, as they are waiting for the answers to the letters.
For these attacks, 5 citizens were sent for trial for the criminal offense of "Abuse of duty".
In its response, the Prosecutor's Office of Tirana says that these 5 citizens were investigated under the security measure "Compulsion to appear before the Judicial Police".
Beyond state institutions, cyber attacks in Albania have also hit second-tier banks.
The expert of IT, Gent Progni, says that e-Albania it is still not safe, despite the fact that millions of euros have been spent on its construction.
While the government continues to "cheer" as a success its provision of public Services online for the citizens and saying that this saves millions of dollars, both for the citizens and for the state, National Society and Information Agency declined to respond to our request for information, when asked about the costs of building the platform e-Albania, stated that there cannot be a fixed cost, as it is a complex platform. The Albanian government chose not to provide information on how much Albanian taxpayers' money was used for the construction of the platform e-Albania.
"e-Albania it is not a single system, but a community of Services and products invested, maintained and improved over the years. Consequently, it is impossible to calculate a concrete figure", - it is stated in the response to the request for information, which was sent to National Agency of Society and Information.
According to Open Data, the government's open data platform, on the platform e-Albania 3,074,325 users are registered. During the month of December 2023, there were over 1 million applications for electronic Services on this platform.
However, the difficulties that many citizens encounter in obtaining public Services, as well as cyber attacks, are among the reasons that make experts and citizens think that the best solution would have been to add to the service online, the government should have left the counters open.
Enver Haka, who has reached retirement age but has chosen to continue working as a taxi driver, says that although he knows how to partially use the platform e-Albania, it often happens that he is near his friends, who encounter difficulties in obtaining public Services.
"The counters should have been left open, maybe for someone who lives alone and has children abroad. This person could go very simply to get the service at the counter", says Haka.
Besmir Semanaj, expert IT, considers the government's decision to close the counters wrong.
"Transition of all Services online and replacing the counters was a hasty and wrong move. All states provide their citizens with more than one communication channel for their needs. I don't know of any country that has completely replaced the counters", says the expert IT-'s.
Although there is still no official decision, the 2023 report from the European Commission for our country says that the government is thinking of restoring some of the public Services again accessible through counters.
The European Union points out that, despite the government's efforts to succeed in providing public Services online, there are still challenges in terms of equal access for all citizens, digital skills and receiving these Services by people with disabilities.
In this report, the EU also requested increased attention to the protection of personal data from Albanian institutions after the cyber attacks of 2022 and the leakage of some data.
Even in 2022, this year, when the government decided to transfer 95% of Services online, the official Brussels "criticized the official Tirana", saying that this was a quick step, which could not be embraced easily.
"The percentage of individuals in the 65-74 age group who declared that they had never used the internet, was 51.1% in 2021. If this figure is added to certain social, affected groups, including people with disabilities and those in remote areas, then access to Services online it becomes difficult for a large part of the population", - says the official Brussels report.
The government's quick decision to pass 95% of public Services online and the non-offering of an alternative, where the counters would continue to remain open, has left Albanian citizens "without a door where they can knock" to receive public Services, Services that they pay for every month with taxes theirs.
This article is part of the Investigative Journalism Laboratory project, which is financially supported by the Public Relations Office of the US Embassy in Tirana. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the Department of State.
