Bosnia and Herzegovina joins €7.5B Digital Europe Programme

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has joined the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), gaining access to a 7.5 billion euro (US$8.1 billion) program designed to boost digitalization, including digital identities, cybersecurity, digital reskilling and emerging technologies.

The agency for Identification Documents, Registers, and Data Exchange of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IDDEEA BiH) has hailed the agreement, officially signed on May 14th, noting its importance in ensuring the integrity and security of digital IDs and data. The agency is in charge of managing ID documents, central registrars and data exchange between government agencies.

The DIGITAL funding program for the 2021-2027 period is designed to support the industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and public administration in their digital transformation. Among its many tasks is providing grants for the European Union Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet pilots. This month, the EU published a second call for funding for the pilots, earmarking a total of 20 million euros (US$21.5 million) for projects in digital identity

This week, IDDEEA held a presentation on the Digital Europe Programme, inviting businesses, public and educational institutions, and international organizations to discuss funding options and exchange experiences.

“We will provide the infrastructure and the support and assistance to every institution or company when applying for projects,” Minister of Communications and Transport Edin Forto said during the event.

IDDEEA is also tasked with implementing BiH’s digital identity, e-Identitet, which was made available to the country’s citizens in January this year. In April, the agency presented a project under the name eDataExchange, aimed at introducing electronic signatures and certificates and simplifying the exchange of natural and legal persons’ data between government offices and businesses.

The Balkan country is also hoping to implement a digital ID wallet.

Article Topics

Bosnia and Herzegovina  |  digital government  |  digital identity  |  digital wallets  |  EU  |  EU Digital Identity Wallet  |  funding