Final conference of the project “Introduction of a quality management system in the public administration of the Republic of Croatia”

At the final conference of the project, held at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Zagreb on 5 June 2023, results, innovations and plans to improve the quality management system in public administration were presented. 

The project “Introduction of a quality management system in the public administration of the Republic of Croatia” was implemented within the Operational Programme “Efficient Human Resources 2014-2020” with the aim to increase the efficiency of public administration through four elements: optimisation and standardisation of business processes; introduction of a quality management system in public administration; development of the IT system (kvaliteta.gov.hr); and development and delivery of training.

It was implemented by the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration as the beneficiary and the State School of Public Administration as a partner, together with companies Ericsson Nikola Tesla, Apsolon, Qualitas and Algebra.

The final conference was dedicated to presenting project results, project sustainability plan, innovations and improvement plans in pilot bodies and selected state administration bodies, local and regional self-government units and legal persons vested with public powers.

The conference participants were addressed by Sanjin Rukavina, State Secretary at the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, Ivan Vidiš, State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, and Rudolf Vujević, Director of the State School for Public Administration.

The project results and sustainability were discussed by Dr Miroslav Drljača, President of the Croatian Quality Managers Society and Key Expert on the project, who was in charge of the development of requirements for the Common Assessment Framework and other quality management models, and Tomislav Mičetić, Head of the Quality Management Service and Project Manager, while Tomislav Dominković, CEO of Algebra, spoke about the implementation and challenges of online training.  
 
As part of the conference, a panel discussion was held on the topic of quality management in public administration bodies, focusing on the experiences from the ESF project, sustainability, challenges and solutions, moderated by Andrijana Parić, mr.sc., expert on the project. The panelists were Ivana Šimek, Head of the Office for Employers of the Croatian Employment Service, Lidija Brković, Director of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Josip Romić, Deputy Mayor of Vinkovci, and Anamarija Kobasić Golijanin, Coordinator for Strategic Issues and Cooperation at HAKOM.

The conclusion of the conference was that the project “Introduction of a quality management system in the public administration of the Republic of Croatia” has significantly contributed to the development of quality in the public administration of the Republic of Croatia, but also that the completion of project activities is only the first step towards excellence in the quality of public administration. 

The project was co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund.