The Director of the Agency for Identification Documents, Registers, and Data Exchange of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Almir Badnjević, participated in the ministerial roundtable on behalf of the Minister of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the third Regulatory Dialogue on Digital Transformation between the EU and the countries of the Western Balkans in Brussels. At the beginning of this event, which included ministers and deputy ministers from North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro, Mr. Roberto Viola, the Director-General of DG CONNECT, also addressed the participants.
The discussion focused on the Law on Artificial Intelligence, whose implementation is envisaged to begin in August next year, supported by an EU team for law enforcement in the Western Balkan countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mr. Badnjević discussed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s efforts to develop a digital wallet, with the first phase supported by the EU Delegation and GIZ, directed by IDDEEA. Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are scheduled to have access to this wallet by the middle of next year through pilot initiatives. In addition, IDDEEA has been invited to join the “WE BUILD” consortium as part of the Digital Europe Programme, which will allow for collaboration with other European countries on the project’s future development. Furthermore, he stated that, in compliance with the former Law on Electronic Signatures, Bosnia and Herzegovina has four CAs for electronic signatures, all of whom are globally accredited under EIDAS.
As a CA, IDDEEA has supplied a free electronic signature to all Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens, and an increase in the number of electronic services is expected to allow citizens to use the electronic signature.
It was agreed to hold a meeting for countries working on digital wallets and to initiate a discussion on managing artificial intelligence with a focus on implementing the Law on Artificial Intelligence in each country. It was also decided that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania would join the JU EUROHPC Programme to improve digital infrastructure.