The Ministry of Public Administration,  was established by the amendment to the Regulation on Public Administration Organisation and Operation, which the government of Montenegro adopted on 5 May 2022.

The Ministry of Public Administration is coordinating the development of eGovernment as well as the development of the information society in Montenegro. The Ministry participates in the drafting of regulations and policies related to electronic administration, as well as other regulations related to the field of information society. The Ministry is in charge of:

• Digitising the operation of public administration bodies through planning, development and support in the implementation of electronic services;
• Proposing and implementing the approved policy in the field of establishing and developing the information society;
• Planning, developing and supporting the implementation of the information and communication portal for citizens;
• Planning activities for the promotion of eGovernment and electronic services;
• Monitoring the development of electronic administration in Montenegro and the harmonisation with European standards and best practices in this field;
• Monitoring the methodologies and the collection of digitisation and electronic administration development parameters based on established development indexes;
• Coordinating research work on eGovernment development in Montenegro in cooperation with other bodies and institutions;
• Applying accepted standards and methodologies for monitoring the use of electronic services and user satisfaction;
• Recognising different user needs and proposing models to increase their satisfaction;
• Proposing and implementing measures to promote and encourage research in the field of information companies;
• Providing professional assistance in the application of ICT in State administration bodies;
• Managing and coordinating projects in the field of development of electronic administration and information society for the needs of State administration bodies and State bodies;
• Establishing a framework for the management of information systems of State administration bodies and State bodies in accordance with international standards;
• Establishing technological and security information infrastructure in State administration bodies and State bodies;
• Drafting the analysis and report on the state of eGovernment and other relevant data in this field; and
• Performing other tasks within the scope of the Ministry.

Mr Marash Dukaj Minister of Public Administration   Source: https://www.gov.me/mju

Pursuant to Article 13a of the Law on Information Security (Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 114/2020), the government of Montenegro established the Information Security Council.

The Council's tasks are to:

• Inform the government of Montenegro about important issues related to information and cyber security;
• Initiate and propose measures to improve information and cyber security in the public and private sectors;
• Monitor the implementation of Montenegro's Cyber ​​Security Strategy 2018-2021 and the action plans for its implementation;
• Monitor and coordinate activities in the field of information and cyber security;
• Propose measures for harmonising the legislative and administrative framework in order to improve the information and cyber security of Montenegro;
• Improve cooperation in the field of information and cyber security between State bodies, State administration bodies, local self-government units, legal entities exercising public authority, and other legal and natural persons that gain access to or process data pursuant to the law on information security.; Moreover, the Council coordinates the activities related to the above;
• Improve cooperation with the private sector in the field of information and cyber security;
• Improve international cooperation in the field of information and cyber security;
• Inform the National Security Council in case of large-scale threats and cyber-incidents; and
• Submit a report on all the above, at least once a year, to the government of Montenegro.

Pursuant to Article 33 of the Law on Electronic Administration (Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 72/19 and 103/20) the government of Montenegro established the Electronic Government Council.

The responsibilities of the Council are to:

• Inform the Government of Montenegro on all important issues related to the development of electronic administration and information and communication technologies;
• Direct, coordinate and monitor activities related to the development of e-government, between State bodies, State administration bodies, local self-government units, local government bodies and other bodies, in accordance with Art. 1 and 2 of the Law on Electronic Administration;
• Consider professional issues in the field of information and communication technologies, which are related to the development of eGovernment;
• Consider draft regulations, bylaws, strategic planning and other documents in the field of e-government and information and communication technologies;
• Initiate the amendment of the existing legal regulations in the field of electronic administration;
• Propose measures for harmonising the legislative and administrative framework with the goal of improving the development of eGovernment;
• Work on the improvement of cooperation in the field of electronic administration and information and communication technologies between State bodies, State administration bodies, local self-government units, local government bodies and other bodies, in accordance with Art. 1 and 2 of the Law on Electronic administration;
• Work on the improvement of international cooperation in the field of electronic administration and information and communication technologies;
• Form operational and professional working teams, as temporary bodies, in case of need; and
• Submit a report on all the above, at least once a year, to the government of Montenegro.

In the area of political coordination within the reform processes, the Public Administration Reform Strategy 2016–2020 defines the competences of the Public Administration Reform Council. The Council was officially established on 29 December 2016 and adopted by the government of Montenegro in March 2021. The establishment of this advisory body is necessary, given the extent and importance of the public administration reform in the forthcoming period. It will be focused on activities carried out by public administration bodies in order to achieve the public administration reform principles.

The Council is composed of the President of Council, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, the Minister of Public Administration, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Finance , the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, the Chief Negotiator for the Negotiations on the Accession of Montenegro to the European Union, the President of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro, the Director of the Human Resources Administration, the Director of the Agency for Free Access to Information and Personal Data Protection, two representatives of NGOs and the Representative of the University of Montenegro.

The key tasks of the Council will be to monitor the implementation of the Public Administration Reform Strategy 2022–2026 and the accompanying action plan, as well as other activities related to the public administration reform in Montenegro (consideration of draft regulations, strategic, planning and analytical documents related to the public administration reform, etc.).

The Ministry of Public Administration provides professional and administrative support to the work of the Public Administration Reform Council.

The Open Data Management Council was established in order to map the challenges in the field of open data and propose the related solutions, improve open data management, as well as promote the open data portal.

The decision, among other things, defines the tasks of the Council, which are reflected in identifying challenges in the field of open data and proposing solutions to these challenges, considering and launching initiatives, activities and projects to improve open data management, cooperation with state and local authorities. in order to open as much data as possible, to manage and promote the open data portal www.data.gov.me, as well as to improve the transparency of public administration and promote the principles of open public policies.

In November 2019, and in accordance with the amendments to the Law on Data Secrecy, the National Computer Incident Response Team (CS/CIRT) was transferred from the Ministry of Public Administration to the National Security Authority, also known as the Directorate for the Protection of Classified Information.

The CS/CIRT is the central body for the prevention of, and coordination and protection against internet security incidents and other security risks to information systems for the territory of Montenegro. In accordance with its responsibilities, the CS/CIRT acts:

• In a proactive manner – by offering education, raising awareness and providing useful information and advice on internet security; and 
• In a reactive manner – by carrying out analyses and conducting detailed investigations in case of online incidents at the national level.

In addition to this, the CS/CIRT carries out activities to establish and promote partnerships both at the national (with relevant authorities, private sector partners and the academic community) and international level, in order to respond to cyber threats in a better and more efficient manner.

The Ministry of the Interior is a registered qualified service provider; it established a qualified certification body to provide electronic qualified trust services -TrustME.

TrustME provides services such as issuing digital certificates for qualified electronic signatures and digital certificates as means of electronic identification, in accordance with the Law on Electronic Identification and Electronic Signature.

The Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information acts as the supervisory body pursuant to the Law on Personal Data Protection. In carrying out the tasks within its scope, the Agency is independent. The Agency has the status of a legal entity.

It is within the competence of the Agency to carry out administrative and professional tasks related to the protection of personal data.

The other tasks include:

• Supervising the implementation of personal data protection in accordance with this law;
• Defining the requirements for the protection of rights;
• Giving opinions on the application of this law;
• Approving the establishment of personal data collection;
• Giving an opinion in case of suspicion whether a particular set of personal data May be considered a collection under the applicable law;
• Monitoring the implementation of organisational and technical measures for the protection of personal data and suggesting improvements thereto;
• Offering suggestions and recommendations for improving the protection of personal data;
• Giving an opinion on whether a particular way of processing personal data violates any personal rights and freedoms;
• Cooperating with the authorities in charge of overseeing the protection of personal data in other countries;
• Cooperating with the competent State authorities in the process of drafting regulations related to the protection of personal data;
• Proposing to assess the constitutionality of laws or the constitutionality and legality of other regulations and general acts concerning the processing of personal data; and
• Performing other activities in accordance with this Law (Article 50 of the Law on Personal Data Protection, Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 79/08 and No. 70/09).

The Department for Regional Trade Cooperation and Market Access in Services, established within the Directorate for Trade Cooperation and Economic Foreign Relations of the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism, is in charge of establishing a single point of contact for services that will function in accordance with the Law on Electronic Administration. In accordance with this, the electronic point of contact will be the National eGovernment Portal, managed by the Ministry of Public Administration.

Moreover, the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism is in charge of telecommunications development.

The Ministry of Health is in charge of:

• Managing, implementing, improving, operating, designing and planning the Integrated Health Information System in accordance with the defined standards;
• Establishing a logical organisation of business processes, data, software applications and IT infrastructure so that they meet the integration and standardisation needs for an Integrated Health Information System, and giving consent for the development and implementation of information systems that work with it;
• Supervising over the use of established standards, data models, use of common coders and parameters for exchanging and unifying data;
• Establishing a health system interoperability framework on which the Integrated Health Information System is based, as well as health system registers and records;
• Planning, developing and improving the eHealth system in Montenegro;
• Monitoring the use of the Integrated Health Information System and eHealth while planning, evaluating and designing opportunities for developing new parts of these systems, or improving existing ones, monitoring trends and introducing new eServices for citizens;
• Taking part in the drafting of laws and by-laws focused on ICT applications in the health system of Montenegro; and
• Taking part in the international cooperation focused on ICT applications in the health system of Montenegro and the field of eHealth.

The Ministry of Justice is responsible for monitoring the implementation process of the Strategy for the Development of the Justice System Information and Communication Technology 2021–2023, with the aim of establishing a unified justice information system and introducing a centralised management of the unified justice information system, in cooperation and synergy with all ICT departments of the judicial institutions in the country.

The Ministry is also in charge of providing the conditions for constant planned improvement and development of all subsystems of the justice information system and their interoperability.

In early 2021, the Ministry of Public Administration established the Information Systems Audit Department as a separate, independent organisational unit responsible for auditing information systems managed by State administration bodies. The establishment of a specific department is particularly important considering that over 90 information systems have been registered in State administration bodies, and that information systems audits and IT risk identifications were previously performed on a very small scale.

By providing risk-based objective assurance, advice and insight, information systems audits aim to add value and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the process of managing and using information systems in public administration bodies, and thus improve the framework and quality to achieve the strategic goals of digital transformation and public administration reform.

In July 2021, the Ministry of Finance the Directorate for Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies. It is tasked with defining the policy in the field and establishing a legal and regulatory framework governing the mining and use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, as well as with removing regulatory and administrative barriers to their establishment.

The Montenegro Directorate for Statistics - MONSTAT is the official body for producing official statistics. MONSTAT's role as a provider of official statistics in the Montenegrin statistical system has been recognised nationally and internationally.

As a statistical leader, MONSTAT is obliged to perform data collection, processing and dissemination of Montenegrin statistics in an independent, transparent and highly professional manner.

The Electronic Communications and Postal Services Agency (hereinafter referred to as the Agency) was established on 8 March 2001 as an independent regulatory body in the field of electronic communications and postal services. The basic tasks that the Agency carries out in terms of sectoral regulation procedures are: providing a safe and predictable environment for operators and their significant investments, laying the groundwork for the implementation and development of new technologies across Montenegro and encouraging the rational use of limited resources (radio-frequency and numbering/address), encouraging competition to prevent market distortions among operators, resolving disputes between operators, and ensuring the continuous improvement of consumer protection interests. The Agency is not required to seek instructions from governmental and other bodies and organisations or other persons in carrying out regulatory and other tasks.

The Montenegro Post Certifying Body issues the following types of electronic certificates:

• Qualified digital certificate for advanced electronic signature issued on a token;
• Qualified digital certification for electronic signature; and
• Qualified digital certificate for SSL servers.

The Department for eGovernment Development in the Ministry of Public Administration is the central government body in charge of the Metaregistry. The Metaregistry contains the records of all registries in the institutions that provide eRegistries according to the Law on Electronic Administration.

The Ministry of Public Administration has formed an inter‑department expert team for the interoperability of registers, which coordinates the activities related to electronic data exchange and has significantly improved the cooperation of bodies developing eGovernment in order to rationally use resources and interoperability.

The State Audit Institution is a supreme control body being tasked with auditing the budgets of State property, local government units, funds, the Central Bank of Montenegro and all other legal entities that the State holds ownership in.

The Institution independently determines the audited entities and well as the content, volume and type of audit. Once a year, the Institution is obliged to audit the annual balance sheet of the Republic of Montenegro.

The State Audit Institution supervises the regularity, parsimony, efficacy and efficiency of budget expenditures and State property management.

The Union of Municipalities of Montenegro is a national association of local communities for the territory of Montenegro, in which local self-government units voluntarily join for an indefinite period of time.

The mission of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro is to work on the development and improvement of local self-government, more efficient performance of their competencies in the interest of the local population, and the protection and realisation of common interests of members through the representation of jointly determined interests of its members before State bodies and international organisations.