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Governance - Poland

The table below aims at gathering the administrative and governmental bodies of Poland, which are responsible for digital public administration policies and interoperability policies. 

Poland

National 

The Minister of Digital Affairs in Poland is Mr Krzysztof Gawkowski. The main tasks of the Ministry of Digital Affairs are concentrated around three pillars: providing internet access, developing web content and services, and promoting digital skills.  

The key departments within the Ministry of Digital Affairs are the following:  

  • Digital Services Department, whose tasks include building public digital services, maintaining and developing registers, records and systems as well as making data available from registers and improving data quality. In addition, the department is responsible for aspects related to digital identity; 
  • Digital Competence Development Centre, which pursues public policy in the area of digital skills and web accessibility, and coordinates all governmental activities in this field; 
  • Cybersecurity Department, which covers cybersecurity issues, including the development and implementation of strategic documents and legal acts in the field of cybersecurity, as well as national and international cooperation, and development of guidelines and standards for the implementation of appropriate measures to protect IT systems; 
  • Data Management Department, which is responsible for opening up PSI by creating legal bases for reuse of data held by public bodies and ensuring these data are accessible and usable, as well as maintaining and developing the dane.gov.pl portal, and conducting research and analyses on the data reuse and exchange market. It is also responsible for developing public policy in the field of personal data protection; 
  • Innovation and Technology Department, which deals in particular with projects and activities (including shaping policy and public relations) related to the development and implementation of new technologies;  
  • Projects and Strategy Department, which is responsible for strategic matters and coordination of international policy in the field of digitalisation. In addition, the department deals with the State Information Architecture and its processes supervising the Architecture Repository; 
  • Telecommunications Department, which is responsible for issues related to legal regulations regarding the electronic communications market, including in the field of telecommunications, the development of telecommunications services and networks, and services provided electronically. It also coordinates issues relating to broadband network development in Poland. 

The Ministry of Digital Affairs is also the body responsible for interoperability activities. However, according to the national interoperability framework, each public institution, including the ones at self-government level, is accountable for assuring interoperability of its systems and infrastructure. Finally, the Ministry of Digital Affairs manages the key State registers that create a full system of State registers. 

Gawkowski

Krzysztof Gawkowski

Minister for Digital Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

 

Source: https://www.gov.pl/web/cyfryzacja/krzysztofgawkowski

According to the current law, the Committee of the Council of Ministers for Digitalisation, established in March 2007, acts as an advisory body to the Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister. Its role is to coordinate and facilitate the implementation of the key actions regarding computerisation, and to ensure their compliance with the strategic direction of the State development. Its main task is to give opinions on the draft legal acts or projects related to computerisation in order to guarantee the interoperability, integrity and complementarity of the solutions to be implemented with the ones already in place or under preparation, as well as the compatibility of their architecture with the State Information Architecture.  

The Council for Digital Affairs is an advisory body to the Minister of Digital Affairs and serves as a multilateral forum promoting cooperation between all digitalisation stakeholders in Poland. 

Within the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, the Digital Economy Department is responsible for implementing projects related to the regulatory environment in the field of the electronic economy (eEconomy) in particular. The aim is to increase electronic business transactions, the standardisation and interoperability of solutions in the field of ICT for entrepreneurs, and the development of eCommerce, the data-based economy, the IoT and AI. 

The Supreme Audit Office (NIK) is the auditing body aimed to promote economic efficiency and effectiveness in the public service. It monitors the execution of the State budget and the compliance with the monetary policy guidelines, and conducts audits upon demand of the Parliament or its bodies. 

The President of the Office for Personal Data Protection is an authority competent for the protection of personal data on the territory of Poland, created by the Act on the Protection of Personal Data of 10 May 2018. It is also a supervisory authority within the GDPR. 

The duties entrusted to the President of the Office for Personal Data Protection include (i) supervising the compliance of data processing with the legal provisions on the protection of personal data; (ii) issuing administrative decisions and considering complaints with respect to the enforcement of the provisions on the protection of personal data; (iii) keeping the register of data filing systems and providing information on the registered data files; and (iv) initiating and undertaking activities to improve the protection of personal data. 

The regional strategies regarding the development of eGovernment services are conceived and designed at the regional level in accordance with the national strategy. The activities of the Committee of the Council of Ministers for Digitalisation support the implementation of strategic goals in the field of the digital development of the State through guidelines that can be applied at central, regional and local level. 

Digital Municipality and Digital County are government programmes funded by the Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT EU) which aimed to support the digital development of local government institutions and to increase cybersecurity. In particular, the programmes enabled the purchase of IT hardware and software, as well as the licences necessary to implement eServices. They also provided digital education for local government units in terms of servicing the purchased hardware, software and licences.