Development of information society in the Republic of Croatia aimed at increased competitiveness

Croatia is one of the countries which emerged after the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Since early 1990s it has been going through a process of complex social and economic transformation. The establishment of market economy had been significantly slowed down by the war, but also by the loss of former markets, decrease of competitiveness, in many respects poorly conducted privatization, as well as by wrong macroeconomic policies. Although certain advances in social and economic development have been achieved, overall results are far from satisfactory. In such circumstances it is expected that information society, proclaimed as one of the most important strategic goals, will contribute to acceleration of reforms and create prerequisites for Croatia's joining the European Union and NATO. This paper intends to describe the main characteristics of the information society development process and how it bears on the efforts to increase the Croatian economy's competitiveness. Once the set goals are achieved, citizens and entrepreneurs would be able to continuously receive information and participate actively in different social and business activities. General use of an information system network would encourage the development of stronger ties within business sector, the exchange of information and experience, as well as the creation of a transparent, fast and efficient state administration. In the analysis of the stated issues some indicators used to measure the information society development will be presented, then the problems characteristic of the informatization process will be highlighted, as well as the obstacles hindering the expansion of electronic business. The paper will also present the most important projects initiated in the framework of the Program e-Croatia, as their implementation is a precondition for increasing the country's competitiveness.