Albania has the most centralized model for administering digital public services in the Western Balkans, with the National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber Security (AKSHI) controlling most of their development and operation. This concentration has enabled around 95% of central government services to be offered fully online by the end of 2025, but it has also created a high dependence on the capacities of a single institution and left municipalities, universities and other independent institutions behind.
According to the OECD report, Albania represents the clearest case in the region of a central institution that not only coordinates digitalization policies, but also directly develops and administers the technological solutions used by ministries and other agencies.
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AKSHI, an institution under the Prime Minister’s Office, plays a dual role. On the one hand, it participates in defining common approaches to the design of electronic services and, on the other, provides the national portal, electronic forms, request-management systems and technical solutions used by institutions.
As a result, central government ministries and agencies generally do not build separate systems for each service, but rely on shared infrastructure developed and administered by AKSHI.
The OECD assesses that this organization has enabled the rapid expansion of electronic services, the standardization of procedures and the avoidance of the fragmentation seen in the administrations of some other countries in the region.
However, the concentration of responsibilities also creates a significant weakness: AKSHI’s capacity to implement projects, set priorities and manage risks becomes a decisive factor in the functioning of the entire system.
The report cites services for cross-border users as an example. If AKSHI does not include functionalities tailored to these users in its design methodologies, they are generally absent from the administration’s other electronic services as well.
95% of central services online, but European indicator at just 61 points
Despite progress in central government, the OECD notes that digitalization has not been extended evenly across the entire public sector.
At the end of 2025, around 95% of central government services were offered fully online through e-Albania, from submitting the application to receiving the final document.
However, in the European DESI indicator for the availability of online public services, Albania scores just 61 out of 100.
According to the report, a significant limitation of the Albanian model is that AKSHI primarily covers central government services, while municipalities and independent institutions, such as universities, continue to develop some of their own electronic solutions.
This limits the use of standardized procedures and shared systems, creating considerable differences in the quality and level of digitalization of services.
OECD: Centralization brings benefits, but increases dependence on one institution
In its comparative analysis of Western Balkan countries, the OECD finds that the most centralized models have generally been associated with more standardized services and more consistent project implementation.
By contrast, more decentralized models, such as that of Bosnia and Herzegovina, more often show fragmented portals, uneven service quality and a higher risk of developing technological systems that do not communicate with one another.
However, the OECD stresses that the success of digitalization is not automatically determined by the degree of centralization. Countries such as Estonia, Finland and Spain combine decentralized service delivery with strong central coordination, shared infrastructure and quality control.
In Albania’s case, concentrating responsibilities in AKSHI has reduced fragmentation and enabled the rapid development of electronic services, but it has also created a high dependence on the agency’s capacities and approaches.
The OECD notes that expanding digitalization beyond central government institutions remains one of the main challenges. /ekofin.al
