CORRECTION: Ministry: NASES Can Address Critical Situation at slovensko.sk, ...

CORRECTION: Ministry: NASES Can Address Critical Situation at slovensko.sk, But Risk Remains TASR released a story on Wednesday (4 February) in which it was mistakenly stated in the fifth paragraph that the Digital Coalition also criticised secret purchases of IT solutions. In fact, it was the Slovensko.Digital civil association. We apologise for this error. The corrected story is as follows: Bratislava, 4 February (TASR) - The government's approval of information on the critical state of the central public administration website slovensko.sk will enable the National Agency for Network and Electronic Services (NASES) to implement necessary and most urgent measures aimed at stabilising the functioning of the website, the Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation Ministry announced on Wednesday. According to the ministry, these measures will reduce the risk of system collapse from the current level of 90-100 percent to approximately 58-78 percent, creating the necessary time to prepare and gradually implement a more comprehensive and sustainable solution. "In addition, the approved solution is, in the current situation, a necessary first step that responds to the immediate risks identified by expert assessments. Our priority is to keep the the state's key digital infrastructure functional and to prevent sudden and uncontrolled system failure," it said. Although the materials on the planned investments in slovensko.sk weren't published, Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) stated after the government meeting that the government had approved only approximately €80 million for projects related to the central public administration slovensko.sk website, not the requested €100 million. The Informatisation Ministry emphasised that the decision reflects the current budgetary and time constraints of the state. "Our colleagues have made a political decision, which we respect. For us, it was crucial to make it clear that the Informatisation Ministry had done its utmost to address the problem. The risk of collapse will be reduced, but this won't resolve all the problems," said Investment Minister Samuel Migal (Independent). Migal added that he regrets the political dimension of the technical problem, with not only the opposition but also coalition partners questioning the urgency of the situation. Secret purchases of IT solutions have been repeatedly criticised, especially by opposition MPs, but also by the Slovensko.Digital civil association, which claims that cheaper solutions exist. The ministry has rejected this claim, however. am/df