One of the prerequisites for creating a modern, digitised, and efficient public administration that provides quality and efficient services to both the economy and citizens is a system of interoperable databases and registers. In Croatia we are in the process of creating and establishing a Register of Population, Families and Households. This will be a single register in which data on population, families, and households as well as data on income and assets will be integrated. Once this register is operational, we will no longer need to carry out population censuses every decade and we will continually have access to up to date information on our citizens, which will provide relevant information for guiding policy and making good decisions. Bodies governed by public law will benefit from the Register within the scope of their work, as will citizens, in terms of having fewer administrative procedures when exercising their rights and fulfilling their obligations. Before establishing the Population Register, a detailed analysis of the data to be included in the Register and how it would be organised, as well as a breakdown of who would manage the data was carried out. Work still needs to be done with respect to making appropriate amendments to the relevant acts and adopting subordinate legislation, as well as establishing a register of buildings and dwellings, so that an individual can be linked to a household. The establishment of a high-quality and modern population register is a long-term project that requires resources and political will. However, once established, it will provide an invaluable resource for monitoring macroeconomic, socioeconomic, and demographic indicators in real time, which would enable public policies to be defined and implemented better.
