The State Infocommunication Foundation (RIKS) was established on 12 December 2000, with order No. 1008 of the Government of the Republic, for the cohesive administration of the state’s infocommunication system, hence also approving the Conception of Compatible Communication Systems. According to the above mentioned order, RIKS started to fulfill l the functions of the previous Government Department of Communications and Maritime Communication Center.
RIKS was established in order to govern and use the assets of the state in the interest of the state when fulfilling the following objectives and tasks as specified in the statutes:
- To provide users of the state budget financed cohesive infocommunication services and guarantee the confidentiality of their messages;
- Fulfilling the obligations that the state has taken on with foreign contracts to guarantee the safety of marine navigation and ensure the possibility of communication between ships and the shore; working out and developing IT-based specific state programs and awarding respective grants and scholarships, if necessary.
According to the statutes of RIKS, the directing bodies of the foundation are the council and management board. The foundation’s council included chancellors from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Transport and Communications and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The council had an advisory board on technical issues, which included communications specialists who represented the users of IC services.
Thus, by establishing RIKS, the state has created the prerequisites for: developing a cohesive info communication service system in the public department; guaranteeing the harmonic development of operational communications as part of a single cohesive info communication system and achieving noticeable savings in the conditions of the rapidly developing telecommunications market.
The goal of saving was already fulfilled at the moment of establishing RIKS. In 2000, the budget of the Government Department of Communications was 13.7 million kroons and the budget of the Maritime Communication Centre was 12.4 million kroons, totalling 26.1 million kroons. In 2001, in the row of targeted financing by the state of the newly established RIKS 14.3 million kroons was written – thus, the load of the state budget decreased by 11.8 million kroons, while the obligations and tasks remained generally the same as were fulfilled by the Government Department of Communications and the Maritime Communication Center. Additional means were planned to be collected from the income of selling phone services.
Before the establishment of RIKS, the Maritime Communication Center and the Government Department of Communications each had 40 staff employees, thus 80 people in total. Three of them moved over to another institution together with the obligation of fulfilling their professional tasks and RIKS began working with the 77 employees.
Regarding the development of RIKS, we need to thank the participants in the work of the board of specialists, who helped to center new courses of action in the Conception of Compatible Communication Systems, which was carried out in 2003. Then, the Government of the Republic approved the development conception of RIKS, which was basically carried out in 2011. Further action was based on the development plan for 2011-2014, approved by the council, which was carried out by 2013. For now, the development plan of RIKS has been approved for the years 2014-2018.