Skopje, 9 December 2023

In the framework of the Phase II of the EU-funded Regional Programme for Strengthening the Central Bank Capacities in the Western Balkans, the implementation of the bilateral measure for data governance between the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia (NBRNM) and the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) started. The planned activities will contribute to sharing the OeNB’s experience in strengthening the institutional capacity for establishing a data governance function in the NBRNM.

The first expert mission of the bilateral measure was held from 27 to 29 November 2023, with participants from a larger number of organizational units in the NBRNM and two experts from the OeNB. The expert mission was focused on sharing the OeNB’s experience in implementing data governance, while topics included the establishment of a data governance strategy (policy), democratization of data, setting up of data governance roles in terms of responsibility and accountability, as well as examples of the implemented data architecture through data catalogues, metadata and granulation. The experts from the OeNB actively shared their knowledge, practical steps of the implementation process and best practises in the field of data governance, which will be a useful guidance in the setting up of this function in the NBRNM, thus taking further steps towards becoming a data-driven organization.

The Phase II of the EU-funded Regional Programme for strengthening the institutional capacity of the central banks in the Western Balkans was launched in September 2022. This three-year programme is being implemented by the Bundesbank as its coordinator, in partnership with nineteen central banks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the European Central Bank (ECB). The European Union (EU) has allocated €3 million to the programme from its Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III).