May 2025 – The Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic has submitted a proposal to amend the Act on Information Technologies in Public Administration. Its aim is to strengthen the management of the state's digital assets, increase cybersecurity resilience, and introduce clear rules for the use of artificial intelligence in public administration.
From the state’s perspective, this is an ambitious reform, but for IT solution suppliers, it introduces numerous negative consequences that fundamentally change the existing contractual practices and business environment. Below is a summary of the key changes and their practical impacts on businesses.
1. Special copyright regime for public sector information technologies
A key change is the introduction of a special regime for exercising proprietary rights under the Copyright Act. Public authorities will automatically and unconditionally acquire full proprietary rights to software and databases developed with public funds.
Unlike Employee Works, suppliers will no longer be able to contractually restrict how the public sector can use such works. The state will be entitled to use the software without additional licensing fees, modify its code, and even authorise other public entities to use it.
While this regime aligns with open-source trends, it opens the door to several problems and ambiguities, particularly regarding:
(i) practical management of copyrights,
(ii) rights of third parties whose content is incorporated into the work, and
(iii) the scope of information and database content considered part of the deliverable.
2. New contractual conditions and supplier warning
The amendment mandates that public procurers only accept contractual terms that reflect the new regime. This results in a significant loss of negotiation leverage and contractual flexibility for suppliers. The law explicitly requires IT project contracts to include:
- Unlimited rights of the state to the work – The public customer will obtain full proprietary rights to the created software or database, including source code. Suppliers may not impose any restrictions on its use by public authorities.
- Exclusive data control – The state will be the sole and exclusive controller of all data collected or generated during the project and its operation. Suppliers will have no rights to use production system data.
- Obligation to cooperate during supplier transitions – The original supplier must provide maximum cooperation during a transition to a new supplier, especially by handing over documentation, architecture, and assisting with system migration and integration.
- Mandatory integration support – If a new information system is to be integrated with an existing one, the original supplier is obliged to cooperate to the necessary extent (e.g., for data migration or system interconnection).
Warning to suppliers: These changes significantly increase requirements for openness and cooperation and could fundamentally disrupt suppliers’ business models. Suppliers must hand over complete source code and documentation and accept that their outputs may be shared with competitors, even during system maintenance or further development.
This proposed regulation will thus have a substantial negative impact on the contractual freedom between customers and suppliers and limit the range of options available to public buyers, potentially leading to higher costs for IT system management.
3. Other changes
- Artificial Intelligence Act and the Data Act – The bill partially implements the EU’s AI Act and Data Act. AI systems must remain under human oversight and must not endanger citizens’ rights and freedoms. The public must be clearly informed when AI is used (e.g., when interacting with a chatbot).
- Cybersecurity – Public authorities will be subject to stricter security standards. Suppliers must prepare for increased compliance requirements, including mandatory incident reporting and integration with CSIRT teams.
4. Transitional period
The new rules will not apply retroactively. They will be mandatory only for contracts signed from 2026 onward. Existing contracts remain unchanged, but when extended or updated, it is advisable to align them with the new framework.
While the proposed amendment marks a major step toward a more modern, secure, and efficient digital public administration for the state, IT suppliers should urgently review their business and technical strategies and prepare for new requirements that will become standard in public sector contracts.
Click on the image below or use the following link to read our overview in Slovak.