During a debate with Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, EPP-CoR members discussed how Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) can be fit for the digital age.
Markku Markkula, President of Helsinki Region said "Digitalisation offers huge opportunities for cities to move to the next phase in their societal role: City-as-a-Service. Companies and other communities will be part of the innovative urban ecosystem and service provision. The city is a facilitator and a platform in enabling the civil society to find solutions for the existing challenges."
Thomas Schmidt, Minister for Regional Development, Free State of Saxony said "In Saxony, we have just experienced how real the dangers of a digitally connected world are: We had cyber-attacks on the University of Applied Sciences Freiberg and the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences in Zwickau. Therefore, I sincerely welcome that the EU Commission set the topic of digital resilience on the political agenda. Even if Europe is still struggling to create the conditions for a Europe-wide digital infrastructure and digital participation, the initiatives must be coordinated at the European level. Digital cohesion in Europe is enormously important for a good development of the regions. The 'European Digital Innovation Hubs' (EDIH) within the framework of the EU program 'Digital Europe' are a really good instrument for building digital resilience. We in Saxony are counting on the Saxon EDIH to help connect actors at all levels and make us more interoperable and resilient."
Rastislav Trnka, Chairman of Košice Self – Governing Region said that the Košice Self-Governing Region recently celebrated the first anniversary of the opening of the Innovation Centre of the Košice Region, which, among other areas, focuses on digitisation within the framework of the Regional Innovation Strategy of the Košice Region. He added "Our initiatives demonstrate that we are a region that is able to provide an environment in which to build and enhance digitalisation taking into account theskills of our citizens." He called on the EU institutions to provide specific guidance and technical or financial assistance to facilitate the digital transition at regional level.
Adrián Ariel Zittelli Ferrari, Director-General for European Union Affairs for the Region of Murcia - Regional Assembly of Murcia said "Strong investment and sufficient technical, highly trained staff are necessary to manage the new technologies that increasingly impact the services that administrations provide to citizens."
Dobromir Dobrev, Mayor of Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality said that only half of municipalities in Bulagria are part of the Unified Electronic Communications Network of the State Administration, which is key to ensuring secure cyber-resistant communications and the Internet. He said that individual decisions of municipalities for digital connectivity and modernization of services lead to fragmented results at the local level.
Franz Schausberger, Representative of the State Parliament of Salzburg stressed that through digitalisation, existing disadvantages in rural regions can be reduced and existing strengths expanded creating equivalent living conditions. He added "Everyone must work on closing the 'digital divide' across Europe." He also emphasised that digitalisation must remain an offer that does not forget those who have neither the necessary expertise nor the technical tools.
Željko Turk, Mayor of the City of Zaprešić said that national legislation is beginning to recognize and define the fundamental elements of interoperability, but interoperability systems are developing slowly, and local government is even more slowly being involved in these systems.In this regard he appealed "It is necessary to connect national and local authorities and key suppliers of information systems in a partnership to strengthen interoperability within the member states."