Prospects of Belarus' digital future were discussed today in Minsk at an international forum in the field of telecommunications. Our country is in the top 40 in the world ranking of readiness for e-government. And by the level of e-services development our country is 32nd among 200 countries. A new step towards the digital transformation will be the introduction of ID-cards, which will open a simple and easy access to e-services for Belarusians, e.g. obtaining certificates literally in one click. Experts believe that e-government enables a new era of communication between the state, the citizen and business. And Belarus is making serious steps towards digital changes.
Read more: Belarus ranks among top 40 countries in e-government readiness
Belarus is counting on UN-Habitat's support for smart cities projects, Belarusian Ambassador to Kenya, the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN‐Habitat) Pavel Vzyatkin said during an online-meeting with UN‐Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Belarusian ambassador highlighted the important role of UN-Habitat in promoting urban green infrastructure technologies and achieving sustainable development goals. He said that Belarus has started implementing a number of smart city projects and is counting on UN-Habitat's support in this regard.
Read more: Belarus counts on UN-Habitat's support for smart cities projects
Belarus plans to implement the smart city concept in ten cities, Elena Shorr, the deputy head of the department for state-run ICT projects and procurement at the Belarusian Communications and Informatization Ministry, said at the forum “Smart sustainable cities: from concept to implementation” on 3 March, BelTA has learned.
“The government set the task to start targeted digitalization, because it is impossible to do it throughout the country at one stroke. We started with the pilot project [to implement the smart city concept] in Orsha in 2019 and adjusted the general concept. This year there are plans to introduce the concept in another ten cities: Baranovichi, Pinsk, Novopolotsk, Polotsk, Mozyr, Lida, Borisov, Soligorsk, Molodechno and Bobruisk. We also intend to implement the concept in Minsk in 2020-2021,” Elena Shorr said.
Read more: Belarus plans to implement smart city concept in ten cities in 2020
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) forum “Smart Sustainable Cities: Organizational and Technical Aspects of Development” is taking place at Beltelecom's international switching center on 16-18 March, BelTA has learned.
Taking part in the event are representatives of the ITU, government, regional authorities and also major institutions of science and education. Speakers from Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, experts from the Green Cities Project, UNDP, specialists of Belarus' major companies will share the practical experience and suggest ways of building a smart sustainable city.
Read more: BY: ITU's international forum on smart sustainable cities underway in Minsk
One of the proposed initiatives is creating a new educational institution that will train personnel for the specialized companies. At the meeting, the President noted that terms “computerization” and “digitalization” should be understood by all Belarusians. The urgent issue is the introduction of e-government. This technology will be set up by 2020.
The university's main goal will be training the personnel. BSU, BSUIR and the High-Tech Park will create the platform for training extra-class specialists! The HTP residents can be the key sponsors!. Such a university will prepare employees for specific tasks. The President supported the initiative as the university can be an excellent platform to improve the entire education system.
Read more: Development of digital sphere in Belarus discussed today at Palace of Independence