If there is one thing we doggedly refuse to learn from past experience is the need to keep the public payroll under control. We have very quickly forgotten what happened in 2012/13 when the state, having lost access to the markets, had to borrow money from a semi-governmental organisation to pay public employees their 13th salaries. The situation eventually became manageable by imposing pay and pension cuts which were all eventually lifted.
It is not only the generous pay and pensions that have been restored, the government has also reverted to the continual hiring of public employees, oblivious to the risks this poses. The number of employees in the broad public sector increased by 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, compared to the corresponding period of last year. This represented 1,527 more workers, which might not seem a very big number if the public sector were not already overstaffed.
Read more: CY: Government should focus on digitalisation not new hires in public sector
Cyprus needs to get connected after being ranked among the bottom five EU countries in the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) published by the European Commission.
Despite having improved its score in all five areas covered by the Index, Cyprus still performed poorly compared to the EU average coming 24th out of 28 member states (including the UK).
Read more: Cyprus dragging its feet in digital transformation
Last week, Uche, a Nigerian studying in Ukraine shared his story. He answered the question of what to consider when deciding what country to study.
For Victor in this week’s Digital Nomad, deciding to study in Cyprus came down to one reason: resumption time.
Victor tells me: “I had admission offers all over. From the US to the UK as well as the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. But at the time, there was the ASUU 6 months strike which meant I had to look for a quick alternative.”
Read more: CY: Digital Nomads: Studying in Famagusta, the smart city without Uber
Cyprus ranks 24th out of 28 EU countries as per the 2020 edition of DESI (Digital Economy and Society Index) published by the European Commission on Thursday.
The annual Digital Economy and Society Index measures the progress of EU Member States in their steps towards a digital economy and society, on the basis of Eurostat data as well as specialised studies and collection methods. The DESI 2020 reports are based on 2019 data.
Read more: Cyprus 5th worst-performing EU country of digital index
Substantial government funds are now allocated to support the rapid development of e-government, Deputy Minister of research, innovation and digital policy Kyriacos Kokkinos told the Cyprus Mail in an interview.
“Thanks to the pipeline of €350 million euros made available, the ministry will be able to implement 160 e-government services (considerably more than the 50 deemed essential). A budget of €20 to 30 million has been allocated for these services.”