The French ambassador to Cyprus met with the mayor of Paphos on Wednesday and discussed the town’s efforts to transform itself into a ‘smart’ city.
The ambassador, Rene Troccaz, met with Phedonas Phedonos at Paphos town hall.
“This is the second time they have met each other and the ambassador was particularly interested in our efforts to establish Paphos as smart city,” a municipality spokesman told the Cyprus Mail.
Slowly but surely Cyprus is entering the digital age of commerce, but experts say it has a long way to go before it mirrors what is happening in places like China.
Two months ago, Cyprus took baby steps towards entering the new digitalized era in trying to catch up with the rest of the world.
Transport and Communications Minister Vassiliki Anastasiadou has called on the public sector, local authorities and the private sector to intensify their digital transformation efforts.
Cyprus currently ranks 21st among the 28 countries of the EU on the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) announced on May 18 by the European Commission. Although Cyprus is among the countries that have recorded the greatest progress during the last four years, along with Ireland and Spain, it is still among the low-ranking countries.
Read more: CY: Minister calls for digital transformation efforts to be intensified
Many moons ago, the then-presidential commissioner and current Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides made some bold declarations about government reform, with the process now spilling over into a second administration but little to show for it.
Petrides may have been enthusiastic about introducing efficiencies that would bring the transition to e-Government within reach. But he did not bank on a rigid civil service, where anything new or any “progressive” change is regarded as a breach of public sector workers’ rights.
Read more: CY: Why we need to breathe new life into e-Government reform
The mistake of doctors’ and teachers’ unions was that instead of first demanding a probe into the circumstances of the death of the 10-year-old schoolboy, they criticised the competent ministers for doing so, President Nicos Anastasiades has said.
In an interview published in Sunday’s Phileleftheros, Anastasiades said that his ministers had his full backing, regarding the way they handled the case adding that “lines had been crossed”.