On December 4, the Digital Cities Challenge Project of the European Commission brought together representatives of the cities participating in the programme at a summit for knowledge sharing and cooperation for Europe's digital transformation. Vladimir Danailov, Chief Executive Officer of the Sofia Municipal Privatization and Investment Agency represented Sofia.
Sofia is among the first seven cities approved to participate in the project implementation and to receive support in developing its own strategy for digitization and networking out of another 40 European cities currently participating in the initiative. The Digital Cities Challenge Project aims to achieve sustainable economic growth in cities through the integration of modern technologies.
A team of the Sofia Municipal Privatization and Investment Agency manages the participation of Sofia in the programme.
At the Mayors Summit, Markku Markkula, Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions, opened the session, calling it "a revolutionary step forward for the cities".
Slawomir Tokarski, Director of Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing at the European Commission, highlighted the importance of unified policies in the areas of digitization, production and urban governance. He also called upon the participants to learn from each other in order to gain from their participation in the programme high-quality solutions to the challenges that the cities are facing. Dana Eleftheriadou, Head of the Advanced Technology Team at the European Commission, made an overview of the completed and upcoming phases of the project.
A Declaration on cooperation in the field of digital transformation and smart growth was signed at the end of the meeting.