The French Government, through the French Development Agency-AFD, has financially supported the project “Digital cities in Western Balkans” for five capitals of the region, including Podgorica, worth about EUR 600,000.00 evenly directed to all cities.

The project involves providing technical support for the development of a vision of a smart city strategy for the Western Balkans, in order to develop a Local Digital Action Plan, and the partner in the project is Espelia, a leading French consulting firm in the field of public service management.

In that context, after a series of remote meetings and exchange of experiences, the first interactive working session in video format was held today, in which experts from the French company “Espelia” participated along with the city team working on this project, the head of the International cooperation Ljiljana Šćepanović, city manager Marjan Junčaj, director of the Center for Information System Džemal Lekić, together with representatives of city authorities and companies.

Representatives of “Espelia” introduced the participants to the general goals of technical assistance and the benefits of developing the concept of a smart city. The meeting represented a great opportunity to discuss working methods and the degree of digital maturity at the level of Podgorica, to get a clearer picture of the digital component of urban design and services, and to better understand the city’s main sectoral ambitions and challenges from a digital and environmental transition perspective.

Technical support includes mapping the current state and development of the smart city concept, through improving the performance management of public enterprises, administration, urban planning, economic and digital development, setting priorities and investment plan, which in the near future should further improve the quality of urban services and quality of life of citizens of Podgorica.

Today’s meeting is an important step forward for the Capital, which will continue to advance smart solutions in all areas of activity. Other remote meetings will follow soon, aiming to further implementation of the project and development of a Local Digital Action Plan.