Smart cities are our future, but they demand highly precise strategy for the city infrastructure that will bring reduction of the operating costs and provide life in digitalized, smart city
AmCham’s Digital Transformation Committee represented by Mr. Andrej Petreski and Mr. Goce Mitevski together with AmCham’s Executive Director Mrs. Jelena Arsovska attended the two-day Conference in April 2022 in Thessaloniki and Trikala “Cities of the Future: Innovative, Safe and Sustainable”. The Conference, certifying its title, was focused on better understanding and exchange of knowledge for maximizing further efforts and ensuring legacy for the future generations, putting a light on successful examples of smart solutions, infrastructure, and implementation time of a functional solution.
Special attention during the panel discussion was pointed to the observations of Konstantinos Zervas, Mayor of Thessaloniki, Dimitris Papastergiou, President of KEDE and Mayor of Trikala, Costas Bakogiannis, Mayor of Athens, Giannis Moralis, Mayor of Piraeus, who have been witnessing about the implemented solutions, effective management of the infrastructure and contribution to the improvement of the governance. The international dimension of the Conference was underlined by the presence of Mayors of 8 different countries including Danela Arsovska, Mayor of Skopje.
The capital city Skopje is not lagging behind other capitals, and it is actively participating in the global community of cities and people towards development of a holistic strategy for the future with the last years’ implementation of the Project “Skopje Smart City” in cooperation with Makedonski Telekom. Digitalization of Skopje tends to turn the capital of North Macedonia into Smart City that will effectively cope with challenges such as smart and efficient lighting, parking, water management, waste management, reduction of pollution, and improvement of infrastructure. Working towards enhancing the quality of life of the citizens, but taking in consideration dimensions such as implementation practices, necessary interventions, and operations of structures will ensure fast progress, develop partnerships, and enhance collaboration, which is in line with the focus of the Digital Committee of AmCham.
*The event was held in the Thessaloniki Digital Transformation and Digital Skills Center, which is a joint project of Cisco and the Municipality of Thessaloniki, where key innovations and technologies are showcased, ranging from Smart City, Smart Agriculture, Remote Health, Remote Learning, and many more. The center also acts as a Networking Academy as well as an incubator of innovators. Visits to it can be arranged for our AmCham members if there is interest for it.
