Filenews 12 May 2021
The digital transformation of the Municipalities marks the implementation of the project "Evagoras" of the Union of Municipalities of Cyprus, aiming to improve internal administration procedures for direct and quality provision of services to citizens and businesses. The project is expected to be operational in September 2023 and is expected to boost productivity and reduce workload, with tangible benefits to serving citizens.
As stated in a Union communication, the multi-agency project "Evagoras", presented today at a press conference in Nicosia, is being implemented within the framework of the "THALIA" Programme 2021-2027 co-financed by the European Union, with a budget of €2.41 million.
In a greeting, the president of the Association of Municipalities of Cyprus Andreas Vyras, Mayor of Larnaca, described the project as an ambitious and important leap in the era of digitisation, stressing that "the pandemic has highlighted in the strongest possible way the urgent need to provide distance services to citizens".
Mr. Vyras also pointed out that the integrated information system for the Municipalities that will be created will contribute extremely much to the mission of local government, putting an end to the problems of bureaucracy and the great disparity that exists today between the electronic procedures of the Municipalities.
The coordinator of the project "Evagoras", the official of the Association of Municipalities Christodoulos Rousias, referred to the co-financing of the project (85% from the EU Structural Funds and 15% from the Municipalities) as well as to the period of its implementation until the full development of the integrated information system.
It has started as early as January 2021 and will enter into production in 32 months (September 2023), he said.
The implementation of the project has been awarded on the basis of a public contract to the consortium of Hellenic Technical Enterprises Ltd, iSpiral IT Solutions Ltd, Technomad Engineering & Project Consultants Ltd and Open Technology Services SA.
As mentioned, the benefits of the project will be tangible for the service of citizens and businesses through the upgrading and strengthening of the services of the Municipalities. It provides for the digitisation of administration services (meetings, correspondence, human resources), financial management (budget, revenue management) of technical services (Urban Permits, Building Permits etc.) of public health (Waste Collection, Land Cleaning), Beaches, Civil Marriages and others.
Finally, the representative of the consortium Dimitris Nikolaou set out the objectives of the project which include upgrading technological infrastructure, strengthening legal compliance, reducing workload, enriching the information provided to citizens, improving services provided, exploiting digital communication channels and providing direct and enriched information for decision-making purposes Enhance efficiency.
