ACETI organized the International Conference “Digital Innovation Hub – an important tool for Digital Transformation in the Republic of Moldova” in Chisinau
The Association for the Development of Electronic Communications and Innovative Technologies (ACETI) as orchestrator of the Digital Innovation Hub of Moldova and implementer of the project “DIH of Moldova Steps 4 EDIH”, organized on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, the International Conference “Digital Innovation Hub – an important tool for Digital Transformation in the Republic of Moldova”.
The event gathered at the Digital Park in Chisinau more than 100 participants: representatives of central and local public authorities, embassy representatives, academia, members of the Digital Innovation Hub of Moldova, local and international partners, as well as SME representatives.
It came in an extremely favourable context for the digital transformation of the Republic of Moldova, linked to the accession of our country to the multiannual Digital Europe programme, which will help us to be in line with EU policies on digital transformation.
The conference was opened by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Digitisation of the Republic of Moldova, Mr Dumitru Alaiba, also present as a government partner of the event.
“We are here to mark a first small victory following the signing of the Digital Europe programme. The opportunities in this sector are huge. Through digitisation we have the chance to totally transform the way the state interacts with citizens and entrepreneurs, the way our people see the state, see state institutions, or rather don’t see them, because when we talk about a digital state, it doesn’t matter where the address of the tax office is or where the visa office is, it’s all in one place on one website and that’s what we want. It is a very powerful tool to build trust between the state and the citizens. We have believed in digitisation since the beginning of our career, we have promoted it and we will continue to do so, we are not stopping here. We believe in what we are doing and we will continue to move forward,” said Dumitru Alaiba, noting that our country is a regional leader in the digitisation of public services, with 53 digitised services.
On his turn, Ion Bodrug, President of ACETI, thanked the international partners for their support and mentioned the successes achieved by ACETI and DIH of Moldova on the path of digital transformation in the Republic of Moldova.
“Today, by organising this international conference, we want to share our experience, but also to take the best from the experience of European partners and neighbouring countries with European aspirations. We want the recipe we share to work at national level. We are very happy that the Republic of Moldova has been granted EU candidate status, that we finally have a signed agreement to join the multiannual Digital Europe programme, which will help us to keep up with EU policies in the field of digital transformation”, said Ion Bodrug.
Representatives of the diplomatic corps resident in the Republic of Moldova, as well as representatives of international organisations supporting the digitisation of the Republic of Moldova also came with messages of greeting and encouragement.
“The digital transformation of SMEs will facilitate their access to the European market. We would like to further support Moldova’s access to the European digital market,” said Stefen Lohmann, Head of the Cooperation Department, German Embassy in Moldova.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises play a key role in the economic development of the Republic of Moldova, and the one-stop-shop mechanism provides companies with the necessary tools to be competitive in both the domestic and European markets. The United States is committed to advancing Moldova’s sustainable development and prosperity,” said Jeff Bryan, Head of the USAID Mission in Chisinau.
“Romania is, as always, a partner of the Republic of Moldova on the path of digital transformation. Development in the field of digitisation goes faster than other social, economic and financial transformations. We can say that the Republic of Moldova has standards in the field of digital transformation more competitive even than in some EU countries”, said Ovidiu Năftănăilă, first collaborator of the Romanian Embassy in the Republic of Moldova.
“Today we are celebrating something we are working on together, namely the strengthening of SMEs and their contribution to the growth of a country. We are proud to be part of this process. For us, this collaboration with the innovation and digitalization system is vital. Digital transformation is not something that only one person or only one country can do, it requires a joint effort from all of us,” said Claudia Hermes, Country Director at GIZ Moldova Country Office.
Niclas Rueffer, project director of the Digital Transformations of small and medium-sized enterprises in Eastern Partnership Countries project, presented the work of the project to support digital transformation in Eastern Partnership countries, including the Republic of Moldova, focusing on the role of digital innovation hubs in the digital transformation process of SMEs.
Lidia Bețoaea, expert at the Digital Innovation Zone in Romania presented the work and functions of a real EDIH as a support mechanism for companies that want to become more competitive by improving products, processes and services using digital technologies, but also for public institutions in the process of digital transformation.
Presentations of representatives of Ukrainian EDIHs followed, who shared their experience of working within the Digital Europe programme, and representatives of companies from the Republic of Moldova shared the experience of successful digital transformation of the entities they lead.
At the end of the event, the participants had the opportunity to communicate with each other in a friendly atmosphere to establish further productive partnerships, taking full advantage of the information exchange and collaboration platform provided by the organizers.
One of the objectives of the event was to establish a constant dialogue with the central public administration and development partners, so that the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) operate in the Republic of Moldova as one-stop-shops supporting companies and public sector organisations to respond to digital challenges and become more competitive.
This activity was supported by the project “Digital Transformation of Small and Medium Enterprises in Eastern Partnership Countries” (DT4SME), funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented by GIZ Moldova. Partner of the event is the Future Technologies Project, funded by USAID Moldova, the Government of Sweden and UKAid.
