Digitalization of public administration debated at the Summit of Mayors

Digitalization of public administration, implementation of smart city solutions, how to access European funds and training needs in local public administration were debated in Târgu Mureş, during the first Summit of Mayors in Romania.

George Turcu, managing partner of the Mayors Guide, stated: "The purpose of the event is clear, to attract and bring experts from all fields to the mayors. We at the Mayors Guide believe that the mayors in our country have a great lack of experts, especially small mayors. They do not have experts to rely on when they want to do projects". The event in Târgu Mureş was attended by representatives from over 60 mayors in the country, specialists in public policies and sustainable development, as well as professionals in smart city solutions. The Mayor of Târgu Mureş, Soos Zoltan, stated on this occasion: "We are also in a world where changes are rapid, they are essential and it is normal that as elected representatives of county capitals we represent an important community, but we also have quite big challenges. We debate the challenges we face in order to find solutions and to help each other fulfill our responsibilities towards our communities. We have the responsibility to ensure transparent local governance, to develop transport, to develop the economy, infrastructure and tourism. (...) In Târgu Mureş alone, in the last three and a half years, about 70 million euros have been invested, European funds, to which the local budget, the national budget and private investments are added. This momentum is felt, but we must also remember the problems in the administration. We wait four to five months for an opinion to build a road or we send the final documentation to CNAIR and in five months they don't even put a project on the agenda to discuss. They don't even answer the phones at CNAIR, etc. (...) City halls represent the Romanian state and efficiency is disappearing somewhere". The mayor believes that digitalization would help if someone controlled who and how they work at the ministries, because all mayors suffer from these syncopes, regardless of which party they belong to. The "Citizen's Pulse" study, carried out by the City Hall Guide and IZI data, was also presented during the City Hall Summit, which analyzes the relationship between citizens and their locality of residence.