The capital continues to adopt best European practices in the area of the Smart City concept

Within the project "Technical Support for the Implementation of the Smart City Development Strategy", which is implemented under the auspices of the Government of the French Republic, the project team of the Capital Podgorica, consisting of the Head of the International Cooperation Service, Ljiljana Scepanovic, Director of the Information System Center, Dzemal Lekic and Danilo Drobnjak, IT consultant at the Agency for Construction and Development of Podgorica, realized a study visit to France, the PG Bureau announced.

According to them, this is a regional program for the four capitals of the Western Balkans, namely Podgorica, Tirana, Skopje and Pristina, and the goal of the support program is to establish specific strategies for the development of the smart city concept.

"We remind you that from June 2020, the Capital and Espelia are working in partnership and intensively on the implementation of the project in order to develop a kind of local digital action plan for the development of the smart city concept for Podgorica," reads the statement.

They note that the aim of the study visit is to get acquainted with French achievements in this field and exchange experiences and knowledge in the field of smart city concept development, through concrete examples from programs and projects implemented in Paris, Dijon and Rouen.

During the visit to Dijon, the representatives of the city presented the OnDijon project, as an example of successful practice and a unique project in the field of smart city and digital transformation in France. OnDijon was implemented in 2019, and completely changed the face of the city and turned Dijon into a smart and innovative city, and it meant creating a common and unique digital command center with the intention of facilitating the management of the entire public space in Dijon. In Rouen, the best examples from the field of functioning and management of the entire network of public urban transport and integrated mobility at the level of France were presented, with concrete examples.

As part of the study visit, a visit to the French Agency for Development (AFD) based in Paris was realized, within which activities and work in the field of energy efficiency were presented, as well as development programs of the Agency in various fields implemented abroad, more precisely in 20 countries of the world, with special reference to the countries of the Western Balkans.

Also, a visit to the headquarters of Île-de-France was held, where meetings and talks were held with representatives of Île-de-France (Paris region), during which the city team got acquainted with the Smart RegionProgram and Île-de-France SmartServicesPlatform in the field of development the concept of a smart city. Practical demonstrations of the functioning of specific digital innovative services and services, implemented through the mentioned programs, were held, in order to improve the lives of citizens and provide a quick and adequate response to the needs of the business sector, "the statement reads.

During the visit, the beneficiaries were introduced to the France ville durable project, which brought together local authorities, the state, companies and experts in the common interest - creating "new smart" cities of the future, ie sustainable and resilient cities.

"The capital Podgorica will continue to adopt the best practices of European cities when it comes to the development of the Smart city concept, as well as to improve the infrastructure related to the digitalization of services and other services in the field of smart solutions," the statement concluded.