Thessaloniki’s budget to get 10 mln euros in early 2022, says e-minister

The city of Thessaloniki will get a budget of 10 mln euros in the beginning of 2022, which comes from the EU’s Smart Cities program, Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said at the 6th Thessaloniki Summit 2021 on Friday.

Absorbing funds from both the EU Recovery Fund and the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), Smart Cities has a budget total of 320 mln euros, “from which every one of the country’s 332 municipalities is allocated a set amount towards specific digital needs,” he said.

Pierrakakis also announced a new online citizens’ support service, called Support, which will be available at the gov.gr digital platform.

Greece is now able to begin providing internet access services via microsatellite technology, perhaps as soon as the end of 2021, he added.

“Having recently acquired the insitutional capacity to that effect via a interministerial decision, providing internet services via this technology can be catalytic to full access in the so-called white areas, where these services are not financially viable option for standard providers,” he said.

Thessaloniki Summit 2021 is organized by the Federation of Industries of Greece (SBE), in cooperation with Delphi Economic Forum.

[AMNA]