Cyprus criticizes resistance to digital shift
The biggest problem the Cypriot economy faces in the effort for digital transformation is resistance to change, Cyprus’ Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Kyriacos Kokkinos said on Monday in the Parliament in Nicosia, where he presented his department’s budget for 2023 and the work it has carried out during the past two years since its establishment.
Kokkinos also said an action plan was needed to encourage more young people in Cyprus to study technology-related programs as there are currently staff shortages in this sector. He stressed the need for such positions in Cyprus to match the same salary and benefits offered abroad, in order to prevent the brain drain to other countries. According to the deputy minister, however, the fact that Cyprus has now become a technology center, with many tech companies operating in the country, and employing around 15,000 professionals in the IT sector alone, has motivated several young people to return.
During the discussion at the House Committee on Financial and Budgetary Affairs, during the presentation of the Deputy Ministry’s work, it was mentioned that within two years, among other things, they implemented a fully digital system for the management of the pandemic, created and developed the Gov.cy portal, increased digital services, and upgraded telecommunications.
According to the data submitted by Kokkinos to the Parliament, within two years, Cyprus rose four places in the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which will now be used as a tool to monitor EU countries’ progress in implementing the EU Digital Decade 2030 policy agenda. In 2022, Cyprus ranked 20th among the 27 EU member-states, which the Deputy Ministry’s note submitted to Parliament said marks “a rapid pace of progress” and was “applauded” by the European Commission.
Kokkinos also referred to the issue of “resistance to change” regarding digital transformation. He said that changing systems was “the easy part,” but that if structures and processes are not touched, then the digital transformation will not be a success. That is why, he said, they are exerting “tremendous effort” to do so in collaboration both with the agencies and ministries whose systems they are working on but also with citizens, as affected parties.
