The Professional Dialogue Platform "Digital Transformation and Public Administration Reform in the Eastern Partnership", organized under the project "Eastern Partnership Regional Fund for Public Administration Reform" funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the German Association (Agency) for International Cooperation (GIZ), took place on 1 December 2022, in Brussels, Belgium in the context of GIZ's cooperation with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization, Iurie Turcanu, the Electronic Governance Agency (EGA) and the Public Services Agency (ASP).

Representatives of the Eastern Partnership countries, along with other guests, discussed the opportunities and challenges they face in their digital development and transformation process at the level of public administration, and mentioned their determination and high interest of the Governments in the continuous modernization and digitization of public services, as well as the application of innovation in their interaction with individuals or legal entities. 

Participants underlined that digital solutions are constantly evolving and each member state offers a wide range of e-services, between 600 and 2000, yet there is no sufficiently high uptake among the population, which is still reluctant to use government digital platforms.

During the event, Diana Zaharia, Head of the Institutional Management Directorate of the e-Governance Agency, gave a presentation based on the digital news from the EGA's activity as an institution responsible for the implementation of the Government's digital agenda, and mentioned about our e-Governance infrastructure, developed with the support of the World Bank Group over 12 years of partnership, the newest technological solutions that were launched in the Republic of Moldova and the objectives set by the Government for the next 7 years, which can be found in the draft Digital Transformation Strategy for the period 2023-2030. The document is under consultation and will be approved early next year. Also, during the Brussels Summit, the concept of CUPS (Unified Service Provision Centres) was presented, pointing out that, in the first year of activity, the 17 centres that were opened in rural areas substantially improved the quality of services provided at local level, enhanced the access to electronic services and contributed to a higher level of digital culture of the rural population, which led to the extension of the project to 82 such centres during 2023.

Besides the Republic of Moldova, the current achievements and success stories were presented about digital transformation in public administrations in some other Eastern Partnership countries, such as Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan who shared their experiences and presented ideas on the major requirements and preconditions for the promotion of the continuous digital transformation in the Eastern Partnership public administrations in the future. The issues addressed also covered challenges and gaps, mutual support and the most relevant future trends in the digitalization of public administration.