Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Yanko Topalov participated in the opening of the European Digital Innovation Hub ‘Trakia’. The Minister of e-Government Georgi Todorov also participated in the event.
‘Plovdiv is in the top 3 economic centres in Bulgaria,’ Yanko Topalov stressed during the opening ceremony. According to him, the gross domestic product of the district amounts to BGN 9.8 billion, forming more than half of the GDP of the entire South Central region. ‘The creation of a European Digital Innovation Hub is another prerequisite for a balanced and sustainable development of the region,’ the Deputy Minister of Economy added. According to him, this will also create an opportunity for small and medium enterprises in the South Central region to increase their technological capacity and take measures for digital transformation and cyber security.
The opening of the Digital Innovation Hub is part of the European Commission’s Digital Europe programme. ‘The criteria of the programme allowed for the possibility of funding a small number of digital hubs for Bulgaria. That is why the project team deserves congratulations for making it this far, passing national and European rankings,’ Deputy Minister Topalov added. He also pointed out that ‘the activity of the centre in Plovdiv will contribute to improving the innovative performance of small and medium-sized enterprises, and the business and local administration will have access to information on innovative solutions’.
The European Digital Innovation Hub ‘Trakia’ is a project between the Union for Economic Initiative, the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, the Bulgarian Cyber Security Association, Plovdiv Paisii Hilendarski University and Plovdiv Municipality. It has a duration of 3 years and is funded by the Digital Europe programme of the European Commission and the Research, Innovation and Digitalisation for Smart Transformation programme.