Lithuania is partner country of Smart Country Convention 2019

Going to the authorities online and setting up a business in three days - that works in Lithuania. As one of the pioneers of digitisation, Lithuania is this year the official partner country of the Smart Country Convention. From 22 to 24 October 2019, the country will show innovative digital applications for administrations, public companies and the digitisation of cities, municipalities and rural districts in the CityCube Berlin.

Minister of Economic Affairs, Virginijus Sinkevičius, will open the event

The Smart Country Convention will be opened by the Lithuanian Economics Minister Virginijus Sinkevičius together with Germany‘s Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. "It is worthwhile to take a look at Lithuania, where the citizen service has long been online and is used by people as a matter of course. Unlike in Germany, Lithuania's administration is online by default and being offline is the absolute exception. Lithuania is also at the forefront when it comes to cyber security," says Bitkom President Achim Berg. "In Germany we have great visions of Smart Cities - Lithuania has already implemented many of them.

"Lithuania is no longer just talking about e-governance, but about digital governance. Instead of just creating a digital version of analogue paper documents, digital processes and functions are created, improved and redesigned. Because we want to create public services that are not only electronic, but also digital. We want to share our experience in digitizing the public sector, cyber security and smart cities with Germany, our most important business partner. That's why Lithuania became this year's partner country of the Smart Country Convention," explains Darius Semaška, Lithuanian Ambassador to Germany.

Leading companies such as Deutsche Telekom, SAP and Bechtle are part of the Smart Country Convention. The three central municipal associations are institutional partners - Deutscher Städte- und Gemeindebund, Deutscher Städtetag, Deutscher Landkreistag - as well as the Verband Kommunaler Unternehmen (VKU) and the Nationales E-Government Kompetenzzentrum (NEGZ).