The COVID-19 health crisis has shown digital technology to be an effective solution for maintaining government continuity. It is for this reason that Monaco is seeking to accelerate its digital transition and build a sustainable digital resilience strategy.
March 2020. The coronavirus epidemic is sweeping the planet. Half of humanity finds itself locked down within just a few weeks. Isolated.
In the face of this unprecedented health crisis, Monaco – like many other countries – found digital technology to be an essential element in ensuring government continuity while maintaining physical distancing. Government resilience via digital technology, making it possible to respond quickly during a period of crisis and under the constraints of a lockdown which came without warning. It’s quite simple: teleworking multiplied tenfold during this period, and is now the norm for a third of workers in the major European countries. The number of teleconsultations went up by 100 times in France, while the number of passengers at Nice Airport fell by the same amount… We are all aware that digital is an essential tool in the post-COVID-19 world.
Digital resilience during the crisis
Faced with this health emergency, Monaco was able to rely on some of the infrastructure developed as part of the Extended Monaco programme. Having already embarked on a digital transformation of the Principality, the Monegasque Government, which has had a training and equipment plan since 2019, had little trouble switching to teleworking. The Teams’ e-education platforms, introduced in 2019, made remote learning possible. The establishment of the Monaco Cyber Security Agency in 2016, and the work that the Agency has done since then, helped to limit the risk of cyberattacks during a time when digital technology was essential. “The Prince’s Government demonstrated a high degree of agility and responsiveness. The critical and urgent needs caused by COVID-19 (online services to provide support to businesses, teleconsultation tools, a platform for treating COVID-19 at home, etc.) were all met within a short timeframe and the results have been powerful,” emphasises Frédéric Genta, Country Chief Digital Officer.
Similarly, all applications for economic and social aid were processed and paid digitally. Teleconsultation has been used by 35% of doctors in Monaco.
“Monaco is going to build a true digital resilience strategy”
While Monaco has proved its ability in this area during the COVID-19 crisis, the experience has highlighted the need to go much further. “The solutions put forward during the emergency are not optimum and governments must now offer a robust resilience plan that can be activated should similar events occur again,” warns Frédéric Genta. To illustrate this, he notes: “If the Monegasque cloud had been operational in March 2020, the Principality could have had access to outstanding digital solutions almost immediately. Some key examples might have included video-conferencing, e-commerce and home delivery platforms.”
The Country Chief Digital Officer, who gave a report on the crisis and reviewed the priorities for the Extended Monaco programme in 2020/2021, has already announced that “Monaco is going to build a true digital resilience strategy. To succeed, the Principality will need to build new infrastructure, create and provide access to a local and international digital ecosystem and develop services that ensure continuity for public policies.”
This action plan will have three main strands
- Developing digital infrastructure, including telecoms networks and the cloud
- Optimising digital technology for use by private users and businesses (smartphone equipment rate, availability of electronic signatures and stamps, e-commerce platforms, etc.)
- Improve the State’s digital maturity (education, health, government, cyber security, etc.)
The Country Chief Digital Officer believes that people in Monaco are ready to take the next step when it comes to digital.
