Cabinet approves scheme to help smart cities

Projects aimed at building so-called smart cities will be eligible for state assistance, according to a pilot support scheme for experimental development and innovations towards the construction of smart cities approved by the Government on Wednesday. The pilot projects will be funded via a new financial instrument that envisages three ways of funding: public assistance of €1 million in total, private sources and enterprises. "The scheme will bolster international cooperation in the development of smart cities and innovations in this area, and it will aid in establishing new contacts and collaboration in development and innovations between Slovak enterprises and foreign technological corporations," reads the proposal. The project will target urban infrastructure, in particular the digitisation of city administration and public services, waste, soil and energy management, individual and public car transport, the Internet of things, the management of public passenger transport, air quality, cyber and food security, and bio economy.