The coronavirus pandemic has touched the lives of everyone, forcing them to stay indoors, isolated. With this transition to almost completely domestic living, populations across Europe have been forced to develop their digital abilities to work, socialise and more. In the face of this unprecedented health crisis, the Monegasque government found the utilisation of digital technology essential in order to maintain government continuity while respecting social distancing limitations.

“The Prince’s government demonstrated a high degree of agility and responsiveness. The critical and urgent needs caused by coronavirus were all met within a short timeframe and the results have been powerful,” said Frédéric Genta, Country Chief Digital Officer, adding “It is estimated that we have now reached the level of digital maturity – in other words, understanding and use of the main digital technologies that we had expected to reach by 2025, if coronavirus had not happened.”

The country has reviewed the priorities for the Extended Monaco programme in 2020/2021 and concluded that “Monaco is going to build a true digital resilience strategy.” This strategy is comprised of three main components:

• Developing digital infrastructure, including telecoms networks and the cloud

• Optimising digital technology for use by private users and businesses

• Improving the State’s digital maturity