Albania is strategically positioning itself as a new digital hub in the region, focusing on innovation and digital progress, thanks to the support of French companies. This initiative began with a cooperation agreement in the field of Artificial Intelligence, signed between Albania and France in April of the previous year.
According to this agreement, the responsibility has been entrusted to Inetum Consulting, a French company that provides consulting services to private companies and public institutions, helping them with major transformation and development projects. With a team of 450 experts from various fields, the company operates in several European countries, including France, Spain, and Belgium, as well as in North Africa, particularly Morocco.
Through this collaboration, the “Franco-Albanian Digital Roadmap Project” was created, which aims, among other things, to leverage and improve existing technological infrastructures to attract investors, secure the necessary funding, and strengthen the regulatory framework.
To present the joint efforts and further enhance bilateral cooperation in the digital sector, the Franco-Albanian Week for Green Artificial Intelligence was organized under the patronage of the French Ambassador to Albania, Catherine Suard. During this event, the Franco-Albanian Digital Roadmap Project Plenary Session took place at COD, with the participation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, Minister of Economy, Culture, and Innovation Blendi Gonxhja, as well as key project stakeholders and French partners.
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Prime Minister Edi Rama: Thank you very much! It is truly a pleasure to be here with you, and it is a true frustration to speak English to the French, but it is what it is. I will continue in English. And first, let us not forget Katrin, the ambassador told me: you must be very careful and thank Sabrina because she is the most important person in the room. So, Sabrina, thank you very much for everything!
I want to thank Emanuela for her great patience and the diligent work done together with her team, and also for opening a new window of opportunity for all of us. I also want to thank everyone here in this room, from the private sector and institutions. At this decisive moment for the world, Europe, and also for Albania, we feel truly encouraged that, it is true that France is finally leading in something after a long time, and for us, it is really a treat to share this journey with France and try to get ideas, from the French side on how we can move our innovation forward.
I am very proud of what we have done so far. I strongly believe that new technology and tools of new technology are a great blessing for less developed or developing countries because they give us the instruments to make extraordinary leaps forward. For example, the reform of public administration, the transformation of all processes of interaction with states that, in the pre-technological era, would have been entirely different processes requiring us, as many centuries, as it took France to have a diligent public administration, a very diligent one, by the way.
Our journey practically started from zero. Zero capability. Today we have created a platform that has, in fact, eliminated all front offices, all contact offices with citizens, and now Albanian citizens no longer have to stand in line, wasting an enormous amount of time, energy, and “bakshish” (which is the Turkish term for a bribe) to get a permit, a license, or documents proving that they are alive.
Meanwhile, everything is now online. The number of users is incredible, as it far exceeds the number of residents, and all Albanians living abroad, from Italy, Greece, and even Australia, can now receive services from the government and administration for obtaining documentation.
On the other hand, we have made significant progress in the European integration process and we aim to become a member within this decade. We also have a very ambitious plan, together with the European Commission, to conclude negotiations by 2027. It is an incredible window of opportunity, and I am sure it will not remain open forever, so we must do everything we can to not lose it.
By using artificial intelligence, we are approaching this task in a very different way, with a completely different speed, because just transferring the European Union’s legal corpus into the national legislative framework, even mechanically, would require an army of translators, an army of drafter-lawyers, and many other people.
For Croatia, which actually had an impressive record in becoming an EU member, it took 7 years, but we want to do it even faster because we are creating a model that not only tranfers in real time, but is also capable of giving us what is called concordance with our own legislation.
Furthermore, it is capable of giving those people who need to prepare everything for the government and parliament the ability, in a sort of mirrored way, to see the similarities or discrepancies between what we have here and what comes from the EU.
Another part of this model is what we are already piloting at the Ministry of Justice, where we are digging into massive piles of laws. The more we need the rule of law, the more laws we must have – we know this from the Italians. This is to identify all overlaps, because it is not uncommon for something you are entitled to from one law to be denied because another law says no. This is an extraordinary task that would be impossible to do manually, and it is now being done through artificial intelligence.
Blendi mentioned procurements. We started from a very bleak position, we were the last in the region when it came to the quality of procurement integrity. Meanwhile, based on the latest assessment by SIGMA, which operates on behalf of the EU, we are now the leaders in the region with 80 out of 100 points. The second place country has 70 points, and this is for the quality and integrity of procurements. But we are more ambitious than that. We are working with Microsoft to prepare a procurement system with 360-degree artificial intelligence, which will practically be the first model in Europe for contactless procurement in 95% of the process. We hope that by the end of next year, it will be ready to function, and then no Mediterranean EU country will be able to tell us that we have problems with the integrity of public procurements, because we will be able to challenge them and they would be embarrassed.
So, everything is heading in the right direction, but that said, what is now coming through this atypical warm French hand is very much welcomed because the opening of these three previous directions, which Emanuela emphasized: from the factory of artificial intelligence to becoming a champion in electronic governance, is extraordinary, all the way to the tourism and logistics data center, and to the commercial data center. And adding to all of this, everything will be based on green energy, which is something else extraordinary. Up until today, we have not made plans for any nuclear facilities, so we trust France’s nuclear facilities to help us when we need it. We trust you; we have confidence in you.
You know, Katrin, the less royal you become, the more human you appear, so there is a certain kind of humanism from the French side lately. We are very happy to see France become more human, more humane.
Lastly, though not in terms of importance, I must say a big thank you to some people, especially some people here who are essential to the ecosystem, working as my neighbors at the pyramid. These are the incredible guys from “Plug&Play,” those who work at TUMO, and we are also looking forward to opening the doors of “Ecole42.”
I’ve been there, I’ve seen so many tables with computers waiting for people to come, but the foundation has been created. It will be another extraordinary opportunity for another group of people who would like to form and educate themselves with the challenges of the new era. This is roughly what I could retract from the very long speech prepared by my team.
Ah, and since we are closing, Sabrina, thank you, thank you to everyone, and once again, we feel boosted, to move hand in hand with France. It’s something extraordinary. We will try to earn your trust; we will try to be able to walk beside you even when you become royal again.
Thank you!
