Cyprus aspires to act as a bridge between nations, people and ideas, facilitating communication, collaboration and knowledge transfer, Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Kyriacos Kokkinos said on Wednesday at the Ceremony marking the accession of Cyprus to the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), that took place at the Presidential Place in Nicosia.

Kokkinos signed the accession documents with the Secretary-General of the DCO, Deema Al-Yahya, in the presence of the President of Cyprus’ Parliament, Annita Demetriou.

The Deputy Minister said in his speech that, Cyprus, as the first EU member state to join the DCO, “has a lot to offer in this multilateral equation.”

“We have achieved tremendous progress in developing our digital economy, investing in gigabit connectivity and emerging technologies, forming a new cybersecurity framework, promoting innovative entrepreneurship and facilitating the digital transformation of businesses, advancing the digital fitness of our workforce and citizens and implementing an aggressive e-government agenda” he said.

He also said that the country’s national ambitions and strategic objectives fully align with the DCO’s mission, “and we strongly believe that collaboration within the Organization will be crucial in all members achieving their own economic development goals.”

Kokkinos also said that, capitalizing on its geostrategic location, Cyprus has traditionally maintained strong and close ties with the countries of the region, both at bilateral and multilateral level. “As the first EU member state to join the DCO, and a natural crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa, Cyprus aspires to act as a bridge between nations, people and ideas, facilitating communication, collaboration and knowledge transfer, while paving the way for others to join,” he added.

He expressed the belief that the Digital Cooperation Organization “will continue to grow and scale its activities, magnifying the impact of international cooperation in accelerating the growth of the digital economy and building a world that is unified, stable and prosperous.”

Al Yahya said that they were “particularly pleased that Cyprus is not only our eleventh member country but also our first European member state.”

She said this was “a significant milestone” in the ongoing expansion of the DCO and that they were looking forward to building this relationship and tapping into the experience of Cyprus in developing its own digital strategies.

“We believe that, by sharing knowledge, experiences and also best practices, among our member states and organisations we can enable member nations to create the best infrastructure, policies, legislation and also education that fully enable to build inclusive and equitable digital economies,” she added.

In Cyprus, she said, they see a nation, that has already embraced many of these goals and developed the policies and strategies to accelerate its digital economy and have already made significant progress in transforming to a knowledge-based economy.

Al Yahya said that they look forward to working with the government of Cyprus and also the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy to further these goals and build bridges for collaboration with the member states that represent right now, as she said, more than a 600 million population.