The first meeting for planning and coordinating the preparation for the establishment of CUPS took place online today, 18 November 2022, and brought together 65 mayors from rural areas around the country, who showed interest, met the eligibility criteria, and became part of the CUPS project. The mayor's offices in these areas will benefit from the assistance and the support required for the modernization of the services provided at local level, as provided under the CUPS project approved by the Government and implemented by the e-Governance Agency (EGA), with the support of the World Bank Group and by the effort of local authorities.

During the meeting, several issues of interest for representatives of the relevant local authorities were presented: the CUPS concept; types of services to be provided in the CUPS office and their list, preparatory activities for the establishment of CUPS centres, informational and methodological support provided by the project implementation team at each stage, etc.

Olga Tumuruc, Director of the e-Governance Agency, held discussions with the mayors present at the meeting about the importance and perspectives of CUPS and mentioned that, in a short time, CUPS will become a centre of attraction of all technologies at local level. “Our goal is not only to help citizens access public services through CUPS, but also to develop their skills to make extensive use of all opportunities offered by technology and remote interaction in a virtual environment,” said Olga Tumuruc.

Representatives of public authorities asked a number of questions regarding the employment and training of CUPS specialists, equipment of CUPS premises; ways of obtaining and using the electronic signature for the provision of services through CUPS; training programmes for CUPS specialists; tasks and obligations of a CUPS specialist, which were clarified together with the EGA's team of specialists responsible for the implementation of the CUPS project.

In turn, the CUPS Project Manager, Tatiana Sincovschi, congratulated the mayors for having successfully passed the selection stage, presented the list of areas that will benefit from the CUPS project and appreciated the openness of the local authorities to modernize the services to be provided in villages, in a new, improved format, based on technology and innovation, using the entire range of digital tools created and managed by EGA, so that each beneficiary is served at the highest standards and has a positive experience following the interaction with the public administration.

It should be reminded that in December 2021, the first CUPS in Moldova was opened in Lozova village, Straseni district, and later on, other CUPS were opened in 16 communes. The project extension is carried out in line with the Government Decision No. 322 of 10/11/2021 on the piloting of the Unified Centres for Public Service Provision (CUPS) and in line with strategic priorities set out in the Government's Activity Programme and Action Plan, meant to support the efforts of governance modernization and improvement of the quality of public services provided to the citizens of the Republic of Moldova.

As specified in the project, at the end of next year (2023), more than 80 Unified Centres for Public Service Provision will operate on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, which will provide citizens with broader access to electronic services, through guidance, support and qualified assistance close to their homes.