Sofia, Bulgaria – Staying true to its mission of empowering businesses in their Digital Journey, BULPROS actively supports the city of Sofia on the way to its digital transformation by taking part in the Digital Cities Challenge (DCC). The DCC project, launched by the European Commission and involving local authorities, ICT companies and others, has successfully gone through two major stages, and has already moved to its strategy development stage.

DCC is an initiative of the European Commission including more than 40 cities across Europe and aimed at achieving sustainable economic growth through the integration of modern technologies. The end goal is to design and implement policies for smart, sustainable, and clean development and competitiveness that are enabled by the technological advancements. A good example is the digitalization of cities in terms of smart traffic lights, free Wi-Fi, etc.

Since Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, is a central node in the Digital Cities Challenge network, the Sofia municipality has invited many local authorities and leaders to identify the actions that have to be taken and implemented in order to contribute to the digital transformation and industrial modernization of the city. Under the local coordination of Sofia Investment Agency and with the participation of ICT companies incl. BULPROS, local leaders, municipal enterprises, public administration, and other stakeholders, Sofia’s Digital Challenge project has gone through its first two major stages, namely preparation and assessment. Based on this, the process has already moved to its strategy development stage and the involved parties have identified three main priorities for the city of Sofia and have built three work groups, respectively: Start-up ecosystem, utilities and transportation, and e-government.

Alexander Tzonev, CTO at BULPROS, has been appointed leader of the Start-up ecosystem work group, whose main purpose is to identify goals that has to be achieved and actions that has to be taken in order to develop the Start-up ecosystem in Sofia and turn the city into a Start-up center on the Balkan Peninsula. Commenting on this, Alexander Tzonev said: “The Digital Cities Challenge is a great opportunity for us all to make the city of Sofia a better place to live, work and develop. Our shared ambition is that Sofia will become a model for other Bulgarian and European cities. With our industry expertise and knowledge, we help to speed up the digital transformation and the industrial modernization of the city and take full advantage of the 4^th industrial revolution.”

Besides supporting companies in their Digital journey with innovative solutions, services and products, BULPROS embraces responsibility for its corporate actions and aims to make a positive impact on the society, the environment and the economy. As a part of its corporate social responsibility, the company supports various social, educational, environmental, and economic initiatives including the Digital Cities Challenge and others.

About Digital Cities Challenge

The Digital Cities Challenge is a tailored programme of coaching and facilitation launched by the European Commission to help 41 cities develop and implement digital policies that can transform day to day life for residents, businesses, workers, and entrepreneurs. In Sofia, Bulgaria, the project is coordinated locally by Sofia Investment Agency.

About BULPROS

BULPROS is an innovative global IT and BPO services, solutions and product provider, one of the fastest growing technology companies, recognized by the prestigious rankings of Deloitte "Technology Fast 50 in CE" and "Technology Fast 500 in Europe, Middle East, and Africa", Inc. 5000 Europe, Financial Times 1000 Europe etc.

Its offerings include Industry Digitalization, Cyber Security, Collaboration, Application Modernization, Infrastructure Transformation, Technology Services and Sales & Customer Services, with focus on Manufacturing, Professional Services, Telecommunications, Healthcare, Retail, Financial Services and Insurance.

BULPROS operates on a global scale and has more than 1200 employees, working across 18 offices, located in Europe and North America.

BULPROS has established successful customer and partner relations with Fortune 500 IT companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, IBM, Unisys, VMware, Siemens, T-Systems, SAP, Hortonworks, Oracle, Red Hat etc. BULPROS is a co-founder of the Bulgarian Outsourcing Association and a member of the American Chamber of Commerce and the German Outsourcing Association.