The first edition of Forum Real  – the event for real estate, construction, innovation and investment in the sector – took place entirely virtually between 3-5 December 2020 in partnership with Sofia Municipality and more than 20 other institutions. The event was under the auspices of the Mayor of Sofia, Mrs. Yordanka Fandakova, and under the patronage of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.

Gencho Kerezov, Deputy Mayor for Digitalization, Innovation, and Economic Development of Sofia Municipality, joined the discussion “Will Coronavirus Give a Strong Impetus to Digitalization?”.

During the panel, deputy mayor Kerezov, Plamen Rusev, founder of the Webit Festival and manager of the National Register for New Construction, and the moderator arch. Angel Zahariev, Co-Founder of the A and A Architects architectural bureau, discussed many topics, among which: is there a boost in the digitalization of working processes, do Bulgarian companies lose or increase their momentum for digitalization, what are the risks of digitalization and how to avoid abuse.

“Digitalization is not a panacea, and there is nothing more inappropriate than digitizing imperfect processes. First, they must be redesigned and optimized,” Gencho Kerezov said during the discussion and emphasized the importance of the investment framework and the preliminary cost-benefit analyses.

“I think society is increasingly becoming more mature about the need for the right solutions and the fact that solutions that guarantee results are not necessarily the cheapest ones. It is normal for the administration to look for the cheapest solutions when investing public funds. And this is a standard approach historically. But we are now reaching a point where it is crucial to assess the benefits in terms of investments. One thing may seem expensive at the moment, but if it is well planned and after three years can lead to a good market achievement, it is good to invest in it.”

The panellists also emphasized the importance of achieving a change in consumer attitude, keeping people informed and helping them trust technologies, especially when it comes to security-sensitive issues, which can lead to a change in consumer behaviour and increase of digital services implementation.

Forum Real was held entirely virtually between 3-5 December 2020 in partnership with Sofia Municipality and more than 20 institutions. The event was under the auspices of the Mayor of Sofia, Mrs. Yordanka Fandakova, and under the patronage of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.

In the next month, you will be able to access the video recordings of all sessions at the Forum Real website HERE.