Josef Bělica is a mechanical engineering graduate and a sportsman by nature. He is professionally interested in information technology, digitisation and he tries to promote smart solutions at the municipal level. His lifelong passion is sport. For a long time, he was a representative in karate, an activity that he also promotes to the youth.
Mr. Mayor, the town of Havířov is known as a mining town but also a town of flowers. What is the new vision of Havířov?
The new vision of our town, which describes in detail the direction and basic priorities of the current town management and is elaborated in the strategic document called VISION OF THE CITY 2020+, is to be a dynamically developing and well-maintained town full of greenery, quality housing with good transport accessibility and a wide range of services, as well as cultural and sports facilities that will provide favourable living conditions for our people across all generations. In any case, investments in infrastructure, education and support for a quality life in our city are signifi cant. From the modernisation and repair of kindergartens and schools to investments in housing stock as well as in roads and parking lots. This year, we managed to complete the area in front of the station, which significantly improved the quality of life of our citizens.
There is talk of digitising public administration, and the current situation confirms the need for digitisation. What comfort do you offer to citizens in this area, and how do you ensure cybersecurity?
I can state that in the last five years, we have invested over 150 million crowns in the field of IT in the municipality. We have prepared a concept of sustainability and the development of IT infrastructure. Today, we are in an entirely different position than we were a few years ago.
As far as cybersecurity is concerned, we have been under constant cyberattack for several weeks now. Someone is still trying to get access, but so far, they have not succeeded. I do not want to jinx it because it is an ongoing process that we are working on, but the current results show that we are doing very well. For example, the introduction of two-factor authentication when logging in to the network has proved its worth. It currently works perfectly.
If we want to offer citizens comfortable and quality services in public administration, it is first necessary to build the infrastructure and adequately prepare the entire municipality for digitisation, otherwise it will not work, and it would have the opposite effect. It is one thing to provide services in digital form, which we are certainly aiming for. However, it is another thing to have sustainable, manageable, and functional hardware and software in the long run. And that is a task we have been working on for fi ve years. For example, officials have electronic signatures, and documents are received and circulated electronically. Soon, old display cases serving as an offi cial board will be replaced by a modern electronic official board, which will also be adapted for disabled and immobile citizens. In essence, we have reduced paper communication within the municipality to an absolute minimum, and we will continue to do so.
You recently concluded a smart city agreement with ČEZ ESCO. What is this cooperation based on?
In 2019, we concluded a memorandum of cooperation with ČEZ ESCO concerning the smart city issue. This is a wide-ranging subject which includes cooperation in the field of energy services, development of the modern energy infrastructure of Havířov and activities leading to environmental improvement, development of the intelligent infrastructure of Havířov and the related increase in the quality of life for citizens. From my point of view, smart cities should be smart solutions. We have established cooperation with ČEZ ESCO mainly because they are a leader in this area, offering cities and municipalities cooperation, consultations and the knowhow they have, which is advantageous for us to use. To me, Smart City means efficient energy management, such as the savings that we achieve through smart technologies. We are currently preparing an energy management project, which means that energy savings are ongoing due to insulation and improved access to some energy issues.
In addition, at the end of April, we extended the memorandum of cooperation with ČEZ ESCO and included a supplement with the intention of creating a joint-stock company, the essence of which will be an eff ort to offer our citizens quality, green, ecological and sustainable energy. In short, heat at aff ordable prices, as not only our region but the whole of Europe is facing the challenge of moving away from coal energy — a challenge which is relatively urgent. It will not be easy. There are many such approaches, but ČEZ ESCO has proven in the past that it is the leader we want to be guided by, whom we trust. For such a complex task, we need a strategic partner who will be able to address individual solutions and individual challenges together with us. Therefore, we would like to establish a company with ČEZ ESCO, which should be able to respond to market needs and off er existing customers — if they want to disconnect from district heating (DH) — a suitable alternative so that the town can continue to infl uence the heat market within its territory.
Thank you for the interview.
