Bulgaria's national association of municipalities (NAMRB) will push for a national programme to digitise records and protect data in every municipality. The programme would run from 2027 to 2030 and cost about €31m. Vratsa mayor Kalin Kamenov presented the proposal today at a forum on the first day of the association's annual meeting in the Albena resort.

The problems are mostly in small municipalities. Some have not yet digitised their archives, Kamenov said.

NAMRB wants the 2027 draft budget of the Ministry of Innovation and Digital Transformation to include money for the programme. The finance ministry would have to secure the full amount in its medium-term budget forecast. The innovation ministry would then design and run the programme with NAMRB, whose team is ready to help.

Before any money is shared out, the association proposes a national audit of municipalities. It would record their equipment, licences and infrastructure, the cybersecurity steps they already take, their funding and their needs.

The aim is for every municipality to have a basic set of technology, licensed software and protection. Kamenov said the size of a municipal budget should not decide whether a municipality has cybersecurity, licensed systems and reliable backups. Needs differ, so each municipality should get support based on its own, he said.

The forum, "Digital municipality: shared solutions, secure data, common capacity", is part of the annual meeting. Elena mayor Dilyan Mlazev also took part. He reminded the audience that the duties of municipalities are clearly set out in the Cybersecurity Act and in the Ordinance on minimum network security requirements. Local administrations must follow them.

Mlazev said municipal leaders must know these rules and understand why they apply. This often costs a lot of money, but the integrity and security of data must be guaranteed. A data leak can harm municipal services and operations, as well as the personal and other data the municipality stores and processes.

The situation is hardest in small municipalities, Mlazev explained. They often have no IT specialists at all, and where they do, private firms lure them away with higher pay. As a result, council staff combine several jobs and become "self-styled IT specialists". He said he does not think this is a good solution.