TIRANA, Sept 20 /ATA/ The US Ambassador in Tirana, Yuri Kim, participated on Tuesday in the first day of the event “Smart Cities – Regional Conference of Western Balkan Countries,” hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Albania
In her remarks, US ambassador Kim said that local leaders have an especially important role in democracy. You have the closest connection to your fellow citizens and offer some of the most meaningful ways to improve their lives.
You also know first-hand, better than all of us, what citizens of all ages and all backgrounds need and want to lead safer, happier, and more productive lives.
You also know the dangers and the risks faced by your constituents every day – access to services, protection from crime, and – as we have seen in Albania in recent months – protection from malign actors seeking to hack and disrupt citizens’ lives, and thereby undermine trust in democracy, Kim said.
She stressed that the United States is here to help – we often like to say the government is here to help. We really are here to help. And helping to put together this conference is one of the ways that we want to do that. We want to help bring some of the best minds together. As I said last night, we want to bring together dreamers and doers, so we can actually produce real results.
I am proud that, here in Albania, we have been assisting with cybersecurity measures before, during, and since Iran’s reckless and irresponsible cyberattacks against the Albanian government and in fact, against the Albanian people. Overall, the United States is always working with Allies and partners on ways to protect our governments and our people from malicious use of new technologies, she said
“Because of our citizens’ reliance on technology and the constant risks to their safety and privacy from malign actors, we all need partnerships – among governments and with the private sector –to keep our people, our businesses, and our democracies safe.”
Over the course of this conference, you will have the chance to discuss how to make technology work for democracy, for internet freedom, and for the privacy and safety of our citizens. We all know the risks are out there, we’ve seen them – authoritarian governments advancing their agendas by exporting technologies like networked cameras, sensors, and location services that collect government and citizen data and uses them for other ways. These authoritarian regimes produce technologies to serve their political objectives, at the expense of their customers’ privacy and security. Other states sponsor cyber attacks to steal, disrupt, or destroy citizens’ data and digital systems that protect us, our loved ones, and our national security.
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