The Palestinian Association of Local Authorities (APLA), represented by its SDGs Officer, Dr. Ahmad Jaber, participated in a dialogue session on digital transformation and smart cities development, organized by Makani Incubator as part of the "Smart City: Where Solutions Begin" challenge launched by Ramallah Municipality to promote innovation and digital transformation.

The session was attended by the Mayor of Ramallah, Mr. Yacoub Saadeh, members of the Municipal Council, the municipality’s administrative team, representatives of governmental institutions, the private sector, and stakeholders working in the fields of technology and innovation.

The session discussed the importance of leveraging digital solutions and innovation to enhance public services and improve the efficiency of municipal work. It also addressed the key challenges and opportunities related to digital transformation in Palestinian cities, as well as ways to strengthen the readiness of LGUs to adopt digital technologies and develop more efficient and innovative working models that respond to the requirements of smart cities and citizens’ needs.

During his intervention, Dr. Jaber presented the findings of the Digital Readiness Assessment and Smart Governance Capacity Development Assessment for Palestinian LGUs, developed by APLA. He highlighted the main digital challenges facing LGUs and the areas that can be improved through the adoption of innovative digital solutions.

Dr. Jaber also emphasized the importance of aligning these challenges with the priorities of the Digital Transformation Strategy for the Local Government Sector 2025–2030, highlighting APLA’s role in supporting the digital transformation process through facilitating the exchange of knowledge and successful experiences among LGUs, documenting digital solutions, building the capacities of municipal staff, and strengthening partnerships between LGUs, the private sector, governmental institutions, and innovation actors. These efforts contribute to transforming successful local initiatives into scalable models that can be replicated at the national level.

The dialogue session also explored several topics related to artificial intelligence applications in urban and real estate planning, smart city experiences, and government digital transformation priorities, including government data classification, systems and data integration among institutions, as well as regulatory and security requirements for digital solutions related to payments and digital financial services.

APLA’s participation in this session reflects its continuous efforts to strengthen the role of Local Government Units (LGUs) in the digital transformation journey and support the development of more efficient and innovative local governance models that contribute to improving the quality of services provided to citizens and advancing sustainable local development.