The mobile and stationary broadband expansion to the furthest valley and the digital driving license are the priority projects of the new Digital State Secretary, Florian Tursky (ÖVP).
The office of “Aeneas” still seems quite spartan. A standing desk, plus a TV, some glasses, a backpack and a baseball cap on the shelf. “Aeneas” is actually called Florian Tursky, he wears white sneakers with a dark blue suit – as befits a State Secretary for Digitization. “Aeneas” is his name at the Cartellverband (CV), he was chairman of the CV when he was young, then state manager of the ÖVP Tirol, most recently office manager of governor Günther Platter. In between, he ran a small technology start-up specializing in 3D avatars.
The enthusiastic mountaineer and skier would like to continue to spend the weekends in Tyrol, if time permits. And in the furthest corners of the Tyrolean valleys – and not just there – there will be internet access in the future. Which would already answer the question of why a separate state secretary for digitization is needed: “We are bringing digitization and infrastructure together here,” says Tursky. The goal: nationwide broadband expansion by 2030. By then, the whole of Austria should be supplied with mobile and stationary Internet using fiber optic cables. Especially for times when, for whatever reason – as was the case recently with the corona pandemic – high capacities are required. “Today, fiber optic cables are what roads used to be to make a region competitive.” An additional 1.4 billion euros would now be made available for this. The tender for 660 million euros has just ended, in the coming weeks it will be decided which projects the money will go to.
