March 30 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's Association for Innovation, Business Excellence, Services and Technology (AIBEST) said on Monday it will provide for free at least 15,000 man-hours for work on critical and key electronic systems of the public administration to support the government's efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.
Companies that are members of the association will also offer support for the development of ad-hoc applications needed during the state of emergency declared on March 13, as well as during the subsequent recovery period, AIBEST said in a statement.
AIBEST will provide highly qualified IT engineers and specialists in the area of cyber security along with project managers, who will contribute to the fast implementation of a national health information system.
"Like other industries, companies in the sector of technology and business services also face the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. At this moment it is crucial for the economy of the country as well as for its recovery and growth afterwards to find an efficient way to work together in order to overcome the crisis," Ilia Krastev, board chairman at AIBEST, said in the statement.
AIBEST is ready to activate in the short-term an integrated web-based information system, which includes an information platform, a system for directions and online consultations, Q&A module as well as a call center which will back the operations of health institutions and hospitals.
As of Monday, there were 354 reported coronavirus cases in Bulgaria, including eight deaths and 15 recoveries.