The Minister and members of the Government first met for a working consultation in Koper, where they discussed regional issues and development opportunities in the Obalno-kraška statistical region, followed by separate programmes for the Prime Minister and for the other ministers.

Mr Andrijanič began his visit at the Koper Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies of the University of Primorska with its six IT study programmes, including the Computer Science and IT international doctoral study programme, emphasising the internationalisation of research. New generations of lead researchers, who contribute to the scientific and technological development, have been enrolling in this programme. Minister Andrijanič stressed the importance of human resources education for an overall progress of the society. "We need to get young people excited about science and technology. They need to become popular and attractive, because only with an educated workforce will we be able to compete with the most digitally advanced countries."

Dr Nastja Cepak, a researcher at the Andrej Marušič Institute, and a senior fellow at the Faculty, presented to the Minister the activities of the Cryptography Centre, where research on storing information in an efficient, reliable and secure way has been carried out since 2018.

Next, the Minister met with the management of two innovative companies Go Giro Share and Obala mobilnost. Go Giro Share has been working towards sustainable mobility since 2019, while Obala mobilnost has invited the Municipality of Koper to join the partnership, with which they are successfully working together to create easy and accessible mobility. This contributes to reducing emissions and providing residents with a better quality of life in an urban environment.

In the course of his visit to the Obalno-kraška region, the Minister visited Dinit Card Service, a company whose primary activity is card and payment processing. Dinit Card Service, an innovative company, processes more than 400,000 points of sale and develops products in the POS terminals, ATMs and e-commerce segments. The company records over one hundred thousand transactions every day, but also faces challenges. During the recovery stage of the pandemic, they have only been generating one third of their recurring revenue. Employing Slovenian expertise, they will also be able to overcome this hurdle.

The Minister of Digital Transformation and Minister of Development and EU Cohesion Policy, Zvonko Černač, visited the longest standing and biggest Slovenian business incubator, the Sežana Incubator, which has been offering support to up-and-coming innovative entrepreneurs. The incubator found its place in the abandoned Iskra factory in Sežana. Today, the 7,000 square metre space comprises several office spaces with over 100 offices and common areas, coworking spaces and laboratories. The Director, Dorijan Maršič, presented the mission of the incubator, which is to encourage and promote entrepreneurial culture and the creation of new businesses. More than 350 new start-ups have been established in the last 30 years at the Sežana Incubator. They are the only member of the European Association of Incubators and Technology Parks in Slovenia and the only incubator to have the EU BIC certification, which means that it is certified by the European Commission.

The Minister for Digital Transformation concluded his regional visit at a public debate in Lipica, together with businesspeople, mayors and other development leaders in the region.