Mayor Juan Diego Zelaya proposes technological urban transformation in Madrid

Juan Diego Zelaya, the Mayor of the Central District (Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela), presented a proposal for urban transformation at the II Ibero-American Cities Meeting in Madrid, Spain. During the panel, which included approximately thirty Ibero-American mayors, Zelaya addressed challenges regarding water management, infrastructure, technological modernization, and investment attraction.

Zelaya emphasized the need to ‘reinvent bureaucracy’ rather than simply digitizing the city hall. To achieve this, the Central District has begun integrating artificial intelligence by hiring four specialized programmers and three data scientists. The municipality is also utilizing cloud services to connect information databases, which aids in data analysis and decision-making, such as monitoring municipal tax collection and identifying delinquent taxpayers.

Additionally, the mayor highlighted the launch of a citizen application designed to allow residents to report local issues, such as potholes and water leaks, to improve administrative responsiveness and quality of life.