About his vision for full digitization of the State, but also the participation, through technology, in the elections of all Greeks living abroad, spoke Kyriakos Mitsotakiswho attended the event held at the Concert Hall, for the three years of gov.gr.

“We are finally becoming a serious state that respects the citizen and builds relationships of trust. The project of digital governance has received universal recognition.

When we planned the future of e-government we said that the first thing would be to create a ministry of digital government. The ministers in charge were all happy. They hadn’t noticed that we had taken a piece of their responsibilities.

I don’t hide that we were able to and turned adversity into opportunities. We proposed the issue of 112. Today 112 is a collective property and is not only a digital tool, but a whole civil protection culture.

Then came the pandemic which forced us to use the tools we had at our disposal such as sms. Then we experimented with more advanced technologies like artificial intelligence to design a tool to make use of the few tests we had that first summer at our disposal. And then of course followed the process of inoculation, in which the state went to the citizen and not the citizen to the state.

I recommend those of you who have not downloaded myhealth to do so. We are creating a prototype of a digital health record. Technology doesn’t stop. It will either overtake us, or we will take advantage of it. Technologies that require greater connectivity are already here.

The country is turning into a high-tech pole. I want to emphasize the progressive nature of this reform. In a way it favors the less privileged, those on remote islands, the disabled, the working woman.

Technology is linked to the reduction of corruption, to transparency.

We have achieved a lot in these 3.5 years and I want to thank all the civil servants who have contributed.

We are only at the beginning. Rest assured that we can run with technology. The next four years are shaping up to be even more exciting in a number of areas. We still have a lot of work to do.

I was recently talking to the Estonian Prime Minister. In Estonia, half of citizens vote electronically. I would like it to happen here too. At least those who live outside of Greece should have this possibility.

On my recent visit to Korydallos I met an old lady who was learning the secrets of using computers. I asked her why she was learning and she said “I don’t want to be dependent on my grandson to access gov.gr”.

The big programs

What is changing in transport, what exactly is MITOS doing, what investments in Cloud and telecommunications infrastructure have been made, which major projects will be financed by the Recovery Fund, as well as the vaccination system, were discussed at length in the context of the event at the Concert Hall on the theme “A digital state, Greece in motion” to complete the three years of operation of gov.gr. Specifically:

MYTH

Starting his speech, Leonidas Christopoulos, Secretary General of Digital Governance and Simplification of Procedures, characterized the Ministry of Digital Governance as an administrative section, while he referred extensively to the project “National Policy of Process Administrators” to combat bureaucracy. Specifically for MITOS, Mr. Christopoulos pointed out that it is “the collaborative tool of all public bodies, so that it is today the encyclopedia of administrative procedures for every citizen, for every entrepreneur”. As he characteristically said, “Mitos is constantly evolving, including new services both for citizens, bringing them even closer to the providers of the procedures”. As Mr. Christopoulos mentioned, to date more than 2,500 procedures have been fully registered, while by the end of the first semester all 4,000 procedures, which are divided into 11 categories, will have been registered. He even concluded that “if gov.gr is the reform that makes a small change in our lives, MITOS is the foundation on which these small changes will remain”.

Digital transfers

Ioannis Xifaras, general secretary of Transport, referred to the convenience produced by digital services for vehicle drivers and owners. He initially focused on the facility provided by storing the driver’s license on gov.gr and then analyzed the rest of the digital transport services. As he characteristically noted, through the digitization of transport processes we achieve:

* Transparency

* Merit

* Road Safety.

Finally, he set 2027 as the horizon for full digitization in the transport sector, with projects such as:

– Single ticket to MMM

– Classification of new/used vehicles

– New system of theoretical exams.

Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou, associate professor of Transport Planning at NTUA, focused on digital infrastructures. Starting with the example of the unified toll e-pass, he analyzed the resulting benefits: Control, accountability, meritocracy, transparency through the digitization of transport processes. He then explained that open data provides critical information that is useful for citizens as it concerns their daily lives. Finally, he noted that the 4th Industrial Revolution creates huge opportunities in transportation, as smart bridges, smart highways and smart traffic lights will significantly upgrade the industry.

Investments in Cloud infrastructures

Regarding Cloud infrastructures, Aris Kozyris, Dean of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering NTUA, explained that the Cloud first policy was one of the first introduced by the Ministry of Digital Governance, prioritizing the use of cloud in platforms and infrastructures. He noted that Greece was one of the first countries in Europe to implement the cloud first philosophy. As he noted, a mixture of architectures has been implemented, which has also passed into the philosophy of gov.gr. In addition, he explained what the cloud means for the common citizen, as it allows the digital services of the Government to withstand the traffic during the pandemic period. As he characteristically stated, “it is not only a policy, but it is a challenge, which enables us to have a dynamic allocation of resources and to design and develop a model that means that the Greek who is a developer, can come here with highly paid seats”.

Antonis Oikonomou, a Microsoft spokesman, said the company announced the data center investment in November 2020, explaining how such an investment drives other investments and contributes to a country’s creditworthiness. He then pointed out the very important role that the cloud first policy played for the investment, but also the human resources that the country had. Finally, he explained that the Cloud frees up time and costs, while enhancing security and service availability.

Victoria Kalfaki, Google representative, focused on the next phase of Cloud investments. The clouds that have been created have a high degree of security, because by definition within this architecture, there must be absolute security. That is why both the Public and the private sector must join forces in this direction. The whole country must create those structures that will make the most of all the talents we have.

Investments in telecommunications infrastructure

Regarding the investments in telecommunications infrastructure, the Secretary General of Telecommunications and Posts, Thanasis Staveris, initially took stock of the progress that the country has recorded since the summer of 2019. He particularly focused on the upgrading of the infrastructure (especially the antenna systems, with the modern legislative framework operation and upgrading), in the timely completion of the 5G auction. This has led to greater coverage of fifth generation networks than the EU average, to the promotion of fiber optic networks through public-private partnerships, i.e. with the investments announced in conjunction with government programs such as Smart redness. As next steps, Mr. Staveris noted that the big challenge is the further expansion of 5g and optical fiber networks, but also the Unified Infrastructure Register that will facilitate telecommunications companies.

Yiannis Konstantinidis, Chief Strategy, Transformation and Provider Officer of OTE Group, referred to the promotion of the group’s fiber-to-the-home programs and focused on the next initiatives around the digital transition of telecommunications.

Manolis Grigorakis, Chief Information Officer NOVA, referred to the importance of the fiber optic network to the home in order to complete the replacement of the copper network. He then referred to the function of digitization from broadband connections and the need for Greece to increase speeds, while Nikos Pleuris, director of the Vodafone Greece Network, focused in particular on the underwater fiber optic cables to connect island and mainland Greece, with Crete in pivotal role for 5G connectivity in Greece.

Major IT projects and Recovery Fund

Regarding the large IT projects and the Recovery Fund, Stavros Asthenidis, managing director at “Information Society SA” noted that “in the last 3 years as a CoP we have run more than 100 tenders that exceed 1 billion. We have subsequently another 50 projects, which cumulatively are estimated at around half a billion”. He then elaborated on projects such as CRMS and public cloud. As he noted, one of the major issues that emerge is the administration of justice, “it is the No. 1 issue that enters development and investment issues. For this reason, we place great emphasis on promoting e-justice.” Finally, he referred to KtP projects related to the digitization of sectors

– health

– justice

– shipping

– land registry

– urban planning

Yota Paparidou, president of SEPE, emphasized that the digital transformation has benefited both citizens and businesses. As he mentioned, “a lot of things happened that concern the state, citizens and businesses. As a country, we were tragically behind in terms of development, which is why it is very important that the completion of the ‘Digital transformation of small and medium enterprises’ project began.”

Enterprise “Freedom” as a case study

Thanasis Kontogiorgis, secretary general of Coordination, emphasized that the pandemic was an accelerator of digital transformation, an observatory was set up to manage the pandemic and 8 ministries participated in this process. As for “what he taught us: There must be national self-confidence, management systems that ensure an added value in the Greek public administration, a cooperative system away from conflicts, the need for research, for prevention, for vaccination”.

For his part, Marios Themistokleous, secretary general of Primary Health Care, pointed out that the vaccination system was recorded as reliable in the minds of the citizens, at a time when the vaccination system in Cyprus, Germany, Italy, America, England was facing problems. As he pointed out “we can be first (not only last in the EU or in the world), there must be absolute identification and discipline towards a common goal”, while he spoke of security, transparency and respect for the citizen.

Kostas Hambidis, director of the office of the Minister of State responsible for Digital Governance, underlined that the success of Operation “Freedom” is a legacy for the preventive medicine that will be implemented and is already being implemented, and added that “different agencies were gathering in the Civil Protection building and they did the coordination. Whatever went wrong was finally saved,” he noted.