Dimitris Papastergiou made his first post after becoming a minister in the Ministry of Digital Governance on Facebook. The current Mayor of Trikkaia leaves behind his beloved Trikala and the Local Government and takes over the specific ministry led by Kyriakos Pierrakakis, with the “responsibility being great” as he says.

“I say goodbye to the Municipality of Trikkaia with great emotion, respect and love. The Municipality was, is and will forever be my home” he says among other things and adds that the goal is “to continue even bolder and faster, to simplify our lives through digitization”.

As mayor of Trikkaia, Dimitris Papastergiou has managed to transform Trikala into a smart city, proceeding with a series of innovations that have even been commented on by the international press.

His post in detail

Huge honor, huge challenge and responsibility!
Otherwise I planned my life until recently, but the proposal of the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis changed the situation.
Obviously, you accept the proposal of a person you really believe in and identify with.
To the one you consider the only hope for Greece today.
In a party, New Democracy, which the Greeks clearly chose to govern the country for the next four years as well.
A proposal that not only honors me but also the entire Greek Self-Government.
In the seconds that pass you think:
Your home and family.
Your Municipality and the Trikala you love.
The Local Government you have served since 2002….
But Greece is changing and we all have to be there.
To help in any way we can.
Together with a group of people who have proven that they want, know and can succeed.
And how wonderful that you, with your knowledge and experience, can be there and help as much as you can.
I say goodbye to the Municipality of Trikkaia with great emotion, respect and love. The Municipality was and will forever be my home. Tomorrow we will start the procedures for the election of a new Mayor from our group, Relaunch, who will run the Municipality and will be the same one who will re-claim the vote of the Trikaline residents in October.
I leave with the satisfaction that we have changed the facts. Big changes are in the implementation phase and many more are starting, with secured resources.
Trikala in a few months will be different, beautiful, modern, safe, humane. A huge thank you to everyone for their trust and understanding. Citizens as well as employees of the Municipality.
I take over a Ministry led by one of the most effective Ministers, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, with the formidable Thodoris Livanios as Deputy Minister. And the responsibility is very big.
To continue even bolder and faster, to simplify our lives through digitization. To once again pleasantly surprise our citizens, who rightly feel that sometimes the state does not understand them.
Because digital governance is not applications and programs concerning my fellow engineers and programmers.
It is another Greece, modern, flexible, digitally secure, prepared for new challenges, with reflexes, efficient, immediate, open to all and sundry.
The Greece that the Prime Minister has envisioned, the one you want, I want, we want and we deserve.

Who is Dimitris Papastergiou?

He writes about himself:

I was born in Trikala in 1973, where I finished high school.

I studied Electrical Engineering & Computer Engineering at NTUA by choice and love for electronics and programming. At the same time, I was privately involved in the study and construction of energy projects.

The path of participation is a one-way street if we want to change our lives, that’s why since I was 29 I have been participating in Local Government from various positions.
In 2014 and 2019, as head of the “Restart Now” combination, I was elected Mayor of Trikkaia, while in 2019 my colleagues elected me president of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE).

Stations in my self-governing course are the initiatives we took for the city branding of Trikala, the creation of a smart city, the implementation of the anti-smoking law, the management of the refugee, the change of our mentality.

My goal is to create really smart and sustainable cities, with strong and modern Municipalities.

I am married to Civil Engineer Soula Braki and we have three children.

I commute by bike because it’s a way of life.