Greece was for many decades famous (also) for the proverbial Greek bureaucracy. A labyrinthine public administration, with time-consuming procedures and tons of paper and ink. Stamps upon stamps on documents and intertwined with long queues at counters. After the traumatic years of the economic crisis, Greece has long been taking its own steps towards the future. With first successes, confidence and optimism, at least in the complex field of the digitization of the entire spectrum of public administration. A feat that even countries like technologically advanced Germany have not been able to achieve, struggling with chronic malfunctions and delays.

The numerous and generally easy-to-use electronic applications in the fields of public administration, public health, taxation or education were presented in Berlin following a German invitation by the Greek Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou, former mayor of Trikala who became known in Germany through report on the success story of digitization in his city, also known as e-Trikala.

What can Germany and Europe learn from Greece?

Electronic prescription of medicines, digital planning of the vaccination campaign during the pandemic, internationally awarded digital platform for preventive mammograms in memory of Fofi Gennimata, e-diplomas, e-parents… Just some of the Greek examples of a digital state, of the “new bright side of Greece, a country that has decided to change its digital infrastructure, digital policies and above all its way of thinking”, according to the presentation of the Greek minister.

But what could Greece demonstrate as a tangible example of successful digitization in Germany and the EU – also known for its endless bureaucratic cogs?

As Dimitris Papastergiou told DW: “Something we tried and it went well in Greece is the digital wallet. gov.gr was not a ‘European wallet’ but a first test that really worked well. We are waiting for all the pilot programs to end, in order to arrive at a common European wallet, which will be our ‘passport’, so that we can use these applications everywhere”.

In how many years does a country become digital?

For Dimitris Papastergiou, the second key to a successful digital country starts at the local level, from the municipalities. “The country is a superset consisting of 332 sub-sets, the municipalities. In Greece, the programs, amounting to 320 million euros, run by the Recovery Fund and the NSRF are really taking the country into a new era of digitization. It makes no sense to digitize only the hard core of the state but also individual municipalities.” For him, it is also particularly important to show and study real examples. “We should show both the good and the bad examples. We should not demonize failure. We’ll have to see what worked and what didn’t.”

“Digital time does not keep pace with real time,” adds Dimitris Papastergiou. In the digital age, the prerequisite is “vision” and, as he says, in Greece this vision exists: the transition to fully digitized public services by 2027 with the introduction of modern artificial intelligence applications. From public administration and justice to the digital interconnection of the countryside with the central state.

“In real time, I believe that something like this can be achieved within 3-4 years, which is what is required to digitize our infrastructure and open the database we have,” the Greek minister told DW. Of course, another issue is to what extent society follows. “Technology is inclusive and must leave no one behind.”

The focus is on the security of personal data

But how secure are the ever-updating digital e-government systems? And how safe can citizens feel about their personal data and telecommunications privacy when literally everything is now done through a smartphone and information is collected and processed centrally. The shadow of the wiretapping case has not yet left over the country, with many questions still remaining unanswered.

However, the Greek minister from Berlin said that “in a world that is increasingly interconnected, that is increasingly digitized we will have to revisit everything from the beginning” emphasizing the National Cyber ​​Security Authority for the protection of data in over 2,000 public and private carriers. “More effort is needed in the field of cyber security as well as cyber defense. Above all, however, respect for personal data and the freedom that the individual should feel in a new digital world is required,” said Dimitris Papastergiou.

The Smart Cities Convention was organized under the auspices of the German Ministry of the Interior with the participation of, among others, the German Minister of the Interior Nancy Fesser. In addition to the Greek participation, the presence of Ukraine stood out, focusing on the digital reconstruction of the country after the war.