From the start, the digital transformation of the State was at the heart of the government’s planning, as well as the planning by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis personally. Of course, in July 2019, the future appeared to be quite different. The pandemic and the challenges that arose created a series of new priorities for the government; however, they pushed us to speed up our digital transformation actions, to think more creatively and to implement innovative citizen-centric platforms and applications that will bring Greece into the new era.
Procedures are simplified and services are redesigned so as to achieve a flexible state that can serve citizens quickly, efficiently, with respect and transparency. The technological possibilities of the digital age we live in provide a unique opportunity for structural change in the institutional background of public administration, while achieving this will significantly boost the growth of the national economy, the development of jobs and the well-being of society.
Our goal, then and now, is to utilize the funds available to us with a structured plan in order to completely transform the experience of citizens in their dealings with the State and, by extension, to create solid foundations that will boost the digital economy and the opportunities for development that this will bring. The situation is favourable, as the country is standing before a wide range of funding tools, such as the Public Investment Programme, the NSRF and European programmes, and the Recovery Fund.
The projects that will be launched from all these sources will bring us face to face with an enormous change. The Ministry of Digital Governance, spearheaded by Information Society S.A., has designed key digital infrastructure and services projects on an unprecedented scale compared to the past. A large part of this plan has progressed, but we have many services ahead of us that need to be digitized.
The digital reforms, which gather a large share of the Recovery Fund’s resources, aim primarily to the upgrading of the Health, Education, Justice, Tourism, Agriculture and Shipping services, Telecommunications infrastructure, as well as the services of the central public administration and other important sectors of the Greek society and economy.
A total of 448 major projects, as codified in the Digital Transformation Bible, out of which 130 have already been launched, will need to be completed by 2025. As the Minister of Digital Governance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, has reported, very tight schedules have been set and they can only be changed once, as all projects must be put out to tender within the next 18 months.
On our end at Information Society, we have a significant part of this plan to manage. Our track record so far is proof of our capabilities and commitment to efficiency in terms of time, cost and quality.
In the past two years, Information Society proceeded to conclude more than 75 programme agreements amounting to over 2.7 billion euro, while it already has 59 contracted projects amounting to 840 million euro. In fact, it is expected that approximately 65 project tenders will be launched in the coming months, with a total budget of almost 1 billion euro. The challenge becomes greater if we take into account projects amounting additionally to approx. 2.1 billion euro, which the company has already undertaken from the Recovery Fund. Undoubtedly, it is an unprecedented number of projects, never before reached in the IT and telecommunications sector and in such a short period of time.
The next challenge comprises projects such as Telemedicine, e-Justice, Smart Cities, Integrated Information Systems for Health and Shipping, as well as the Deposits and Loans Fund, the reformation of the country’s Postal Codes, the creation of an Open Geoscience Data Portal, the Unified digital infrastructure for the provision of services to citizens and businesses, the creation of the Integrated and unified digital environment for the management of resources, structures and pre-trial data for all Bar Associations in the country, as well as a wide network of interventions at the core of public administration for its digital transformation.
At Information Society, we understand the enormous responsibility before us and we are in daily communication both with the Ministry of Digital Governance, as well as with the IT and Telecommunications companies, in order for us all to be able to work together in good faith and efficiently, so as to achieve the timely and optimal implementation of all the above projects, as well as all the Digital Transformation Bible and Recovery Fund projects planned and assigned to us.
It is certain that, in order to achieve results and taking into account the tight schedules we have, the strategy for managing the resources of the Recovery Fund requires a new approach for the management of the life cycle of digital transformation projects, as well as drastic improvements in the institutional framework and the implementation mechanisms. We must adopt new practices and define the framework for the implementation of such important projects for the country, with modern terms and flexibility, both on the side of the State as well as on the side of the market and businesses.
