ICT interventions in Local Administration

This project is implemented within the framework of the Technical Assistance Initiative for Sustainable Urban Development in Greece, funded by the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission (DG Regio) and executed by the World Bank. Its objective is to explore, select, and specify practical and applicable solutions in the fields of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and e-Government, which can be adopted by Local Government Organizations (LGOs) to enhance digital services for citizens and businesses.

The study focuses on developing solutions that are technically feasible, cost-effective, and manageable within the existing administrative and technical capacities of municipalities. Special emphasis is placed on integrating solutions that meet the needs of local communities while considering constraints in human resources and funding opportunities.

The study includes an analysis of the current state of ICT in municipalities, the collection and evaluation of data through questionnaires and consultations, as well as the final compilation of a list of potential actions and interventions. Within this framework, both horizontal actions and targeted interventions by policy sector are examined, supported by case studies of municipalities such as the Municipality of Kavala and the Municipality of Heraklion.

The approach was based on a methodology of participatory planning and the use of collaborative tools, aiming to strengthen the strategic capacity of municipalities in digital transformation, with a focus on sustainability, transparency, and improving the quality of life for citizens.

 

Project Website: http://www.worldbank.org

DigiGov-Innohub

The European Innovation Hub for Digital Governance – GR digiGOV-innoHUB supports the development of next-generation public services for Central Administration, Local Government, and key economic sectors by leveraging advanced technologies such as AI, Blockchain, IoT, mobile Internet, Cloud, and High-Performance Computing, as well as open data and open standards. It follows European guidelines for technological openness in Public Administration and encourages the use of the EUPL (European Union Public License).

Objectives

The objectives of GR digiGOV-innoHUB align with the Digital Europe Programme, the Digital Transformation Bible 2020-2025, and other European and national policies. These include, among others, the OECD Framework for Promoting Innovation in the Public Sector, while also taking into account the services of gov.gr, eugo.gov.gr, and the National Registry of Procedures.

Project website: https://digigov.innohub.gr/

MITOS

AI4GOV-X

The AI4Gov-X project is aimed at exploring the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data technologies for developing evidence-based innovations, policies, and policy recommendations to harness the public sphere, political power, and economic power for democratic purposes. The project intends to contribute to the research landscape that addresses ethical, trust, discrimination, and bias issues, and provide solutions to the challenges faced by stakeholders in modern democracies.

IDEAL

The IDEAL Project has officially launched in Athens with its first Consortium Meeting, led by the University of the Aegean. This pioneering EU-funded initiative is set to transform democratic participation by addressing one of Europe’s greatest challenges – language barriers in political engagement. In an increasingly interconnected Europe, language differences should not prevent citizens from shaping their future. IDEAL leverages AI-driven multilingual solutions to empower participation, ensuring that every voice, regardless of linguistic or cultural background, can be heard in democratic decision-making. Democracy Without Borders: How IDEAL is Advancing Multilingual Engagement IDEAL’s mission is to create a political space where language is no longer a barrier but a bridge,
using:
● AI-powered real-time translation and speech recognition, enabling citizens to engage in
discussions in their preferred language.
● Multilingual deliberation platform to foster inclusive, cross-border collaboration in
policymaking.
● Crowdsourced solutions and social innovation, ensuring policy ideas reflect diverse
perspectives.
● Experimental models for online and offline participation, testing how technology
enhances democratic engagement across different linguistic communities.

First Consortium Meeting: A Landmark Moment for Inclusive Democracy
The kick-off meeting in Athens brings together leading European researchers, policymakers, and civic innovators to define the strategic roadmap for IDEAL. Discussions will focus on integrating AI-driven multilingual tools, refining cross-cultural deliberation models, and preparing for pilot initiatives that will test IDEAL’s solutions in real-world democratic settings.

“True democracy means ensuring every citizen, regardless of their language, has an equal voice in shaping policy,” said Yannis Charalabidis, Professor of Digital Governance from the University of the Aegean. “By breaking down language barriers, IDEAL will empower citizens to engage in the democratic process across borders, fostering a truly inclusive European future.”

Next Steps: From Vision to Action
Following the Athens meeting, IDEAL will roll out co-creation pilots across Europe, collaboratively developing and testing multilingual deliberation tools and assessing their impact on democratic participation. The results will shape policy recommendations and best practices for ensuring linguistic inclusion in governance at local, national, and EU levels.

Project website: https://www.idealdemocracy.eu/

 

Pythia

Νowadays, the most frequent channels of communication and customer care of businesses or public organizations are physical stores or offices, which require the presence of the customer / citizen, call centers that require a large amount of human resources from the organization and the official websites of these organizations which are often complex and difficult to use by specific population groups. The Pythia project aims to develop a new generation of electronic communication and transaction channels, which operate in natural language and aim at personalized digital services provision accessible to all, eliminating social exclusion and digital divide. To this end, the project capitalizes on the momentum of chatbots, which are intelligent agents that adapt human conversations and build on the new generation of the internet. The primary objective of the project is to significantly improve the functionality of bots in terms of quality of communication with end users and the level of provided services, developing a specialized understanding infrastructure understanding the Greek language. The development of the infrastructure is based on the use of natural language processing technologies (NLP), combined with the application of machine learning techniques and the incorporation of Discourse Analysis and Reasoning. The integration of these research prototypes, on a single platform, supports the operation of the new business model “Bots-as-a-Service and its commercial exploitation.

Through the collaboration of two research organizations, four companies and a public organization, Pythia’s research results will be adopted and evaluated through applications in four sectors of high importance for the Greek economy (Business Transactions, Banking, Tourism, Public Services). Partner organizations operating in the above sectors will adopt PYTHIA tools to create a new set of innovative interactive multimodal services (transforming existing or designing new ones) for their clients (or citizens). The services will be offered seamlessly through the bot, which will guide the user in all the steps of operation. The resulting services will cover both services provided exclusively by a partner (e.g. information services) and complex services that combine interaction between the two or more or third party systems and (e.g. transactions execution).

Project website: https://thepythiaproject.com/en/about-the-project/

 

BPM/BPR in Local Government

The project “Simplification and standardization of operating procedures of local authorities – Standards of organization and operation – Specifications of the necessary information systems” aims at the functional and organizational redesign of Municipalities and Regions in all their functional areas and the formation of a new business model of organization and operation of local authorities, using modern information systems through: (a) the mapping, modeling and evaluation of the existing operating procedures of local authorities, (b) the strategic planning of the new operational system of organization and operation of local authorities, (c) the simplification and standardization of (d) the identification of the necessary institutional changes and amendments to the regulatory framework, which will ensure the implementation of the operational and technological transformation, (e) the development of standards for the organization, staffing and evaluation of the operation of local authorities, (f) the of specify the necessary information systems as well as the interoperability specifications; (g) the preparation of a transition plan from the existing to the new operating system; system of organization and operation.

Results of the project: 1400 local government procedures (municipality and regional levels) were recorded, modeled and redesigned. 2 new standard information systems (1 for municipalities and 1 for regions) were designed based on the redesigned procedures. 30 proposed subsystems cover the transition needs of local authorities in the era of digital governance.

Govhack

Govhack is an Innovation Center for Digital Transformation in Public Administration, which seeks to create a single innovation and entrepreneurship network to enhance and promote know-how and new good e-government practices aimed at modernizing Public Administration and Local Government.

The purpose of GovHack is to support its member companies and partners with digital transformation in public administration (govtech), with the main goal of providing the appropriate resources that will enable them to meet the challenges and opportunities of the industry, at national and international level.

Actions

• Organizing events and workshops for the development of govtech.
• Organizing training activities for public and private sector executives.
• Organizing innovation competitions to support the innovation ecosystem in the field of digital governance and the emergence of innovative solutions.
• Support for product development research in the form of middleware platforms as a software that provides common services and capabilities to applications other than those offered by the operating system, on which members of the Innovation Center will be able to build final products in productive operation suitable for placing in the market. Pilot middleware platforms will address data management, application services, messaging, authentication and API management while incorporating emerging technologies such as AI, Blockchain, IoT, machine learning, VR.
• Possibility of internship and training for graduates and young professionals of the innovation ecosystem on the development of digital governance solutions.

Project website: https://govhack.gr/