Th. Livanios: In a few days the invitation for projects that will be selected by the municipalities based on their needs

Theodoros Libanios, Deputy Minister of Digital Governance, spoke about a package of actions and projects that the municipalities themselves will choose to implement according to their own needs, in the context of the digital economy forum 2021 entitled “digitalisation, no longer a choice, but a necessity in a discussion on “Smart, Sustainable Cities and Regions”. As he characteristically said, the Ministry of Digital Government emphasizes local self-government. “It would be unthinkable to talk about a digital transformation of the state without the local government following the path taken by the so-called central state” and added that “local government is the institution that is closest to the citizen and the business, it has a number of responsibilities. “We are in the core of everyday life. We decided to design in cooperation with the local government a first tool in order for all municipalities to follow the digital transformation”. As Mr. Livanios explained, it is divided into two axes. “The first concerns the project of about 90 million euros that will be funded by the Recovery Fund. It will concern the 16 largest municipalities with a population of over 100,000 inhabitants, plus Trikala which is a leading municipality in the field of digital transformation. a few days to issue the relevant invitation so that we can catch up by the end of 2021 so that the municipalities can follow and execute the projects “.

In particular, the Undersecretary clarified that each municipality has at its disposal a specific amount of money. “We give an amount to each municipality, which has the opportunity to choose a series of actions to adapt them to their needs and to proceed with the auction of the project.”

To mention that the actions concern all the so-called smart cities, such as smart parking systems, smart management for the disabled, smart traffic lights, digital municipal budget consultation platform that will presuppose the active role of citizens or air quality, sensors κά. The list of different actions was formed because “each municipality has its own needs, priorities and its own level of digital maturity. At the same time, Mr. Libanios referred to the second axis of the ministry’s initiative that concerns the other 315 municipalities in the country. “In cooperation with the Ministry of Development, we are joining and starting to issue an invitation from the new NSRF, which will be in the same philosophy as the Recovery Fund. Each of the 315 municipalities based on its population will have an amount at its disposal and will have at its disposal a series of actions, projects that they can choose from. “Mr. Libanios stressed the importance of speed, saying that” this What we will do in the coming days is to send the list of actions to the Central Union of Greek Municipalities and to make a first prioritization by the municipalities to see what they are most interested in or what other proposals they have. “In fact, he stressed that the goal of this initiative is “the best service to the citizen and the entrepreneur. It is inconceivable that a municipality just before 2022 does not have an electronic payment system or does not have a document management system and messengers go from service to service or there is no basic cybersecurity infrastructure. “The second goal is the economy in the operation of the municipalities, to be able to utilize human resources where it will be really useful”.

Concluding, Mr. Libanios pointed out that “smart cities are the present. It is what will happen”, while emphasizing the passion whether it concerns the public or the private sector, it plays the most important role for the implementation of projects aimed at improving the quality of life of people.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ