“Digital Greece 2020″ is based on the participation of active citizens

“Digital Greece 2020 – http://digitalgreece2020.gr/” is a horizontal action based on the participation of active citizens from business, education, research and public administration. It gives the opportunity to all interested parties to address policy proposals to the central and local government, representative organizations, as well as the academic-research community with regard to the initiatives that have to be taken and the targets that have to be set for Digital Greece 2020.

“Digital Greece 2020” is a permanent tool for consultation and formulation of policy proposals for the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in critical sectors that will configure Digital Greece of 2020. Utilizing the quantitative and qualitative data on the penetration and application of new technologies in public administration, education, research and the productive process, the Forum is open to the participation of all bodies or citizens that use the Internet as a tool for information, communication and the production of digital content.

The Forum aspires to formulate a policy proposal in line with the Digital Agenda 2020 of the European Commission that will utilize the current international experience, but will also thoroughly adapt it to the Greek reality. It has a dual presence, both physical and digital. In its physical form, the Forum operates through open meetings of working groups that allow for the exchange of views and the synthesis of different positions. In its digital form, the Forum operates through a platform where every citizen can formulate proposals and participate in a virtual dialogue by using the most modern tools of networking.

The organizational structure of the Forum includes the following:

• The Organizing Committee. It includes executives from both the private and the broader public sector and its objective is to support the operations of the forum in both technical and organizational terms.
• The Strategy Committee. It will be composed by 20 executives from the private and the broader public sector distinguished for their work in relevant fields in Greece and abroad. Its main task is to provide general strategic guidelines to the Forum and the Working Groups.
• The Working Groups.Each Group will have a Coordinator and a Rapporteur who will be responsible for the meetings and on-line discussions of the Working Groups as well as for their deliverables. The Group drafts a document with policy proposals on an issue. It includes a brief analysis of the current situation emphasizing “what is wrong”, a selection of examples of best practices from other countries to imitate and finally a set of strategic proposals for the particular sector along with a list of the bodies – persons – organizations that will receive the proposals. The Working Groups in the Digital Greece 2020 Forum have been divided into 7 units.

1. Interoperability, Free Software/Open Source Software (FS/OSS) and Open Content

The aim of this Group is to contribute to the promotion of Free Software and Open Source Software, the adoption of the National Interoperability Framework as well as the diffusion of the benefits from the use of Open Standards.

1. Trust and Security on the Internet

The aim of this Group is to design measures for promoting the feeling of security regarding electronic transactions and to inform the population on digital risks with special consideration for specific groups. More specifically, the aim is to describe how the citizen of 2020 can fearlessly engage in transactions with both the private and the public sector protected from any kind of interference in the confidentiality of his/her communications and can guard on his/her own private digital property.

1. Next Generation Access Networks

The aim of this Group is to contribute in planning citizens’ access to the Internet through very high speed connections in the future.

1. Public Administration and Society

The aim of this Group is to identify the position of Public Administration in Digital Reality and the services that it will offer to society. Planning concerns all sectors of the broader public sector (health, citizen service, transparency and justice, culture, transport, regional and local government, agriculture and livestock farming, tourism) and all stages, from the collection of information to the final provision of service to the citizen.

1. E-Entrepreneurship

The aim of this Group is to identify the existing obstacles, to study the solutions and to propose to the Government the required actions that will lead Greek businesses to exploit fully the tools and opportunities offered by the Internet and the global economy and to connect research and innovation with entrepreneurship.

1. Education, Research and Innovation

The aim of this Group is to contribute to the utilization of new educational tools for the first two levels of education and to identify how to cultivate the digital skills of students and how to initiate young children gradually and in a balanced way to the world of computers and information.

1. Digital Gap

The aim of this Group is to contribute in planning effective actions for fighting against the Digital Gap. The Group will suggest ways to make the phrase “Broadband for everyone, everywhere” realistic and applicable.

“Digital Greece 2020” is operating under the aegis of the Group for Electronic Governance in the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Interior, Decentralization and Electronic Governance, the Ministry of Regional Development and Competitiveness, the Ministry of Education, Life-Long Learning and Religious Affairs, the Observatory for the Greek Information Society and the Hellenic Communications and Post Commission (EETT) that also hosts and supports operationally the activities of the Forum.

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