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Simona Peneva 
    

The Minister of Administrative Reform and e-Government, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and international experts offer programs and solutions to overcome the difficulties of e-government in Greece and its lagging behind its counterparts in other European countries.

The modernization of public administration and the interoperability of public institutions are the two most important steps in the development of e-governance. This was announced at the international strategic conference on e-Government by Margarita Abecasis, Head of Unit Interoperability Solutions and Public Administration at the European Commission. Modernization takes place through simplification of the procedures related to administration and by the removal of borders and obstacles. 74% of European countries consider interoperability of state-owned enterprises as a high priority. According to Margarita Abecasis the main objective of the country is the simplification of effective electronic cross-border and cross-sector interaction amongst European public administrations. The Interoperability Solutions Programme for European Public Administrations supports the provision of online services for the Public Service and ensures the availability, the interoperability of public institutions and the re-use and sharing of common solutions. This programme is of the European Union and implements over forty projects with a budget of 160 million euros.

To overcome the crisis from the past five years that caused problems requiring immediate solution, the country should focus on the development of new technologies. According to the Minister of Administrative Reform and e-Government, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the issue that should concern the Ministry most is "How to serve a citizen better and faster". The answer to this question is through a technological revolution. He also said that in recent years the Ministry has had no great achievements in this sector. There are many plans that never reached implementation. Therefore, the first task of the Ministry will be to identify its errors of recent years, and then the appropriate actions will be taken. According to the Minister one of the biggest mistakes is the lagging behind and inefficiency of actions planned by the Ministry. Also, the complete separation between planning and implementation of actions because many projects remain unfulfilled.

On the other hand, in recent years the Ministry has taken some measures in the public administration sector to adopt modern digital programmes. "The National Strategic Plan is based on the best standards, on strategies and actions with proven success in other countries and the implementation of infrastructure projects that are already known to the market", added Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He believes that there is a complete lack of coordination, and that if these problems are solved, citizens, businesses and civil servants will all benefit from that. "The funding for the period 2014-2020 provides a great chance for development that should not be missed", he said. The main objectives of the strategy for e-government in Greece for the period 2014-2020 are as follows:

• Simplification of procedures: seeking of possibilities of digitization and automatic search for data without human intervention, through interoperability of information systems, in order to reduce or eliminate the number of required documents.
• Electronic management of documents: state administration will introduce an online environment for processing, management and archiving of documents, firstly between departments of ministries, and then between ministries and organizations responsible for the control, the independent authorities and the regional and the municipal authorities.
• Single resource management: Creation of a uniform delivery policy, use, management and maintenance of the technological infrastructure and the main services of state government.
• A single access point to a given municipality: For every service, citizens will communicate with the municipality through a single point from where they will obtain the final processing of their application, as the processing of the application will remain an internal matter of the administration.

The Minister of Administrative Reform and e-Government emphasized the need for clarity and transparency of their actions in order to restore the relationship between government and citizens. The Ministry has provided a possibility for people with special needs and has introduced an electronic signature.

As in other member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in Greece young people are more familiar and use digital technologies more often. There is a sharp decline in use after 65 years of age, when only 20-25% of the people use these technologies. While in Greece the number in this category rises, in Scandinavian countries it goes down. Luiz de Mello, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said that the new needs of governments are openness, active participation, innovation and joint management of group administrations. According to Luiz de Mello the access to, and promotion of, e-governance are also important. It is significant that 83% of young people use social media, but only 11% of them comment on political and social topics.