The national effort of the digital transformation continues with the implementation of projects supporting citizens and businesses, which are announced by the Government and the Minister of State and Digital Governance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis.
In this direction, the Information Society, the executive agency of the Ministry of Digital Governance, completed successfully two demanding social programmes, such as those of Freedom Pass and Freedom Pass / Data.
In particular, in a period of 6 months, the Information Society has already paid EUR 85,950,307.60 million through 658,628 checks (Vouchers) and prepaid debit cards to beneficiaries of the Freedom Pass and Freedom Pass Data programmes.
Freedom Pass concerns the provision of a digital prepaid debit card of EUR 150 for purchases in specific Greek businesses in the tourism and cultural sector to young people aged 18-25 who have completed at least the first dose of their vaccination or the only dose if it is a single dose vaccine against Covid-19.
The programme was put into operation on July 20th, 2021 and by Thursday 06/01/2022, 556,041 applications were received from beneficiaries, for a total amount of eighty three million four hundred and six thousand one hundred and fifty euros (€83,406,150.00). In fact, up to the same day, the total amount of sixty one million five hundred twenty seven thousand five hundred twenty eight euros and twenty five cents (€ 61,527,528.25) had been used. Finally, it is worth noting that at least 83.53% of the cards issued in total have been used.
Freedom Pass / Data was launched on Monday 11 October 2021 with the aim of making free of charge 50GB of data available to teenagers aged 15-17, who have completed at least the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine or the only dose if it is a single-dose vaccine. The programme was completed on December 31st, 2021 and a total of 102,587 applications from beneficiaries, with a total budget of €2,544,157.60, have been approved, to which the free data package has been granted.
An additional point of interest is that 87% of all vaccinated people applied for the Freedom Pass, while 63% applied for the Freedom Pass Data.
The Managing Director of the Information Society, Mr. Stavros Ashtenidis emphasised: “The work done in the Information Society concerns many complex projects, which have a recommended value: to place the citizen at their centre. This means that we approach government services and initiatives by creating added value in the daily lives of all citizens and businesses. Thus, we were able to complete quickly, consistently and transparently two very demanding programmes, such as those of Freedom Pass and Freedom Pass / Data, allocating to the beneficiaries almost EUR 86 million”.