The man behind the company that is the main actor for implementing the government’s digital transformation policy talks about the challenges, as well as the upcoming projects, with a focus on the Recovery Fund.
The … awakening of Information Society, which had been dormant throughout the financial crisis, was the big bet of Stavros Asthenidis, the company’s CEO, who found himself at its helm in the summer of 2019. “It was a challenge both for me and for the Minister of Digital Governance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, to “awaken” the system of Information Society, which was slumped, on the one hand, due to the multi-year crisis during which no projects were being carried out and, on the other hand, due to specific government policies that did not place a focus on digitization”, he mentioned to “business stories”, describing the state of the company from its first day of operation until today.
“Information Society is celebrating 20 years of operation this year. The purpose of its establishment was to execute all IT projects for the State. A grandiose plan at the time, but it worked for the most part. The company was on a very good and upward course until 2010-2011 and many of the projects that we use today and take for granted were carried out under its supervision (Taxisnet, customs applications, information systems for hospitals and prefectures etc.)”, he explained.
Therefore, until 2012 the company possessed a good amount of manpower, employing approximately 130 members of staff. However, due to the financial crisis and the memoranda, which led to Information Society joining the unified wage grid, a large number of employees were forced to resort to the private sector. “In 2019, when I took over Information Society, the number of employees was just over 50. We are currently up to 110. In the years up to 2017-2018 there was a big drop, as no projects were being carried out”, Mr Asthenidis added.
The most important projects
However, in the summer of 2019 things started to change, as a number of important projects were initiated, such as Syzefxis II. “We have completed the process and the largest telecom project in the public sector is moving forward right now. It is worth 600 million euro and it will connect approximately 35,000 public bodies on a single telecommunications network, both wireless and wired, with high speeds and new infrastructure that will take the Public Administration one step forward”, he declared.
At the same time, gov.gr is of equal importance, which concerns many small projects launched by assisting the ministry and the General Secretariat of Information Systems. It has grown to have over 1,000 services currently, succeeding in opening the gates of digital transformation to the general public.
Regarding the present, the head of Information Society emphasizes that the country is faced with the challenge of the Recovery Fund, which will give a very big boost to digitisation, as it is one of its main pillars. “Digital interventions are amounting to approximately 4 billion euro. This is a huge amount and we are trying to channel it into an operational plan that will change the landscape in Public Administration and in the country. There are projects that may be related to the training of civil servants, as well as the public in general, on digital issues, so that we can escape digital illiteracy, up to greater interventions, for example in Justice”, he emphasized.
In support of the above, tele-trials are under discussion, which will enable the authorities to conduct trials from remote locations. “It will be possible to examine witnesses remotely, thus removing a huge administrative cost (approximately 800 police officers are employed every day for the transport of prisoners to courts), while at the same time accelerating the administration of justice. We estimate that the tender will be announced in the next month”, he noted, adding that other interventions are also pending in the Justice sector, such as the digitization of all court records and the expansion of the digital minutes system in criminal courts as well, as the Minister of Justice has already announced.
Finally, one more important project which does not, however, have a direct impact on the daily life of citizens is the system for monitoring all fiscal data (budget, budget implementation etc.). According to the same, the first part is already under public consultation and this will be one of the first projects of the Recovery Fund that will be executed within the next two months at the latest.
The… mistake at the university application sheet and the ticket experience
“It was not my dream to study electrical engineering,” Mr Asthenidis admitted, describing how a mistake in his university application sheet changed the course of his life. “My goal was to study Physics at the University of Athens. At that time, however, the School of Computer Engineering in Patras had the highest admission score, so I put it first in the application sheet, and I put the School of Electrical Engineering in Athens second, which I found out about from a brochure I happened to come across. Physics was in my top five schools. I did better than I expected in the exams and was admitted to my second choice. I never regretted it, of course”, he explained.
Throughout his career, he has worked in various bodies, such as the Intermediary Agency for Operational Programmes of Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship (EFEPAE/ELANET) and the “Athens 2004” Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, while he has undertaken a series of projects, the most characteristic one being the project related to tickets. “One of the first projects to be funded within the framework of the Second Community Support Framework was the single ticket for short sea shipping. This was followed by the Olympic Games ticketing project, while after 2010-2012 we also worked on the e-ticket for urban transport in Athens, one of the first and most successful technological PPP projects. We are now launching a single e-ticket for museums and archaeological sites; we expect the relevant announcements to be made within the next quarter”, he concluded.
Stavros Asthenidis The bet on the “awakening” of Information Society | newmoney