The transparency programme Di@vgeia

The enhancement of democratic processes is becoming a crucial priority for many countries across Europe. Within this framework the Di@vgeia programme aims at increasing civic participation in the democratic process along with opening up public institutions to the civil society by making it more transparent and accountable for its actions. The Di@vgeia programme makes use of ICT tools such as an online platform where both central and local public administrations could upload documents and processes in order to enable citizens and businesses the get access to them in an easy and user friendly way. The commitment and vision of the central government has been crucial for the successful development and implementation of the initiative. Several benefits have been achieved by the platform, both in terms of cost savings on reduced paper-prints along with more non-monetized aspects related to the aforementioned enhancement of the democratic process.

Stakeholders & Beneficiaries

The Di@vgeia Programme was initiated by MAREG (Ministry of Administrative Reform and e-Government) following the approval of the Law 3861/2010 by the Greek Government. The Programme forces all government institutions to upload their acts and decisions on the Internet with a specific focus on issues related to national security and sensitive personal data. Di@vgeia can be considered as an open government best practice and has been presented to many European and international conferences, receiving very positive feedback. In Greece it is considered a model for the design of future e-Government interventions, both at an organizational and a technological level. In June 2014, the Di@vgeia II portal has been implemented and launched with renovated communication and participatory tools, in order to enable a greater user interaction and engagement. The beneficiaries of the Programme are all Greek citizens and business who need to exercise their constitutional right to be informed, as well as all public servants who need to use public acts and decisions on a daily basis as part of their work. In particular, thanks to extensive amount of public users Di@vgeia can be regarded as the most extensively and widely used public application. A dynamic human network of project task forces (more than 4.000 people) has been activated nationwide during the implementation phase of the platform, to share strong authority to coordinate and educate their associates, as well as to communicate the merits of the Programme. The network has contributed to the rapid spread of the new values of transparency, responsibility, accountability, participation and collaboration.

Co-creation process

A total of 12 staff members worked for four years on the design, implementation, support and additional development of the system. More specifically the design phase lasted for 2 months to which followed the adoption by the Greek Parliament of the Law 3861/2010. The development phase lasted for 2 more months leading to 1 month of testing and 1 month of pilot phase. Finally, the system entered into the production phase. Different production paths were followed by the different authorities involved. More specifically:

- Ministries: 4 months after the enforcement of the law
- Overall Public Sector and other independent authorities: 1 months after Ministries
- Regional and Local Authorities: 6 months after Ministries.

Several additional initiatives were also launched in order to support the uptake of the system. An education programme lasting 9 months was held across the different regions targeting legal, administrative and technical issues using the platform. Moreover, different social media were also chosen as preferred channels for publicizing the materials posted online on the Di@vgeia website. Moreover, in 2014 the above mentioned Di@vgeia II portal was also launched.

Digital Transformation Process

The Di@vgeia Programme works by obliging public institutions to publish acts and decisions online with each document digitally signed and linked to an Internet Uploading Number (IUN), which certifies that the decision has been uploaded on the Portal. The technological implementation model of the platform has been based on an agile strategy with “open content” and “open architecture” that enable citizens and other private actors to generate their own applications and services via the program’s open content API. The whole platform has been developed in-house by the Greek Research & Technology Network via an open source software. The system is supported by existing ICT infrastructures already owned by the public sector. It is also worth to mention that besides the ICT components the system can be also perceived as including relevant legal frameworks, operational processes and other technological instruments. In 2014 the MAREG decided to launch a new and updated version of the portal, named Di@vgeia II which enhances: user inclusion especially for those with disabilities, search via new portal search-mechanisms, new online communication channels.

Results, Outcomes & Impacts

Different types of needs have been addressed by the introduction of the programme. More specifically, among the most relevant it can be accounted:

Citizens’ engagement:

The Di@vgeia database enable citizens and businesses to get access to a wide range of information. In addition, taking into consideration that the Greek crisis has been determined, among other things, by the non-transparent relationship between the citizens and the state, the Di@vgeia Programme enabled high standards of transparency within all levels of Greek public administration. This initiative has a deep impact on the way officials handle their executive power. The radical transparency that the Di@vgeia Programme introduces reduces corruption by exposing it more easily when it takes place, since any citizen and every interested party enjoy the widest possible access to questionable acts. Furthermore, its open architecture allows for the dissemination ad re-use of Publics sector information: indeed, a number of applications have been built by citizens and private companies on various platforms upon the transparency open data access tool.

Maladministration control:

The Di@vgeia portal is a great tool for monitoring and control, used also by Greek Controlling Bodies for checking cases of illegality and maladministration in the public sector. The Controllers working for the Inspectors-Controllers Body for Public Administration (I.C.B.P.A.) have access to reports from the Di@vgeia portal in order to monitor legality and good administration in public legal entities. The programme entails several objectives and goals. Among the most relevant it can be accounted:

The safeguard of transparent government actions and decisions
Eliminating corruption by exposing it more easily when it takes place
Monitoring of legality and good administration
Enhancing and modernizing existing publication systems of administrative acts and decisions
Reinforcing Greek citizens’ constitutional rights, such as the participation in the Information Society
Enhance accessibility and comprehension of administrative acts for citizens
Enable the possibility to provide open data to citizens and businesses for analysis and potential use.

Challenges & Bottlenecks

One of the major barriers concerning the adoption of the system is related to change management and to the need to push all the different public bodies to actively participate in the successful development and deployment of the platform. The public administration is often characterized by a conservative organizational culture adverse to radical changes. Therefore, the adoption of a system which forced public institutions to open up their documents to the general audience proved to be especially difficult.

Transferability & Replicability

The system is now used by all government institutions (5029 Public Authorities, March 2021). Initially, no investment costs were sustained for the development, implementation and support of the system. Everything was sustained thanks to the internal resources of the public administration. Some relevant costs were spent for the second phase of the programme, Di@vgeia II platform, amounting to a total of € 1,700,000 for the design, implementation and production phase (including both the software and hardware components).

Success Factors

The following are considered as the key success factors of this open government inititiative:

Openness

The openness dimension is defined by the readily available information and data on the portal that can be accessed by every citizen or institution.

Collaboration

The collaboration dimension is defined by active participation of citizens in monitoring the publications of documents and acts along with the possibility to report potential maladministration issues.

ICT-enabled Innovation

The technology dimension is characterised by the online platform of Di@vgeia along with its implementation Di@vgeia.

Lessons learned

The Di@vgeia portal represents a successful case of ICT technologies used for enhancing the participation of citizens and all the relevant stakeholder to the democratic life of a country. Moreover, the service can be also regarded as a valuable example of transparency and accountability in a country affected by chronic problems of lack of transparency between public institutions and the civil society. The international recognitions received by the service support also its value as a leading Open eGovernment Service at European level. A key success factor of the service is related to the will from the political entities to deeply change the culture inside the Greek public administration by opening it up to citizens and therefore making it more transparent and responsible. Another key success factor is also represented by the open data functionalities of the programme which enable citizens along with businesses to get access to a wide range of data and develop applications on various platforms. Finally, the significant reductions in terms of costs achieved can be also regarded as another key success factor of the Di@vgeia programme. Several lessons have been learned as a result of the development and implementation of the service. Among the most relevant it can be accounted:

Necessity of change management in the public administration context
Importance of communication
Importance of listening to both public servants and citizens
The necessity for a clear vision and strategy from central Greek governing institutions
Importance of using the talent and dedication of employees along with providing full autonomy to the project team.

Center of Digital Innovation

The “Center of Digital Innovation” (CDI) aims to provide coordination and facilitation services to the digital economy and innovation ecosystem in Greece. CDI is positioned between the Ministry of Digital Governance and the Ministry of Development and Investments, connecting and supporting a network of Digital Innovation Hubs and acting as the public interface in a Quadruple Helix Model bringing together academia, the start-up community, the public and the private sector in order to accelerate digital innovation and digital transformation.
More specifically, CDI focuses on two axes:

A. Digital Innovation of the Public Sector, via supporting Open Innovation initiatives that connect public authorities, corporations, small businesses, start-ups and the research/academic space to come up with digital innovations that none alone can do by themselves and encouraging networking and collaboration among all the stakeholders.

B. Digital Transformation of the Economy, via facilitating the development and monitoring of the Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) network; securing access of startups and mid-caps to technology-testing, financing advice, market intelligence and networking opportunities; and supporting the early adoption of digital technologies to make Greek businesses more competitive and productive and grow the country’s economy.

Stakeholders & Beneficiaries

In the context of digital transformation of Greek economy, the main stakeholders and beneficiaries can be categorized in the following groups:

Public sector: This stakeholder group includes policy makers and regulators who are active in the digital ecosystem, along with others such as international organizations and members of civil society.
Financial actors: This category includes the range of investors that support enterprises and different stages of the startup life cycle, from prototyping for start-ups to initial public offering (IPO) for more mature companies.
Private sector: The private sector refers to large, mature corporations, established SMEs, and groups such as chambers of commerce that represent the interests of the private sector.
Entrepreneurial support networks: These are the organizations within the ecosystem, such as digital innovation hubs, incubators, accelerators, and associations, which support entrepreneurs. They impact the ecosystem by providing guidance, inspiration, open spaces and digital tools to support local start-ups, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs in their digitalization efforts.

Co-creation process

Digital transformation is ultimately the outcome of the collective efforts of diverse stakeholders sharing a common vision for the transformation of their territory. Different key stakeholders must assume a very active and productive role, through constructive interaction. They must have an active involvement and participation in the design, implementation and assessment of policies, actions and relative initiatives targeting the enhancement of the digital economy ecosystem. The state should work with the local government, social partners, chambers, various business associations, universities, the startup community, training organizations, financing institutions, major ICT sector players (including mobile network operators, hardware manufacturers, and services companies), as well as other players having a significant role in the society, in building the enabling environment for the digital economy ecosystem to flourish in.

Digital Transformation Process

The mission of the CDI is to foster digital innovation and accelerate the digital transformation of the Greek economy, by coordinating joint efforts of all involved stakeholders and leveraging world best practices and tools, as well as the Greek research and entrepreneurial potential. Primary objectives:

Foster digital innovation and promote the digital transformation of the public sector through Open Innovation initiatives that bring together the public sector with the start-up and innovation community, research and academia, and the private sector
Accelerate the digital transformation of the Greek economy via leveraging the full potential of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) to ensure that every company, small or large, high-tech or not, can grasp the digital opportunities
Coordinate efforts of all involved stakeholders towards digital innovation, supporting the setup of a Greek ecosystem and cultivating a digital innovation mindset

Results, Outcomes & Impacts

Open Innovation, being ecosystem centric, can support digital transformation through innovation by encouraging the cross-sectoral interconnectedness of the main stakeholders (government, industry, academia and civil participants). Bringing together technology and know-how from all involved stakeholders, educating all involved parties in new technologies and cultivating a culture of co-operation and co-creation, open innovation can facilitate new technological developments, while enabling rapid research and development that can greatly benefit both the public sector and the economy as a whole. Moreover, in order to reinforce Greece’s competitiveness in digital technologies, the country must ensure that every business -whichever the sector, wherever the location, whatever the size- can draw the full benefits of digital innovation. DIHs, as one-stop-shops where companies –especially SMEs, startups and mid-caps– can get help to improve their business, production processes, products and services by means of digital technology, can play a key role in supporting companies become more competitive through digital innovation. The Center of Digital Innovation can significantly contribute to the digital empowerment of the country as a government agency that coordinates government interventions to accelerate digital innovation and digital transformation of the economy. Last but not least, the center will seek to promote a Digital Innovation mindset to startups, public entities and the general public, as well as promote and accelerate the creation of the Greek innovation ecosystem and its connection to the global one.

Challenges & Bottlenecks

A key challenge is the effectiveness of the governance scheme. The CDI as a public body, with inter-ministerial characteristics, will be in close collaboration with stakeholders that provide supporting services to the digital economy ecosystem. In particular, it will be aligned with key stakeholders, which shape the majority of initiatives regarding digital economy growth.

Transferability & Replicability

The implementation model of the CDI may be adapted and used by other Governments, Regions, or Local Governments in order to support Open Innovation initiatives that connect the public sector with startups, corporations and small businesses, the research/academic space, and the innovation community as well as for supporting the early adoption of digital technologies to make businesses more competitive and productive.

Success Factors

CDI aims to pursue active involvement of all involved stakeholders in its activities and decisions. At the same time, through the Center stakeholders will be assisted to meet strategic needs. Through the CDI, government and public organizations as well as large corporations will be assisted to develop an open innovation culture internally and engage directly with outsiders, to improve processes and develop differentiated products. To help organizations cultivate an open innovation mentality internally, CDI will support inter-organizational programs with a focus on the public sector, in which employees will be invited to submit their ideas in complex problems of the organization and turn them into real services/products. This could significantly help further engage their employees and unlock the innovation potential in their organization. In addition, CDI will support, disseminate and coordinate the organization of innovation contests, hackathons and open innovation programs for the public and at national level, involving public stakeholders, the industry, the academic/research community as well as the start-up community.

Lessons learned

The Greek Government has highlighted the need to achieve a successful transition to digital services and change the production model in Greece, in which the emerging innovation ecosystem of new enterprises and startups is expected to play a critical role.Although several initiatives are currently in place in Greece to support the digital economy, the digital economy support ecosystem in Greece is quite fragmented and there is a definite need for coordination. The participation and coordination of all involved stakeholders and the identification and implementation of best practices and key initiatives -such as the Digital Innovation Hubs and the Open Innovation -initiatives mentioned above- could significantly accelerate the Digital Economy transformation in Greece. The implementation model for the CDI is based on Open Innovation 2.0, a key EU policy to support Digital Single Market strategy. It is based on a Quadruple Helix Model where government, industry, academia and civil participants work together to co-create the future and drive structural changes far beyond the scope of what any one organization or person could do alone. This model enables organizations to access new talent and reduce research costs, spreads risks and brings innovations to market more quickly. Additionally, it enables researchers, small companies and start-ups to test their technologies in real world settings, adjust them according to market needs, and get (first) customers.