Second year of Digital Government Awards for innovative processes simplifying administrative operations

The Ministry of Digital Governance held the Digital Governance Awards for 2022 at an event at Technopolis, City of Athens, on October 13, 2023. The ‘Digital Gov Awards’ competition is implemented by the General Secretariat for Information Systems and Digital Governance, with the support of the National Documentation Centre (EKT) and was taking place for the second consecutive year.

In total, 92 proposals were submitted this year by public sector bodies or civil servants and officials and the aim was to highlight effective, innovative and pioneering processes of digitisation and simplification of administrative procedures and actions, which are based on the guidelines of the Digital Transformation Bible.

The award aims to reward initiatives and ideas aimed at extroversion and digital modernisation of Public Administration in order to serve citizens by a friendlier and less bureaucratic state.

The award highlights effective, innovative and pioneering processes of digitalisation and simplification of administrative functions, as well as actions that support the country's digital transformation. The honours are awarded to executives of the Greek State, representatives of institutions and officers who have designed or implemented, collectively or individually, innovative and pioneering applications for the digital transformation of Public Administration and the improvement of the administrative environment in the country.

As the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, stated, "The Digital Governance Awards reflect the positive side of the State and is inextricably linked with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' vision for a new digital and efficient Greece. Besides, digitalisation and simplification of our daily lives is the only way to gain citizens' trust in the state and its institutions. In this area too, excellent work has been done in previous years by Kyriakos Pierrakakis and his team. At this second celebration of Public Administration, I have a subversive wish to make: that in a few years these awards will not exist but will have been transformed into something bigger, because the digital state will be our everyday life."

The Deputy Minister of Digital Governance, Konstantinos Kyranakis said: "It is our great pleasure as a Ministry to organise the Digital Governance Awards for the second consecutive year. It is our responsibility, and indeed our privilege, to ensure that Greece remains innovative in this dynamic landscape and as the political leadership of the Ministry, together with Dimitris Papastergiou, we are committed to continuing working hard to provide solutions for the challenges that appear before us. Today, we are shining a spotlight on those visionaries who are not only dreaming, but actively shaping our future."

The Secretary General of Information Systems and Digital Governance, Demosthenes Anagnostopoulos said: "Today we are honouring 20 teams that, on behalf of the public sector, contribute decisively to the country's digital transformation, in different sectors. Rewarding their effort is mainly a moral recognition in their career as public officials and is part of the evaluation of the public sector, as defined by the priorities of the Government. We must say thank you to them publicly."

Two Special Honours were awarded at the Digital Governance Awards event. The Minister of Governance Dimitris Papastergiou awarded the Honorary Distinction for an Individual to Ms Litsa Panagiotopoulou and the Secretary General of Information Systems and Digital Governance, Mr Demosthenes Anagnostopoulos, awarded the Honorary Distinction for a Public Official to Mr Faidon Kaklamanis.

Watvh the video of the award ceremony:

The General Secretariat for Information Systems and Digital Governance is assisted by EKT, a body supervised by the Ministry of Digital Governance, which has undertaken the development, technical support and maintenance of the digitalawards.gov.gr platform for the submission and evaluation of applications, while providing organisational support for the competition.

The Digital Governance Awards is held on an annual basis with the aim of raising citizen awareness about the value of digital transformation, as well as disseminating policies related to the country's digital strategy