Although the country is lagging behind in e-government projects, however it is necessary to conduct informational campaigns so that citizens are able to exploit what already operates. This was one of the conclusions of the workshop “EGovernment, the challenge of ESPA and the Open Software”, which took place with the organizational support of Communication Effect.
The previous months, e-government projects were implemented with funding from “C’ KPS” like «e-Planning”, “Hermes”, “Joint Internet Environment” (in a pilot form in the Municipality of Larissa and 15 other institutions) and others. In the event, the e-government General Secretary, Mr. Stefanos Gritzalis, the Informational Systems General Secretary, Mr. Diomidis Spinellis, and the Prime Minister Consultant, Theodoros Karounos expressed their positions and opinions. Moreover, major companies and organizations such as DEH, Eurobank, Rom Telecom, RedHat, Exodus, etc presented their experience and case studies.
The necessary campaigns that will accompany ESPA not only concern the mobilization of citizens. Informational campaigns are also necessary to professional IT, telecommunication and project management communities, because as things change in those services (Cloud Computing, Open Source), new opportunities for new companies are created. ESPA is oriented in the funding of services rather than projects; therefore this reinforces the need to implement campaigns to citizens and professionals.
Participation in the conference was more than expected and was supported by dialogue, which was developed for one month on a special site, on LinkedIn Group and on Twitter. Moreover, the entire conference was broadcasted live on the internet (live streaming), so stakeholders could participate from all over Greece and debate was unfolded amongst many more people than those who participated in the same event.
