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eDialogos

Acronym of the case:

eDialogos

Web address of the case:

Country of the case:

Greece

City/region:

Trikala

Digital | municipalities | edemocracy


Posting Date: 16 November 2007
Last Edited Date: 19 November 2007

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Author:

Neil McDonald (ECOTEC Research and Consulting Ltd)United Kingdom
Type of initiative
    Case Abstract

    The innovative e-Dialogos project at the Greek municipality of Trikala is funded through the Politeia Programme of the Ministry of Interior and the Region of Thessaly, and it is championed by the Mayor of Trikala himself. The project is about providing an innovative and fully fledged eDemocracy methodology and platform for citizens of Trikala to participate in the decision making processes of the municipality, combining online deliberative and voting processes.

    Description of the case
    Sector
    January 2006 to November 2090
    Date operational
    July 2006
    Target Users
    Citizen | Civil society
    Target Users Description
    Scope
    Local (city or municipality)
    Status
    Operation
    Language(s)
    Greek
    Policy Context and Legal Framework

    The municipality of Trikala offers a fertile environment for such experiments, since it provides its citizens free Internet access for all (Municipal Wireless), and an advanced strategy and wide array of ICT related projects and services for its constituents.

    The Municipality of Trikala has the biggest list of EU-funded projects than any other municipality in the region and eventually Greece (if taken as a per capita income). This effort leads to Trikala being recognized as the first digital city of Greece.

    In Greece there is no specific legal framework for the full deployment of eGovernment, and the National Strategic Reference Framework for 2007-2013 is one of the mechanisms through which th Greek Government is prioritising the eGovernment Strategy.

    Project Size and Implementation
    Type of initiative
    Not applicable/not available
    Project size
    Implementation: €49-299,000
    Yearly cost:
    €1-49,000
    Implementation and Management Approach

    The ICT strategy and projects are championed by the Mayor himself who has built a strong team around him dealing efficiently with ICT challenges and opportunities, utilizing to the maximum opportunities offered through Greek and EU funding programmes.

    A key question would be whether this individualistic approach based on the vision of this particular Mayor is more effective that a legislative agenda imposed centrally

    Impact, innovation and results
    Impact

    Citizens must register on the e-Dialogos site in order for them to participate, where they also create their own demographic profile. The demographics will also be used to weigh the results accordingly, balancing the views of over or under represented segments of the population.

    Innovation:
    Access2democracy (www.access2democracy.org) developed the strategy, methodology, the user requirements and specifications while IMC (a Greek IT company that leads the project) developed the web based platform that will host and support the processes. It mainly comprises three tools: a top-down eSurvey system, where municipality can ask citizens to respond to specific issues of interest to the municipality; a bottom-up ePetition system; and, what is termed a deliberative process. The latter is a ‘serial process’ with several steps embedded in a tight methodology.

    Lessons learnt

    Lesson 1 - eTrikala sits as a beacon project with high-level political support. Indeed, the mayor is using his own power to ember ICT-related organisational change. There is a paradox whereby strong local autonomy can produce projects that deliver significant citizen value, but they run the risk of being islands of excellence in a sea of organisational resistance. At the same time, centrally-imposed strategies can lead to projects not being tuned to local needs.

    Lesson 2 - Another interesting feature of the Trikala example is the employment model the Mayor is using. Few of the leaders in his team are civil servants linked to their position for life, whereas the opposite generally is the case with municipal employees elsewhere. The upshot of this is that employees are keen to acquire new skills as well as to look for additional funding and projects as they create their own raison-d’etre in the municipal structures.

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