In an unprecedented gesture of solidarity between Athens’ public and private sectors, Mayor Georgios Kaminis convened the city’s first-ever Digital Council. Made up of industry leaders based in Athens, the Council was established to advise the city on innovative ways to harness technology for the benefit of Athenians.
“Convening our first Digital Council is a ground breaking step towards becoming one of the top digital cities in the world,” Mayor Kaminis said. “The Athens Digital Council will support the Municipality in achieving our goals to reach more neighborhoods and create more jobs in Athens.”
On June 15, the first convening of the Digital Council took place to discuss the municipality’s goals to encourage innovation in government and leverage technology to address public challenges. The Athens Digital Council includes leaders representing the largest digital, telecommunications, research and development and software solution companies in Greece, as well as distinguished professors from leading Greek universities. The members are:
- Accenture Greece, Kyriacos Sabatakakis, Managing Director
- Athens University of Economics and Business, Professor Diomidis Spinellis
- IBM Greece and Cyprus, Spyros Poulidas, General Manager
- Microsoft Hellas, Cyprus and Malta, Peggy Antonakou, CEO
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Professor Yannis Ioannidis
- National Technical University of Athens, Professor Giannis Kalogirou
- National Technical University of Athens, Professor Nectarios Koziris
- Nokia Hellas, Athanasios Exarchos, President & Managing Director
- Oracle Greece, Fragkiskos Zervos, Technology Sales Consulting Director (representing Antonis Monokrousos, Country Leader of Oracle Greece)
- OTE Group, Michael Tsamaz, Chairman and CEO
- SAP Hellas, Cyrprus & Malta, Andreas Xirocostas, Country Manager
- Vodafone Greece, Haris Broumidis, CEO
- WIND, Nassos Zarkalis, Chairman and CEO
The Digital Council is being overseen by Konstantinos Champidis, the city’s Chief Digital Officer, a position created last April by the Mayor. The Athens Partnership, an independent non-profit vehicle facilitating high impact partnerships with the City of Athens, is coordinating private sector support for the city’s broad digital strategy.
“With the appointment of our city’s Chief Digital Officer and the support of our new Digital Council, Athens is on its way to landing on the global map of leading digital cities,” said Champidis. “I am grateful to members of this voluntary Council, who are supporting the municipality’s efforts to be more transparent, efficient, and effective at delivering city services to all Athenians.”
Mayor Kaminis is committed to accelerating digital growth and leveraging technology to address the city’s greatest challenges and seize opportunities. To this end, the Mayor appointed the city’s first Chief Digital Officer; the Innovathens entrepreneur hub was launched in 2014; and Athens has attracted the support of global foundations, including Stavros Niarchos, Bloomberg Associates, and Rockefeller Foundation, selected as one of its 100 Resilient Cities in 2015. Now, through the Digital Council, the city is meaningfully engaging with leading educational institutions and key private sector partners to develop technological strategies to improve the lives of Athenians.
