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Greece

Institutional and Technological Upgrading of Transparency Program (GR0012)

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: Greece Second Action Plan for 2014-2016

Action Plan Cycle: 2014

Status: Inactive

Institutions

Lead Institution: Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction

Support Institution(s): Information Society SA

Policy Areas

Access to Information, E-Government, Open Data

IRM Review

IRM Report: Greece End-of-Term Report 2014-2016, Greece 2014-2015 Progress Report

Starred: No

Early Results: Marginal

Design i

Verifiable: Yes

Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information , Technology

Potential Impact:

Implementation i

Completion:

Description

Promotion of transparency and accountability, through the improvement of the legal framework and the enhanced application of process transparency in public administration. This is the second phase of the project, and it is called Transparency Program II.
The main interventions needed pertain to the institutional and technological enhancement of the current (governmental) Transparency Program project:
• Compliance and uniform application of regulations regarding the institutional strengthening of the published document. This will ensure that the unique number given to each document (and not the document itself or its printed version) will be sufficient in referencing, using and handling, throughout the public sector, without the need of additional validation or signing.
• Substantial improvement of the website user interface, including additional search functionality, improved usability and enhanced accessibility, and compliance with the WCAG standard (version 2.0, level AA).
• Addition of electronic communication channels among citizens, businesses and public administration, in order to submit comments and discuss the published documents (using the user’s account in publishing documents or user accounts on social media e.g. Google, Facebook, etc.).
• Provision of personalized content and search results.
• Improvement of open data provision mechanism, in machine readable formats, aiming to enhance interoperability. Use of open data from governmental audit mechanisms. Implementation of applications for the monitoring of the administrative actions from all interested parties.
• Enrichment of the information provided by Transparency Program, with clear categorization based on the government agencies and using additional public sector data sources (human resources, e-procurement, income etc.). This way a wider system for information provision will be created, available to the public. A separate subsystem will be designed, addressing the need of public administration bodies to draw business intelligence reports on public administration functioning, expenses and to support decision making.

IRM End of Term Status Summary

Commitment 1.1. Transparency Program upgrade

Commitment Text:

Promotion of transparency and accountability, through the improvement of the legal framework and the enhanced application of process transparency in public administration. This is the second phase of the project, and it is called Transparency Program II.The main interventions needed pertain to the institutional and technological enhancement of the current (governmental) Transparency Program project:

Compliance and uniform application of regulations regarding the institutional strengthening of the published document. This will ensure that the unique number given to each document (and not the document itself or its printed version) will be sufficient in referencing, using and handling, throughout the public sector, without the need of additional validation or signing.

Substantial improvement of the website user interface, including additional search functionality, improved usability and enhanced accessibility, and compliance with the WCAG standard (version 2.0, level AA).

Addition of electronic communication channels among citizens, businesses and public administration, in order to submit comments and discuss the published documents (using the user’s account in publishing documents or user accounts on social media e.g. Google, Facebook, etc.).

Provision of personalized content and search results

Improvement of open data provision mechanism, in machine readable formats, aiming to enhance interoperability. Use of open data from governmental audit mechanisms. Implementation of applications for the monitoring of the administrative actions from all interested parties.

Enrichment of the information provided by Transparency Program, with clear categorization based on the government agencies and using additional public sector data sources (human resources, e-procurement, income etc.). This way a wider system for information provision will be created, available to the public. A separate subsystem will be designed, addressing the need of public administration bodies to draw business intelligence reports on public administration functioning, expenses and to support decision making.

Milestones – Timescales

1.1 Issue of instructions and guides on the application of the new pertaining legislative framework and the new pertaining information system (October 2014).

1.2 Complete integration and operation of public bodies in the new Transparency Program (December

2014).

1.3  Conduction of study and gradual promotion of actions enriching the data provided from other data sources of the public sector. Target being the centralized, correct, information provision for a variety of issues; including expenditure, revenue, personnel etc. The study will be initially drafted by MAREG in collaboration with stakeholders - owners of complementary data sets and will be finalized after consultation with NGOs and civil society organizations working in the field (study June 2015, gradual implementation June 2016).

Responsible institution: Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction

Supporting institution(s): Information Society SA

Start date: October 2014                                                                    End date: June 2016

Commitment Aim:

In Greece, transparency policies have focused on providing online access to information regarding government actions and decisions. Making information publicly available online serves as a condition to validate government plans and implementation. This commitment builds on the Transparency (Diavgeia) Program launched in October 2010, requiring all government institutions to publish decisions on a transparency portal before they may be considered for implementation. Its aim is to promote transparency and accountability, through the improvement of the legal framework and the enhanced application of Transparency (Diavgeia) Program processes in public administration. The commitment seeks to achieve the following actions:

●      Provision of instructions and guidelines for adopting the new interface of the Transparency Program and the implementation of the new legislative framework;

●      The complete integration of public bodies into the new interface of the Transparency Program; and

●      A study reviewing the promotion of the Transparency Program using data from various public sector sources.

Status

Midterm: Substantial

The government introduced legislative acts and issued guidelines to implement effectively the second phase of the Transparency (Diavgeia) Program. The Openwise IRM research team found that these documents are available online and easily accessible for the public. The new interface of the Transparency (Diavgeia) Program platform is currently operational. However, government bodies have yet to adopt fully all the capabilities of the new interface. According to a member of the OGP government team, there is no data to indicate the degree to which public entities beyond the Ministry of the Interior use the ADA (Number of Internet Uploads) as a document referencing system, although daily observation suggests additional public entities use ADA.[Note 1: During emails discussions with the the Openwise IRM research team, officials from the Department of Open Government, Transparency and Innovation within of Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction say that they have empirically observed that the use of the identification number among public agencies is on the rise.]

The Openwise IRM research team found that the government substituted participation in the European project, YourDataStories, for conducting a study on government- provided data. The European project is a collaborative effort regarding creative use of open data to tell stories. The government expected that the results from this project would substitute the study planned in the original commitment text.

End of term: Substantial

Greece issued guidelines and integrated agencies in the program by midterm review; there were no outstanding actions for this commitment other than the utilization of the YourDataStories project results. However, during a meeting with the OGP interministerial group, the Openwise IRM research team found that Greece aborted this milestone. Government officials stated YourDataStories was an independent, European-funded project that did not specifically serve the promotion goals of Diavgeia: specifically study and promote increasing data provided from public sector sources.[Note 2: Although data sets stemming for the Transparency (Diavgeia) Program are mentioned in the ‘use cases’ section of the Your Data Stories project, officials from the Ministry of Interior and Administrative reform said at an electronic interview that completing this project did not help the completion of the commitment.  ]

Did it open government?

Access to information: Marginal

This commitment attempts to improve the functionality of the Transparency (Diavgeia) Program. The commitment was designed to enhance the institutional framework that legally supports the Transparency (Diavgeia) Program as well as to upgrade the technological platform to improve functionality. The implementation of this commitment within the 2014-2016 period had a marginally positive impact upon the Diavgeia program. Under new institutional framework, new types of organizations, like NGOs, are now legally required to upload annually cumulative information regarding their budgetary operations on the transparency web portals. Also, the government introduced the new Transparency Program with improved search facilities and better tools for public employees when uploading information. These tools provide easier access to the wealth of information displayed on the platform. However, the Transparency (Diavgeia) Program platform’s effect on opening government is limited; some information, such as certain government actions regarding financial decisions, is exempt from the rules of the program. This could set a precedent for future data exemptions, thus reducing overall transparency.

Carried forward?

The third Greek NAP does not carry forward the Transparency (Diavgeia) Program. The majority of IRM’s midterm suggestions are still relevant not only for earning “complete” status but also for designing a more ambitious and impactful Diavgeia commitment for future action plans. For example:

●      Revise the current amendment allowing exemptions for certain governmental bodies to exclude specific decisions from publication on Diavgeia. Future legislation should create strict guidelines regarding the exemption of decisions from publication.

●      Investigate specific applications of the “targeted transparency” concept across a select number of policy challenges. For example, data could be extracted from Diavgeia on areas such as health spending and summarized in a visualization that would enable stakeholders and the general public to design and implement policy solutions.

●      Create an impact map for the Diavgeia program that defines concrete applications that promote better access to information, meaningful participation, and accountability. Deploy the above applications in an agile manner, e.g. a hackathon or an open innovation contest.

Commitments

  1. Open Education Data

    GR0065, 2019, Access to Information

  2. Open Rural Development Data

    GR0066, 2019, Access to Information

  3. Open Immigration Data

    GR0067, 2019, Access to Information

  4. Open National Defense Data

    GR0068, 2019, Access to Information

  5. Open Ministry of Interior Data

    GR0069, 2019, Access to Information

  6. Open Administrative Reconstruction Data

    GR0070, 2019, Access to Information

  7. Open Economic Data

    GR0071, 2019, Access to Information

  8. Open Local Government Data

    GR0072, 2019, Access to Information

  9. Open Justice Data

    GR0073, 2019, Access to Information

  10. Open Environmental Data

    GR0074, 2019, Access to Information

  11. Open Culture and Sports Data

    GR0075, 2019, Access to Information

  12. Sports whistleblower platform

    GR0076, 2019, Anti-Corruption

  13. Open data from Ministry of Culture & Sports

    GR0077, 2019, Access to Information

  14. Publish anonymized open agricultural data

    GR0078, 2019, Access to Information

  15. Promoting open agricultural data to interested stakeholders

    GR0079, 2019, E-Government

  16. Citizen participation for update of Digital Transformation Bible

    GR0080, 2019, E-Government

  17. Monitoring platform for action plan

    GR0081, 2019, E-Government

  18. Amend EETT regulation

    GR0082, 2019, Access to Information

  19. Framework Law on Open & Participative Governance

    GR0031, 2016, Capacity Building

  20. Participation in the Assessment of the Public Sector

    GR0032, 2016, Capacity Building

  21. Publicity of Organisational Charts & Entities of the Public Sector

    GR0033, 2016, E-Government

  22. Accountability and Settlement of Disputes Between the Citizens and the Public Sector

    GR0034, 2016, Legislation & Regulation

  23. Guide and Standardization for the Provision of Services & for Procedures Per Service/Entity

    GR0035, 2016, Capacity Building

  24. Improvement of the Open Deliberation Procedure

    GR0036, 2016, Capacity Building

  25. National Register of Line Managers of the Public Administration (Register)

    GR0037, 2016, Capacity Building

  26. Implementation of the Assessment of Employees and Services and Control Methods

    GR0038, 2016, Capacity Building

  27. Implementation of a System for the Selection of Managers

    GR0039, 2016, Capacity Building

  28. Digital Repository for Pubic Administration Studies

    GR0040, 2016, Capacity Building

  29. Provision of Open Cultural Data

    GR0041, 2016, Access to Information

  30. Geospatial Maritime Data

    GR0042, 2016, Access to Information

  31. Ship/Company and Seafarer Registers

    GR0043, 2016, Access to Information

  32. Marine and Maritime Activity

    GR0044, 2016, Access to Information

  33. Starred commitment Public Property Open Data

    GR0045, 2016, Access to Information

  34. KPI’s for the Implementation of Public and EU Financed Projects

    GR0046, 2016, E-Government

  35. Data and Statistics for Greek National Exams

    GR0047, 2016, E-Government

  36. Protocol Digitization

    GR0048, 2016, E-Government

  37. Informative Actions on Open Data for Young People in Secondary and Higher Education

    GR0049, 2016, Access to Information

  38. Open Education

    GR0050, 2016, Access to Information

  39. Provision of Open Data for Justice

    GR0051, 2016, Access to Information

  40. Enhanced Statistical Data of Justice Open to the Public

    GR0052, 2016, E-Government

  41. Open Provision of Geo-Data

    GR0053, 2016, Access to Information

  42. Open-Participatory Budget

    GR0054, 2016, Access to Information

  43. Regional Council Platform (Open Regional Council)

    GR0055, 2016, E-Government

  44. Open - Participatory Budget

    GR0056, 2016, E-Government

  45. Capture and Evaluation Platform for Regional Technical Projects

    GR0057, 2016, E-Government

  46. City Dashboard

    GR0058, 2016, Access to Information

  47. Online Consultation Platform

    GR0059, 2016, E-Government

  48. Open Data Index for Cities and Local Administrations

    GR0060, 2016, Access to Information

  49. Linked, Open and Participatory Budgets

    GR0061, 2016, E-Government

  50. School of Data for Public Servants

    GR0062, 2016, Access to Information

  51. The Collaborative Wikification of Public Services Procedures

    GR0063, 2016, Capacity Building

  52. Strengthening Openness and Accessibility of the Parliament

    GR0064, 2016, Access to Information

  53. Institutional and Technological Upgrading of Transparency Program

    GR0012, 2014, Access to Information

  54. Public Participation in Decision Making

    GR0013, 2014, Capacity Building

  55. Integration of PSI Directive on the Re-Use of Public Sector Information

    GR0014, 2014, Access to Information

  56. Regulatory Amendments for the Management and Provision of Open Data

    GR0015, 2014, Access to Information

  57. Implementation of Platform for Central Distribution of Public Open Data

    GR0016, 2014, Access to Information

  58. Provision of Open Geospatial Data

    GR0017, 2014, Access to Information

  59. Provision of Open Cultural Data

    GR0018, 2014, Access to Information

  60. Provision of Open Data for Offshore Companies

    GR0019, 2014, Access to Information

  61. Open Provision of Public Sector Critical Data Sets

    GR0020, 2014, Access to Information

  62. Open Invitations for Filling Posts in the Public Sector

    GR0021, 2014, E-Government

  63. Public Administration Organizational Chart Publication

    GR0022, 2014, Capacity Building

  64. Coordination and Monitoring of Open Government Policy

    GR0023, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  65. Reorganization of Inspectorate Bodies and Strategic Alliance Development Against Corruption

    GR0024, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  66. Tracking Changes on Bills (From Submission to Voting by Plenum)

    GR0025, 2014, E-Government

  67. Usability and Functionality Improvements of the ‘Parliamentary Transparency’ Section of the Hellenic Parliament Website

    GR0026, 2014, E-Government

  68. Improvement of the Hellenic Parliament Website and Implementation of New Standards-Technologies

    GR0027, 2014, Access to Information

  69. Provision of Historical Parliamentary Documents to the Public

    GR0028, 2014, E-Government

  70. Enhancement of Social Media Policy in the Hellenic Parliament

    GR0029, 2014, E-Government

  71. On Line Provision of Exhibitions

    GR0030, 2014, Capacity Building

  72. Increase Number of Legislative Acts Going Through Online Deliberation

    GR0001, 2012, Legislation & Regulation

  73. Capitalize on Citizen Comments and Suggestions

    GR0002, 2012, Public Participation

  74. Operate Central e-Procurement Information System

    GR0003, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  75. Operate Central ERP Information System

    GR0004, 2012, E-Government

  76. Operate Central HRMS Information System

    GR0005, 2012, E-Government

  77. Open Data Regarding Prices, as Collected by Prices Observatory

    GR0006, 2012, Access to Information

  78. Resolve Legal Issues Regarding State Geo-Data

    GR0007, 2012, Land Rights & Spatial Planning

  79. Offer Additional Taxation Data

    GR0008, 2012, Fiscal Openness

  80. Augment Functionality of the Transparency Program

    GR0009, 2012, E-Government

  81. Publicise Public Sector Procurement Information

    GR0010, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  82. Enable Open, Transparent and Safeguarded Document Circulation

    GR0011, 2012, E-Government

Open Government Partnership