A very interesting and generally admittedly successful event took place on Wednesday, March 27th, at the Cultural Center of Agios Stefanos, on the topic of Digital Governance and the role of the Citizen & Business Ombudsman in Public Administration.
In the event organized by the Municipality of Dionysos, the most topical issues of e-government and the institution of the Citizen's Ombudsman were developed through a highly interesting panel of speakers, which included:
- Ms Tsobanidou Georgia, Deputy Mayor of Digital Transformation & European Programs of the Municipality of Nea Ionia, Mechanical Metallologist of the Technical University of Athens,
- Mr Fytros Ioannis, Founder of the Ombudsman of the Citizen and the Enterprise Observatory
- Mrs. Papandreou Evangelia (Liana), Deputy of the Municipality of Rafina - Pikermi, Lawyer and mediator of the Ministry of Justice
- Mr Kioukis Dimitrios, newly elected Citizen & Business Ombudsman in the Municipality of Vari - Voula - Vouliagmeni, Entrepreneur and Business Consultant
The debate was moderated by Ioakim Ampartzidis, President of Dionysos Municipal Council and Political Analyst, and greeted by the Mayor of Dionysos, Katerina Maichosoglou.
Georgia Tsobanidou started by highlighting the importance and role of e-government in the digital transformation of public administration and seeing local government. Ioannis Fytros then took the floor and had the opportunity to highlight a different but crucial aspect of the digital transformation that is open government, presenting the Observatory as an example of how technology is used to strengthen the principles of open government with an emphasis on transparency, in this case through the strengthening of an institution that defends citizens' rights in local government and actively seeks to improve its functioning.
Then, Liana Papandreou, in an admittedly excellent presentation, developed the essential role, importance and potential of the Citizen Supporter through her experience as the former Citizen Supporter & Business in the Municipality of Rafina - Pikermi. Finally, Dimitris Kioukis demonstrated the importance of the support of the institution of the Ombudsman by the entire local government, mentioning that in the case of the Municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni he has already started working on cases of major importance, despite the short time that has elapsed since his election as Ombudsman.
In particular, with regard to the Observatory for the Ombudsman of the Citizen and the Enterprise, along with the recommendation of its founder, a relevant presentation was presented, which was created using Reveal.js, an open source tool that allows the creation of online presentations. Therefore, it not only has the advantage of being free and accessible to all, but also has the practicality of being presented and shared directly online, but also contains a multitude of references and links to better inform stakeholders about the issues developed.
The event was honored with the presence of, among others, the Vice-Regional Governor of Eastern Attica, Vicky Kavallaris and the Secretary General of the Municipality of Penteli, Panagiotis Panagos. This was followed by a lively and quite interesting discussion with the public, during which the rigidities in the implementation of the institution, including some Frequent misunderstandings about the Local Ombudsman. The event was also screened live on the Dionysos Municipality channel on Youtube, giving the opportunity to ask questions online. Watch the video event: