The City that Invented Democracy is Reinventing it for the 21st Century and Beyond

Today, data and technology are re-inventing how cities function. Cities across the globe are trying to crack the code on how to best leverage the new opportunities these advances present, to better respond to their residents and support local businesses. As Principal of the Digital Strategies practice at Bloomberg Associates, a global philanthropic consulting firm, I see this first-hand around the world and in our work with the City of Athens.

The City of Athens is working with Bloomberg Associates to apply best practices from cities around the world and to develop programs that will improve the quality of life of Athenians. (Pictured: Athens Mayor Kaminis and Katherine Oliver. )

I was proud to be in Athens this month speaking alongside Mayor Kaminis and Europe’s first-ever municipal Chief Digital Officer, Konstantinos Champidis, at the launch of the Athens Digital Roadmap, a strategic plan for Athens to build upon their digital offerings by expanding internet access, increasing transparency, and engaging residents through digital technologies.

Under the bold leadership of Mayor Kaminis, Athens has embraced the belief that municipal government can use digital tools and communications to be as effective as the private sector by adopting a customer-focused mind-set, constantly measuring progress, and adapting one's strategy to reflect changing market demands. Mayor Kaminis also understands that this requires a plan and partnerships to accomplish these goals.

Europe’s first-ever municipal Chief Digital Officer, Konstantinos Champidis, and Todd Asher from Bloomberg Associates welcome attendees to the Roadmap launch.

Against the backdrop of challenging economic and social challenges, Mayor Kaminis has forged ahead, steadily developing Athens’ digital foundations. In 2015, the Athens Partnership was launched to be a catalyst for innovative public programs, and to create partnerships between the city and the private sector. The following year, Mayor Kaminis appointed Europe’s first-ever municipal Chief Digital Officer to spearhead the municipality’s digital initiatives. Together they launched the Athens Digital Council, a strategic advisory body that brings together leaders of the largest digital and telecommunications companies in Greece, as well as distinguished professors from leading Greek universities, to advise the municipality on cost-effective ways to harness technology. These partnerships – with leaders that are household names not only in Greece but around the world – are truly unprecedented.

As Principal of the Media and Digital Strategies practice at Bloomberg Associates, I have the privilege of working with cities around the globe in their efforts to modernize and embrace the opportunities that technology offers.

The launch of the Athens Digital Roadmap marks another significant milestone in this journey. This strategy outlines projects centered on the digital priority areas of the municipality, which include Internet access, e-government, digital skills education and online engagement. Together, these projects will make it easier for people to access critical services, connect people to new skills, and make Athens a more livable city for its residents and a friendlier city for businesses and visitors.

The Athens Digital Roadmap was launched at the City of Athens’ new Serafeio complex, which hosts a number of innovative Municipal initiatives including the Athens Digital Lab, synAthina, Athens Culture Net and the Designed for Better Learning Maker Space.

The Athens Municipality knows that tracking progress and adapting to changing dynamics is critical to success. Therefore, the Athens Digital Roadmap will be a living document, poised to be evaluated and updated on an annual basis to ensure the municipality leverages its successes and is constantly evolving to deliver results. With these efforts in place, I am confident that Athens is on-track to be a leading digital city, and am excited to help enable the Athens of the future.

Katherine Oliver, Principal, Bloomberg Associates Media & Digital Strategies team

Download the Athens Digital Roadmap.

75 organizations working together to improve conditions for migrants and refugees in Athens

Athens Mayor George Kaminis today visited the Athens Coordination Center for Migrant and Refugee issues and met representatives of NGOs and other organisations which have joined forces under the coordination of the Municipality of Athens to improve service delivery for migrants and refugees in Athens.

"The city of Athens is proactively coordinating the voluntary and non-governmental organizations active in the field of migrant refugee support, aiming at social integration in the city", stressed the Mayor of Athens, Mr. George Kaminis, welcoming the representatives of these organizations and thanking founding donor, Stavros Niarchos Foundation for their decisive support.

The Center, set up and operating since June 2017 with an exclusive donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and with the coordination of the Athens Partnership, aims to coordinate efforts between the municipality of Athens and all those active in the field of support and integration of migrants and refugees.

“The donation for the establishment of the Athens Coordination Center for Migrant and Refugee issues is part of the large donation of €10 million from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to the municipality of Athens, aiming at strengthening the capital's residents faced with a period of crisis, but also of regeneration opportunities. Initiatives such as these, which highlight the possibilities for public-private partnerships for the benefit of the wider community, are now more necessary than ever", said Myrto Xanthopoulou, a representative of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation's Grant Management.

The Athens Coordination Center for Migrant and Refugee issues has 75 member bodies with more than 200 delegates. The Center includes representatives from international and Greek NGOs, international organizations, immigrant communities, as well as municipal agencies. The main common goal is to develop a coordinated response both for dealing with new potential emergencies, as well as for the smooth integration of the immigrant and refugee population in the city of Athens.

Building a strong partnership network

Recently, the Center led the signing of 3 Memoranda of Understanding with other municipalities in Greece, with the aim of exchanging know-how and support for similar projects at a local level. So far, Memoranda have been signed with the municipalities of Thessaloniki, Trikala and Tripoli.

Through the work of the Center’s Technical Committees, gaps and needs have been identified and 65 proposals for pilot actions have already been produced with the aim of meeting the needs of migrants and refugees in areas such as housing, education, health, labor market integration and legal support.

At the same time, the Center has organized seminars, presentations and workshops in collaboration with important institutions. For example, the Center coordinates the participation of its members in the Athens - World Book Capital 2018 and is co-organizer of the Refugee Code Week initiative, through which more than 350 young refugees have been trained to date on the basic principles of programming.

How to respond effectively to a potential future refugee emergency? Developing a Preparedness and Response Mechanism for the City of Athens

The refugee and migrant crisis of 2015-6 highlighted the importance of effective mobilization of municipal structures and resources to address urgent human needs. A new study that aims to establish an efficient framework of response in the case of a future refugee emergency is being supervised by the Athens Coordination Center for Migrant and Refugee issues (ACCMR), which was established and is operating with an exclusive grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and with the support of Athens Partnership.

A study for setting up a Preparedness and Response Mechanism for the City of Athens is being developed with the financial support of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and the technical support of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). A Task Force to support the process was established on the initiative of the Vice–Mayor for Migrants, Refugees and Municipal Decentralization and is composed of representatives of the UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency, the City of Athens Resilience Office and the Directorate of Social Solidarity and Health.

"Following the difficult, but highly enlightening experience of recent years with regard to the management of refugee and migrant flows, we have decided to work on a Preparedness Mechanism so that the City of Athens will be better prepared in case of a new crisis. The fact that the Municipality is taking precaution measures is in itself very important and obviously what matters most is the mechanism’s implementation,” explains Lefteris Papayannakis Vice – Mayor for Migrants, Refugees and Municipal Decentralization. 

An important step in this process was recently completed. The ACCMR organized two workshops on contingency planning and crisis management on 15 December and 9 January at the Orange Grove venue, courtesy of the Dutch Embassy.

The two workshops, supported by the IRC, provided a unique opportunity for a participatory technical discussion, involving city services and other key players. A total of 28 stakeholders participated in the workshops, including 13 specific bodies of the municipality, the Identification and Reception Service of the Ministry of Migration Policy, Attica Region, the UNHCR, Non-Governmental Organizations, namely, the Greek Council for Refugees, Action Aid, International Rescue Committee, Solidarity Now, International Organization for Migration, Unicef Greece and academia.

During the first workshop, participants used their experience and know-how to formulate three practical crisis scenarios for Athens and for each scenario, they assessed the risk probability depending on the possible occurrence of the hazard and the intensity of the emergency. The impact of the hazard depends on the loss or damage to the health and life of refugees and migrants and on the system's ability to respond to the emergency. The emergency situation may result from sudden internal flows or new mixed migration flows. During the next seminar, participants defined the basic municipal organizational structures and responsibilities to guide the City of Athens when involved in a refugee emergency. They also set out the main required preparatory actions to ensure an effective implementation of the contingency plan. 

These workshops will inform the wider study of the Preparedness and Response Mechanism for the City of Athens, due to be completed by the end of February, which will include suggestions for the institutional integration of a preparedness and crisis management plan into the municipal structures. The need for crisis management mechanisms is also recognized as a high priority in “Athens Resilience Strategy for 2030”, where large influx of refugees is identified as one of the main challenges of the city.

Athens Partnership Presentation at Foreign Press Association Christmas Drinks event

The F.P.A. invited members, colleagues and guests for Christmas drinks on December 20. In a relaxed and collegial atmosphere, it also hosted a presentation by the Athens Partnership, a non-profit carrying out high-impact public-private initiatives in partnership with the Municipality of Athens.

The Athens Partnership’s Executive Director Alexandros Kambouroglou gave a rundown of its 14 major projects and achievements since its 2015 launch with the backing of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. “We come up with real, scalable solutions,” Kambouroglou said.

Other key Athens Partnership officials were also present: Athens Vice Mayor for Migrants, Refugees and Municipal Decentralization Lefteris Papagiannakis; the city’s first Digital Officer Kostas Champidis; as well as Kostis Alketas Oungrinis, Vice Dean of the School of Architectural Engineering at the Technical University of Crete.

The F.P.A. founded in 1916, brings together the foreign press corps operating in Greece and hosts events and press briefings throughout the year.

reproduced from www.fpa.gr

Volunteer Athens Greeters give a warm welcome to the world!

As Athens neared a record-breaking 5 million visitors this year, our "Greeters program", coordinated by the Athens Partnership, made sure a warm welcome awaited tourists. A huge thank you goes to out to our 120 enthusiastic volunteers who were engaged in this City of Athens project that was successfully completed a few days ago with the support of The Hellenic Initiative, Aegean Airlines and Athens International Airport.

This video shows how the Athens Greeters are shared their love for their city and their intimate knowledge of Athens with the world!

The Athens Greeters program is part of the Athens Tourism Partnership, a wider effort to boost the tourist influx and local economy. The Athens Tourism Partnership aims to promote the Greek capital as a modern, attractive year-round destination.