Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector, the institutional framework and the development of opportunities in the Economy and Society at the center of the event “Synergies for the future – AI in Public Services”

Artificial Intelligence and the role of the Public Sector for the benefit of citizens, data governance, opportunities for synergies, the European strategy and the need to draw up institutional frameworks were some of the topics discussed at the event “Synergies for the future – AI in Public Services” that took place on 12.05.2023.

Members of the Greek Artificial Intelligence community, representatives of business, experts and policy-makers for Artificial Intelligence from the European Commission, as well as leading executives of public bodies and services, actively participated in the event and informed about the design and creation of digital services with Artificial Intelligence technologies.

The event began with the warm welcome of the President of Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sofia Efraimoglou , who particularly emphasized the positive effect that the use of IT in the public space can have for businesses, as well as the intended cooperation with the Hub. A corresponding greeting was addressed by the newly elected President of Hellenic Association of Innovative Applications Companies (SEKEE) , Manos Makromallis. The General Secretary of Digital Governance and Simplification of Processes, Leonidas Christopoulos , referred to the importance of strengthening the Innovation ecosystem in this perspective and invited the participating agencies to participate in the – under formation – TN Observatory. In more detail on this, as well as on the relevant policies and actions, the Director of Ministry of Digital Government Mr Antonis Stasis . In his keynote speech, the President of GRNET, Prof. Stefanos Kollias , presented the possibilities, areas of application and the role of Artificial Intelligence in the Economy and Society, the evolving global landscape as well as the perspectives and challenges that are created and the points of need intervention. The Managing Director of Elevate Greece, Michalis Dritsas, presented the key elements of activity of the innovative companies that have expertise in this field.

This was followed by presentations that illuminated aspects of Artificial Intelligence, such as open models and data in modern IT, and the role of the innovation hub for Digital Governance GRdigiGOV-innoHUB for the creation and offering of public, intelligent services was highlighted by Coordinator Yiannis Kotsis-Giannarakis to citizens and businesses. EU officials presented the European strategy for AI, the current initiatives and actions with an emphasis on the exploitation of the European AI on-demand platform as well as the importance of the exploitation of AI by the Digital Innovation Hubs.

The discussion culminated in the second part of the event with very interesting presentations by experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence in Greece and the participation of the public. The main conclusions are summarized as follows:

  • Through Digital Transformation initiatives, the Public Sector today leads developments by offering modern public services, which it should evolve with the integration of IT technologies
  • The standardization and certification of the procedures and systems of the State is a condition for their optimal utilization. The National Registry of Administrative Procedures MITOS and the digital portal of the state gov.gr possess significant codified knowledge, to which Artificial Intelligence technologies can be adapted for the benefit of the citizen and businesses.
  • Data governance is the most important parameter of IT and it is necessary to draw up a strategy, adopt operating models and establish legislative frameworks that are consistent with the values ​​of the European Union.
  • The interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral development of synergies, the utilization of tools offered by the EU, such as the European Artificial Intelligence platform and the adoption of a human-centered approach are key pillars for addressing the challenges in the application of AI.
  • The digital innovation hub GR digiGOV-innoHUB cultivates digital culture through well-coordinated actions for the integration of high-tech services and partnerships for capacity building.

The event took place at Th.E.A. (the Athens Startup Business Incubator)  , supporter of GR digiGOV-innoHUB. The event was followed by co-creation workshops, to address four challenges of the Public Sector with IT technologies. The results of the workshops will be published on the hub page.

Presentation Slides

PresentationSpeaker
Τεχνητή Νοημοσύνη Επιτεύγματα & ΠροκλήσειςProf. Stefanos Kollias,
Chairman, GRNET
ΠαρουσίασηMichael Dritsas
CEO Elevate Greece SA
The Greek EDIH for Public ServicesYiannis Kotsis Giannarakis
Coordinator, GR digiGOV-innoHUB /GRNET
Ανοιχτά μοντέλα και δεδομένα
στη σύγχρονη Τεχνητή
Νοημοσύνη		Nina Gialloussi
Data Product Developer GFOSS
AI for GOV – the Greek Case (Emerging
Technologies in the Public Sector)		Antonis Stasis
Director, Ministry of Digital Government
European Excellence and Trust in Artificial IntelligenceJola Dervishaj
AI Policy & Outreach Officer,
AI ecosystem of excellence
AI on Demand Platform &TEFs		Evangelia Markidou
Head of Sector – Artificial Intelligence Technology, Development and Impact , DG CNCT, EU Commission
ΠαρουσίασηHelena Rodriguez
PO, DG CNECT