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In an interview published today in the French economic newspaper Les Échos, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis highlights Greece’s comparative advantages in technology and innovation, as well as the progress made in the country’s digital transformation over recent years.
The introductory note from the French newspaper emphasizes that since his election in 2019, the Greek Prime Minister has been actively working to accelerate the country’s digital transformation. It notes that a significant number of public services have been digitized through the Gov.gr platform. Mitsotakis also suggests that Greece could potentially become the next “start-up nation,” aiming for these sectors to contribute as much as 10% to the Greek GDP in the long term.
When asked about the current state of Greece’s start-up ecosystem, the Prime Minister stated:
“The growth of our start-up ecosystem has been remarkable in recent years. We have a wealth of talent, our public universities continue to train excellent engineers, and we are successfully attracting back talent that had previously left for abroad. Currently, we have more people returning than leaving. Therefore, we aim to diversify the Greek economy beyond tourism, and I hope that technology and IT will play a more significant role.”
He further noted that Greece has managed to attract significant investments in data center infrastructure, with all major market players already present. The abundant renewable energy sources in the country facilitate the provision of more economical energy to these data centers. A substantial portion of the European Recovery Fund is directed towards technology, and major telecommunications providers have committed to doubling their investments in Greece, recognizing the country’s strong potential. I believe that Greece should leverage its geographical position in the new landscape of data centers and data connectivity.
In response to whether digital transformation is a reality in Greece, Mitsotakis said:
“Digital transformation has been fully embraced. Our first decision after taking office six years ago was to establish a Ministry of Digital Governance. Since then, we have digitized many public services and continue to add new ones. The GOV.GR platform conducted over 1.4 billion digital transactions in 2023, and that number continues to grow. I remember back in 2013-2014 when I was Minister of Administrative Reform and E-Governance; I realized that everyone was working in isolation, making it impossible to ensure interoperability for all data. We initiated this project, which has experienced significant growth. Today, GOV.GR ranks as the second most popular platform in Greece, even considering private platforms.”
Finally, when asked about Greece’s potential role in the field of Artificial Intelligence, the Prime Minister remarked:
“I believe we have a role to play in Europe in shaping the new landscape of Artificial Intelligence. This technology offers us an opportunity to take the lead: as a medium-sized country, we can effectively manage projects centrally. Our government understands and is committed to the tech sector. We aim to be a leading force in innovation in Artificial Intelligence within public administration, particularly focusing on developing applications that simplify the functioning of public services.”
He added, “We already have some interesting projects that have achieved great success. For instance, we have a Land Registry system supported by Artificial Intelligence, and just yesterday [June 3rd], we announced a new project: the Personal Number. Previously, there were four different numbers: social security registration number (AMKA), tax identification number (AFM), and identification card number (AD.T.). Our goal is to simplify this entire system.”
