The City of Athens commits to establishing a comprehensive Transparency Platform under the OGP Local framework. The goal is to centralize and facilitate citizen access to key information, including municipal decisions, financial data, asset declarations, and meetings with interest representatives. By integrating open data and tools for tracking information requests, the City aims to build trust, strengthen public oversight, and foster a culture of participatory governance that places citizens at the core of decision-making.
Commitment Description
The Problem
Access to public information in the Municipality of Athens is currently fragmented and difficult to use. Citizens face obstacles in accessing municipal records, as there is no central, user-friendly information request system. Furthermore, asset declarations of elected officials are not available in an accessible, machine-readable format. There is no public registry of meetings between elected officials and interest representatives, which creates suspicion and asymmetry in decision-making. At the same time, the active participation of young people in municipal work remains weak, without an institutionalized framework for dialogue and education for young people.
Status Quo
In the Municipality of Athens, access to public information remains fragmented: municipal decisions, contracts and financial data are scattered across various websites without a central index, making it difficult for citizens to easily locate this data. Furthermore, there is no single online platform for submitting requests for access to public documents (FOIA Requests), through which citizens could submit their request, monitor the process and receive answers electronically. The asset declarations of elected officials are not published in open data or in an appropriate format that facilitates analysis and oversight, while there is no public lobbying register that systematically records which interest representatives the Mayor and Deputy Mayors have met. It is noted that institutional bodies, including Mayors and Deputy Mayors, are obliged under Law 4829/2021 (Article 5) to provide information on their communication with interest representatives “regarding the time of communication, the details of the interest representative, the policy sector and the type of decision”.
Action
The commitment foresees the operation of a unified Transparency Platform in the Municipality of Athens, which will gather municipal decisions, contracts, financial data, asset declarations in open, machine-readable data and a public lobbying register with meetings of the Mayor and Deputy Mayors (name, date, purpose, topics). The same platform will allow for the electronic submission and monitoring of requests for access to public documents, with notifications for each stage of processing. The aim is to eliminate fragmentation, ensure transparency and accountability and encourage citizens to make use of the data.
How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem?
Expected results are the reduction of barriers to access to information, the strengthening of citizens' trust and the cultivation of an open data culture, leading to a culture of collaborative governance where citizens become active partners in decision-making. In the long term, the Municipality of Athens wishes to establish itself as a model of open governance, where transparency, accountability and citizen participation are fundamental values and daily practice.
What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategic Vision does this commitment relate to?
This commitment is directly linked to the strategic objective of the Municipality of Athens to deepen democracy at the local level, through the institutional strengthening of transparency and the encouragement of the active participation of all citizens, with an emphasis on the younger generations. The creation of tools for open accountability and participatory monitoring of municipal policy, as well as the institutionalization of dialogue mechanisms with youth, embody the values of democracy, participation, visibility and extroversion. This commitment acts as a catalyst for building trust between citizens and institutions, promoting a more open, inclusive and responsible municipal governance.
Primary Policy Area
Right to Information
Lobbying
Primary Sector
Cross-sectoral
Public Services - general
What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?
- Access to information
The creation of a single digital platform for FOIA Requests and the regular posting of asset declarations of elected officials remove obstacles to citizens' information, ensuring timely and comprehensive access to public documents.
- Public Accountability
The publication of meetings between municipal officials and interest groups and transparency in the budget enhance control over decisions and the administration's responsibility towards society.
- Technology and Innovation for Transparency and Accountability
The use of digital tools (interactive dashboards, open datasets, electronic FOIA request system) shows how technology can simplify access, publication and control of municipal documents. Innovation in the way data is collected, presented and analyzed enhances the accountability of the administration and promotes the culture of open data in all areas of municipal services.