Following consultations within the OGP Local Team - comprising elected officials, municipal staff, and civil society representatives - the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece was selected to serve as the Monitoring Body for the Municipality of Athens's participation in OGP Local.
What is the Monitoring Body?
The Monitoring Body can be an individual, a group of people, or an organization responsible for promoting learning and impact through the independent evaluation of the co-creation process and the outcomes achieved from implementing commitments. It is tasked with gathering evidence, assessing processes and results, and reporting. The Monitoring Body plays a crucial role in a municipality's action plan process by providing insights, accountability, and credibility. Therefore, it must be a trusted and independent entity.
Open Knowledge Foundation Greece is the Greek branch of the international non-profit organization Open Knowledge Foundation, active in Greece since 2012. Its main mission is to promote open knowledge, open data and transparency through actions, events, educational initiatives and collaborations with public bodies. Through a national and international network, it aims to empower Greek society through the openness of data and knowledge.
The Points of Contact of the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece for the role of the monitoring body in the context of the participation of the Municipality of Athens in OGP Local are Professors Charalambos Bratsas and Vasilis Veskoukis.
Charalambos Bratsas is an Assistant Professor at the International Hellenic University and founder of the Greek branch of the Open Knowledge Foundation. He is actively involved in research on intelligent software systems, open data, participatory governance and smart cities. He has been a scientific collaborator in laboratories at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, co-organizer of the first open data hackathons with the Municipality of Thessaloniki and member of the Municipality’s digital strategy team. He was responsible for three civil society commitments in Greece's 3rd National Action Plan for Open Government Partnership. He has served as the European Union representative on the platform on Open Public Sector Data in Greece. He has participated as a scientific officer in many European Commission research programs.
Vasilis Veskoukis is an Electrical and Computer Engineer, Professor at the School of Surveying Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, with a specialization in Software Technology and Geoinformatics. He has significant experience as an IT strategy consultant and has contributed to research, education and digital transformation projects in the public and private sectors. He served as Vice President of EKXA S.A. (2015–2017) with the subject of national geospatial data. He is a founding member and member of the Board of Directors of the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece and a member of the Hellenic Blockchain Hub. His work focuses on issues of open data, data infrastructure and energy market services, interoperability, information systems quality and architecture of geospatial and blockchain applications. He has been a visiting professor at the Technical University of Zurich (ETH) and the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and has published over 100 scientific papers.
Following the selection of the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece as the Monitoring Body, the Deputy Mayor for Education, Digital Governance, Property, and Urban Planning, and Chairman of the Working Group for OGP Local, Mr. Panagiotis – Paris Charlaftis, sent the following letter/invitation on February 5, 2025:
Letter/Invitation to OKF Greece for the Role of Monitoring Body
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To: Open Knowledge Foundation Greece |
Dear Mr. Bratsas,
It is with great pleasure that the Municipality of Athens addresses this letter to you in the context of its participation in the OGP Local initiative (Open Government Partnership Local), an international initiative that promotes the principles of open governance, namely transparency, accountability and participation at the local government level.
In April 2024, the Municipality of Athens became the first and only Municipality in Greece to join OGP Local. The participation of the Municipality of Athens in OGP Local is a strategic choice for the promotion of open governance, innovation and the meaningful involvement of citizens in decision-making. In this context, the existence of a monitoring body was deemed necessary that would contribute to ensuring the transparency, credibility and effectiveness of the actions to be implemented.
Following a discussion by the Municipality's OGP Local Working Group, we have selected you, as Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece and Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Engineering and Electronic Systems of the International Hellenic University, to collaborate. We believe that your scientific training and experience, taking into account your active participation in the implementation of the 3rd National Action Plan for OGP (2016-2018), are key factors for the success of this initiative.
The Municipality of Athens, by actively participating in the OGP Local initiative, seeks to enhance transparency, broaden citizen participation and accountability of local government through the use of digital technology and open data. These values are fully aligned with the mission of the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece and the international Open Knowledge network, which promotes free access to knowledge, the equitable dissemination of information and the empowerment of citizens for meaningful participation in public life.
A common starting point is the belief that open knowledge and open data are not just tools for technological innovation, but critical prerequisites for democracy, social justice and the development of a more participatory model of governance. Just as the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece highlights the importance of collaboration between administration, civil society and businesses to transform information into action with social impact, OGP Local seeks to transform the functioning of the Municipality through the co-creation of policies with citizens and local bodies.
The complementarity of these missions, as well as the common pursuit of an open and inclusive society, constitute a strong basis for cooperation. The intention of the Municipality of Athens to assign the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece the role of monitoring body in the context of the implementation of the OGP Local Action Plan is not only a result of this value proximity, but also a recognition of the Foundation’s experience, expertise and credibility in the field of open governance and participatory innovation.
The role of the monitoring body is particularly crucial, as it will contribute to monitoring the progress of actions, ensuring compliance with the principles of open governance and disseminating good practices that will result from our participation in OGP Local.
Specifically, the responsibilities and activities of the Supervisory Body include:
- Evidence collection and evaluation of the action plan co-creation process: The monitoring body should complete an online initial report, which will assess the extent and quality of the action plan co-creation process - a process that is already underway, as the Municipality of Athens is currently in the final stages of finalizing and validating its first action plan.
- Evidence collection and evaluation of the results of completed commitments: The monitoring body should evaluate each commitment once it is fully implemented, gathering the necessary data to answer the questions provided by the OGP via an online form.
- Facilitating the Final Learning Exercise: At the end of the action plan, the oversight body is responsible for conducting and documenting a reflection and learning exercise. This exercise aims to discuss with the stakeholders of the action plan about the successes, as well as improvements that could be made in the next phase.
The Monitoring Body plays a key role in the Municipality’s action plan process, providing lessons learned, accountability and legitimacy to the process. For this reason, it must be a credible and independent body. Furthermore, the supervisory body is required to use at least the forms provided by OGP Local for the preparation of its reports, while it is strongly encouraged to make use of the guidelines and supporting materials of OGP Local and the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) for the execution of its work. More information on the process can be found in the OGP Local Handbook and the OGP Local Co-Creation Playbook that accompany this letter.
Based on the above, the Municipality of Athens expresses its desire to proceed with a stable collaboration with the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece and you personally, with the aim of implementing the principles and commitments of OGP Local. Your assumption of this role will not only strengthen the credibility and momentum of OGP Local in Athens, but will also serve as an example of collaboration at the national level, positively impacting the broader open government ecosystem.
We look forward to your response and are at your disposal for further discussion on the next steps of our collaboration.
Best regards,
Panagiotis – Paris Charlaftis
Deputy Mayor for Education, Digital Governance, Property and Construction