Following consultations and a vote by the Working Group - comprising elected officials, municipal staff, and civil society representatives - the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and more specifically Assistant Professor Dr. Dimitris Gouscos, 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.
About Dr. Dimitris Gouscos
Born in 1968, Dr. Dimitris Gouscos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Athens. He is a member of the Laboratory of New Technologies in Communication, Education, and Media, contributing to the coordination of research groups on Digital Media for Learning and Digital Media for Participation. He holds a degree (1990) and a Ph.D. (1998) from the Department of Informatics & Telecommunications at the University of Athens.
Dr. Gouscos has coordinated working groups for the "Organization 2.0" platform, mapping self-organized social solidarity networks; the "Learning 2.0" initiative for collective digital media in education; the digital storytelling platform "Milia" (Euromedia Seal of Approval 2011); and the educational digital game "Magic Potion" (Comenius Edumedia Medal 2009). He served as Program Chair for the 5th European Conference on Games-Based Learning and contributes as Editor-in-Chief of the "International Journal of Electronic Governance." He was also part of the development team for the e-government service TAXISnet (eEurope Good Practice Label 2001).
Since 2000, Dr. Gouscos has taught over 20 undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the Universities of the Aegean, Peloponnese, and Athens, covering topics such as digital communication, digital games, participatory media, e-governance, software technology, and information systems. He has supervised or guided more than 15 master's theses and 5 doctoral dissertations. He has participated in 5 European research projects and numerous national ICT application projects and studies. Between 1997 and 2004, he collaborated as a special advisor with the General Secretariat of Public Administration & e-Governance of the Ministry of Interior and the General Secretariat of Information Systems of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Dr. Gouscos was the principal researcher in drafting the 2019-2021 Design Report for Greece, in collaboration with the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) of the OGP. The IRM evaluates the development and implementation of national action plans to promote stakeholder dialogue and enhance accountability.
Following Dr. Gouscos's selection 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 NKUA for the Role of Monitoring Body
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To: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens |
Dear Professor Gouscos,
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 supervisory body was deemed necessary that would contribute to ensuring the transparency, credibility and effectiveness of the actions to be implemented.
After discussion and consultation by the Municipality's Working Group on OGP Local, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was selected, and in particular the collaboration with you, as head of the research group "Digital Media for Participation" of the Laboratory of New Technologies in Communication, Education and the Media. We believe that your experience and scientific training in enhancing citizen participation through digital media are a cornerstone for the success of this initiative.
The role of the supervisory body is particularly crucial, as it will contribute to monitoring the progress of actions, ensuring compliance with the principles of open government and disseminating good practices that will result from our participation in OGP Local.
Specifically, the responsibilities and activities of the Oversight Body include:
- Evidence collection and evaluation of the action plan co-creation process: The oversight body should complete an online initial report, which will assess the extent and quality of the action plan co-creation process.
- Evidence collection and evaluation of the results of completed commitments: The oversight 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 Supervisory 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 NKUA and you personally, aiming at the implementation of the principles and commitments of OGP Local.
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