Greek government and Vodafone to develop domestic violence app

The Greek government and the Vodafone Foundation have signed a memorandum of cooperation on  "technology against the use of gender and domestic violence" on Saturday, during the 7th Delphi Economic Forum.

This will lead to the development of an app to be developed by the company in collaboration with the Greek Police to report incidents of abusive behaviour by pressing a secret panic button on the mobile phone.

Minister of State Akis Skertsos expressed satisfaction with the innovative action to deal with the disturbing crimes of violence and murders of women, which showed an alarming rise during the pandemic.

He noted that women in Greece "have not gained the position they deserve" and that "many steps remained to be taken in politics" toward this end.

The minister said that, in the initial phase, the app will not be made available to the general public but to women who are already victims of violence, while it will be hidden in the mobile phone's software.

Deputy Labour and Social Affairs Minister responsible for gender equality issues, Maria Syreggela, outlined steps taken to help victims, including finding them a job as a large percentage were unemployed.

It should be noted that in December 2020, the Vodafone group announced that it had chosen Greece for one of the Global Research and Development centres, which would focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) and e-health applications, through Vodafone Innovus.

The announcement was made by Serpil Timuray, CEO of the Europe Cluster and Haris Broumidis, President and CEO of Vodafone Greece.

“We operate to improve people’s lives through technology and our networks, helping to transition to a digital society of tomorrow that provides equal opportunities for all and respects the planet. We believe in Greece, in its recovery and in the potential of its people. It is a country in which we have been investing consistently for almost three decades,” Timuray had said.

“Our ambition is to contribute to the creation of the widest range of integrated IoT solutions on the market, because we want to ensure that in the post-pandemic world, everyone has access to critical services that will improve our lives, such as health,” he added.