Greece ahead of Germany in digitising public services, laments German minister

A German minister noted on Thursday that Greece is ahead of Germany in terms of the digitisation of public services.

Deputy Minister for Housing, Urban Development & Buildings Sören Bartol, of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who is also Germany's new envoy to the Greek-German Representative Assembly, told DEMO, SPD's magazine that "Greece is considerably ahead of Germany in some areas."

He added that "digitisation of the public administration is a big issue for us at the moment."

In Greece, he added, "citizens can now carry digital identity documents or driving licenses on their smartphones, and there is already valuable knowledge in local government that we can benefit from."

"[Greece's] rich experience in the field of civil protection and forest firefighting, could also be brought over to Germany," he noted.

Founded in 2010, the Greek-German Representative Assembly is a local-government collaboration between Greece and Germany.

Referring to this collaboration, Bartol pointed out that it aims to strengthen the spirit of the European community, and deepen bilateral relations at the local and regional level in terms of sustainability.

This assembly "has become an integral element of the two countries' bilateral relations," he underlined.

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