Digitalization in Greece: State of play, barriers, challenges, solutions

Abstract

Digitalization refers to the adoption or increase in use of digital or computer technology by an organization, industry, country, etc. Several sources of information exist that allow the determination of the state of play as regards digitalization in Greece; Greece performs poorly in all these measurement frameworks. Greece’s strengths in relation to its ability to progress substantially with digitalization lie in its human capital; the broadband penetration and usage; and the research and development output. In contrast, its most important weaknesses are the lack of importance of ICT in the political vision and government agenda; the success of the government in pushing forward the use of ICT; the effectiveness of the judicial system in resolving business conflicts and in resolving regulation disputes; and the ineffectiveness of the public administration. In this chapter, we identify the reasons for this poor performance and attribute them to intrinsic characteristics of the political landscape in Greece, with a view toward formulating proposals for solving inherent, long-lasting problems.