On the occasion of the second conference on green ICT on the 17th of May 2010, the issue of the implementation of environmental criteria in public works was discussed. The conference focused on the reduction of the energy footprint with the use of new ICT technologies, the elimination of barriers such us the lack of administrational will, the financial incentives and the need to inform the public and the administrative authorities. Taking the above under consideration the competent ministries and chambers expressed the need for further research and development of innovative green technologies and their application to the public sector. Possible means towards that direction are:

  • regulating green public works,
  • implementing technical requirements of the public works in compliance to international environmental management standards (e.g. ISO) and certifications (ECO-label),
  • regulating environmental criteria for the contractor and an obligatory environmental plan, as part of the contractor ‘s tender submission, describing the ways of energy saving and the green dimension of the project,
  • incorporation of criteria that shall allow the compliance to the environmental plan as part of the contractor ’s tender,
  • connecting the rate of the investment grant to the green technologies applied to the project
  • establishing “one stop shop” services with the reduction of bureaucracy and the dematerialization of all necessary procedural documents (e.g electronic submission of tenders, electronic transfer of documents etc)

The abovementioned policies are going to be incorporated in the upcoming amendment of the Public Procurement Regulation (MD 118/2007) and into the new law for economic expansion, already under public consultation (http://www.opengov.gr). We note that all the objectives mentioned shall only be fulfilled after the digital convergence of all competent public services (e.g tax authority, social insurance institutes) and therefore an overall administrative reform is necessary. All related issues shall be discussed at the upcoming conference held on June the 30th 2010.