Greece’s Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, told an audience at the International Monetary Fund’s “New Economy Forum: Strategies for the Future – Digitalization of the Economy and Artificial Intelligence” in Washington that digital transformation can be a driver of both trust and economic growth. Speaking alongside Lebanon’s Minister of Information and Artificial Intelligence, Kamal Shehadi, and Estonia’s Minister of Finance, Jürgen Ligi, Pierrakakis described how Greece has moved from a paper-bound bureaucracy to a citizen-focused model of digital governance.
He emphasized that Greece’s transformation was not primarily a technological endeavor but a shift in mindset. “When we began, almost everything was on paper. The challenge was enormous,” he said. “We adopted a service design approach — understanding citizens’ needs before introducing technology. Technology comes later.” He noted that technologists now play an essential role in policy design, alongside economists and legal experts.
Pierrakakis pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as a key test of this philosophy. When Greece introduced an SMS system for citizens to request permission to move during lockdowns, the government chose a simple, paper-free mechanism that could be implemented within hours. “It became an exercise in behavioral economics,” he said, adding that the innovation received international recognition, including from Microsoft president Brad Smith. Similarly, Greece’s national vaccination system was designed and launched within eight weeks. “We didn’t need complex technology — we used a simple Excel file. What matters is the design process, not the tool,” he said. Each new digital service, he explained, means thousands fewer in-person visits to government offices, reducing administrative burdens and showing respect for citizens’ time.
Digitalization, Pierrakakis argued, has evolved from a matter of efficiency to one of economic importance. “It can boost GDP, build trust, and curb tax evasion. Greece’s fiscal surplus today exists largely because digital tools have helped limit tax evasion,” he said.
Turning to artificial intelligence, he warned that governments often frame the wrong questions. “The issue is not what we can do with AI or blockchain, but how we can use them to serve citizens better. Technology is the means, not the goal,” he said. The pandemic, he added, acted as a catalyst for digital adoption and provided an opportunity to use European Recovery Fund resources to modernize customs, healthcare, and land registries — areas that still relied heavily on paper. “You can’t move to AI without first digitizing your data. You need big datasets and interoperability,” he noted.
Pierrakakis also reflected on the speed of technological change. “Technology evolves exponentially, but we think linearly,” he said, comparing the slow shift from Blockbuster to Netflix with the explosive rise of AI tools like those from OpenAI in just a few months. “Our policies must be agile and adaptable. Traditional thinking must leave the room.”
The minister stressed that successful digital reform depends as much on social acceptance as on technical achievement. “If you manage to integrate technology properly and make it popular among citizens, it spreads — to the private sector, to education, to families. That’s the true multiplier of productivity,” he said.
Looking beyond Greece, Pierrakakis called for a unified European digital market. “Europe doesn’t need 27 efficient national markets; it needs one. We should make Europe like Estonia — fully interoperable. People should be able to work three years in one country and four in another, with pension systems that communicate seamlessly,” he argued. He also called for stronger support for technological innovation and European startups to reduce reliance on U.S. capital. “We need a savings and investment union that supports European tech players and connects with our education systems,” he said.
Concluding his remarks, Pierrakakis underlined that both Greece and Europe must now move from planning to action. “At the end of the day, citizens don’t wait for strategies — they expect results,” he said. “Strategy is execution.”
