Technical Chamber of Greece proposes integrated land use database to tackle red tape, corruption

eKathimerini

eKathimerini — In the effort to overcome Greece’s notorious bureaucracy, conflicting laws and corruption that is sabotaging badly needed investment, the president of the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE), Giorgos Stasinos, has proposed the creation of a digital map that aims to collect all the information an investor needs with regard to land use. The idea is to include all the information in one application.

“This would drastically minimize contact between [civil service] employees and candidate investors,” Stasinos told Kathimerini, adding that this will help tackle corruption.

Stasinos admitted, however, that the effort will require a lot of technical work to create an integrated system mapping land use. But, he added, there is a lot of information that can be gleaned from existing databases – such as the one for illegal constructions.

The TEE proposal includes “one-stop” services with information about town planning legislation and other information regarding construction rules etc. The objective, the chamber’s president said, is to issue relevant licenses and permits electronically.

Under the proposal the information will be entered by certified users (engineers) and will be constantly updated.

However, sources say that at the end of the day the problem with creating an integrated digital map is not so much technical, but rather a matter of legislation and political will.