Named Greece’s first digital city, Trikala introduced its broadband network – e-Trikala – two years ago. Since then, a number of public services have been added the city’s web portal – the latest being the e-government service.

Raptis Odisseas, project manager of e-Trikala, explains that all important documents concerning the municipality, such as birth certificates and other important information, will now become available electronically. “This means people can receive documents at home, or abroad, via their e-mail, on their PDA, or – in the case of the elderly – by turning their TV screen on,” he says.

Other services that are available through the e-Trikala web portal include the e-transport system, which provides up-to-the-minute information about local and national bus arrivals and departures, and the e-participation service, which lets people vote on issues discussed at the local council. e-Trikala even provides a health service for elderly people.

“The city of Trikala runs a service that helps elderly people who are housebound,” Odisseas says. “One of the things they do is measure people’s heart rhythm and blood pressure, and so on, and these tests are then being sent to the city hospital through e-Trikala. The doctors at the hospital check the tests as they come in and, based on the results, they decide whether or not to change people’s treatments or medication.”

The health service has been a big hit among Trikala citizens and Odisseas is happy that, two years after introducing new services, people are finally seeing the benefits of e-Trikala. “In the beginning people were a little bit reluctant,” he says. “But I’m proud to say that they are now eagerly awaiting upcoming services.”

Apart from the obvious advantages to people using e-Trikala, such as less time spent on chores, the network is also benefiting the environment.

“Five years ago, it became very cheap to buy cars in Greece, which means that every family owns two or three cars,” Odisseas says. “Unfortunately, our road system cannot deal with all this traffic. With e-Trikala, we are helping people – both old and young – to get the information they need without having to use their car, thereby reducing their energy consumption and protecting the environment.”

Another positive effect of e-Trikala is the interest from companies in setting up offices in the city. “There are not that many areas in Greece where there is sufficient broadband coverage, making Trikala the perfect place for companies to invest,” Odisseas says.

He gives an example of a construction company that recently relocated to the city. “They are building a road and tunnel 120km from Trikala and they needed broadband to communicate with their designers in India and headquarters in the UK,” he says. “At the same time, they wanted to be close enough to supervise what was happening on-site.”

Eventually, the aim is to duplicate e-Trikala in seven other nearby cities: Larissa, Volos, Karditsa, Katerini, Lamia, N. Ionia and Grevena, establishing a Greek broadband zone. But for now, the city is busy upgrading its network to become even faster.

“Right now, we are working to get the first backbone of the fiber optic network up and running,” Odisseas says. “I’m sure that when all of this is available to our citizens in the next one to two years we will usher in a new era for our city.”

Torunn Hansen-Tangen