We submitted important questions to the Minister of Interior, Ms Kerameos, on the project "Development and operation of a tool for the strategic planning of public sector staffing in terms of artificial intelligence" and its pilot application in 9 institutions

On April 15, Homo Digitalis submitted an electronic letter to the Minister of Interior, Ms Kerameos, regarding the Ministry’s project entitled “Development and operation of a tool for strategic planning of public sector staffing in terms of artificial intelligence”.

Our letter was communicated to the President of the Personal Data Protection Authority, Mr. Menoudakos, and to the Data Protection Officer of the Ministry of Interior, Mr. Theocharis.

More specifically, this project relates to the development and operation of a tool for the strategic planning of human resources in the public sector in terms of artificial intelligence and concerns the following axes:

– Creation of an integrated framework for strategic staffing planning (optimal allocation of existing and new staff) in the public sector (including technical specifications for the implementation and revision of existing frameworks)

– Pilot implementation in 9 Public Sector Entities and more specifically in MOD SA, AADE, OAED, Athens General Hospital “G. Municipality of Thessaloniki, Region of Attica, Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Energy and Ministry of Culture and Sports,

– Design of training programmes for (a) users and (b) upgrading the skills of civil servants, and

– Development of the knowledge repository of civil servants.

According to relevant information posted on the website of the Ministry of Interior and articles in various media, the Ministry of Interior is the project manager and has already contracted with Deloitte for its preparation. In fact, according to the timetable, the work has made significant progress.

In its letter, Homo Digitalis requests information from the Minister on a number of questions regarding both the legal framework for the protection of personal data (Law 4624/2019 – GDPR), and the legal framework for the use of artificial intelligence systems by the public sector (Law 4961/2022), as the pilot implementation of the project is expected to take place immediately in the 9 institutions mentioned above.

Specifically, we put the following questions to the Minister in our letter:

-Has the Ministry of Interior carried out a data protection impact assessment before the project was announced, in accordance with the principles of data protection “already by design” and “by default”?
-Has a relevant Data Protection Impact Assessment been carried out specifically in relation to the pilot implementation of the platform in the 9 public bodies?
-If the relevant Assessments have been prepared, has the Ministry considered it necessary to consult the Data Protection Authority in this respect?

-Does the Ministry consider the 9 public bodies as joint controllers and if so, has the Ministry proceeded with the relevant obligations as set out in Article 26 GDPR?
-Can the Ministry inform us of the relevant categories of personal data, the purposes of the processing for which such data are intended, and the legal basis for the processing you intend to use?
-Can the Ministry point us to the exact website where the Ministry of Interior’s contract with Deloitte is posted so that we can study the relevant provisions contained therein, especially with regard to the processing of personal data?
-Finally, has the Ministry of Interior proceeded to comply with the obligations arising from the provisions of Law 4961/2022, and in particular has an algorithmic impact assessment been carried out (Article 5), has it taken the necessary transparency measures (Article 6), has the project contractor fulfilled their obligations in this respect (Article 7), and has the Ministry kept a register (Article 8) in view of the forthcoming pilot use of the system?


We participate in the event "Artificial Intelligence Meets Education" at JOIST Innovation Park

JOIST Innovation Park and the Secondary Education Directorate of Larissa invite you to the open event for Teachers, School Counselors, Parents & Students “Artificial Intelligence Meets Education” under the auspices of the Regional Directorate of Education of Thessaly.

Date. Saturday 27 of April at 11:00
Place: Future Learning Lab with Free Entrance

It is our great honor and pleasure that the Director of Artificial Intelligence & Human Rights of Homo Digitalis, Lamprini Gyftokosta , will represent us there with a speech! We would like to thank the organizers for their kind invitation and inclusion!

How ready is the educational community to safely and effectively integrate AI and related digital tools in the learning process? The event aspires to ask key questions and present all those aspects related to the introduction of AI in the educational process.

The event is addressed to Teachers, School Staff, School Counsellors, Parents, Students from 12 to 18 years old.
Register for free here.

 


Voluntary educational actions in schools: Homo Digitalis visits the 3rd High School of Heraklion

Last week Homo Digitalis traveled far again! Following the very successful tour in Peloponnese, Central Greece, and Northern Greece, Crete was next.

Homo Digitalis spoke at the 3rd High School of Heraklion, talking to more than 90 students about Cyberbullying. The members who represented us were Adamantia Volikou, Angelina Barla and the President of Homo Digitalis Elpida Vamvaka.

We would like to thank the responsible Professor Mrs. Fotini Konstantaki (Computer Science Teacher) for the invitation and the excellent hospitality!


Voluntary educational actions in schools: Homo Digitalis visits the 63rd Primary School and the 28th High School of Thessaloniki

Last week Homo Digitalis literally hit the road again! Following the very successful 1500 km tour in Peloponnese and Central Greece, it was the turn of Northern Greece with 5 different schools!

After the visits to the 3rd Serres High School, the Ierissos High School and the Arnaia High School in Halkidiki, it was time for the capital of Macedonia, the beautiful Thessaloniki!

Homo Digitalis spoke at the 63rd Primary School of Thessaloniki about cyber bullying to teachers and children of the 5th and 6th grade! Many thanks to our members Melina Skondra & Athanasia Tychala for their representation, their unquenchable desire to pass on their knowledge to children  and the school’s director Ms. Adamidou for the invitation!!!

But one school is not enough! So, our President Elpida Vamvaka and Charalampos Daftsios represented Homo Digitalis at the 28th General High School of Thessaloniki talking to teachers and students of the 1st grade about the digital footprint. Thanks to the school’s Director, Mrs. Halvatzi for the invitation!

 


Voluntary educational actions in schools: Homo Digitalis visits Arnaia High School in Halkidiki

Last week Homo Digitalis hit the road again!

After the very successful 1500 km tour in the Peloponnese and Central Greece, the 4 schools and the more than 600 students and teachers we met there, this time it was the turn of Northern Greece with 5 different schools and a new record of kilometers and students!

After Serres, it was the turn of Chalkidiki!

The second school (see the first one here) we visited there was the High School of Arnaia! Our Director for Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Lamprini Gyftokosta, spoke with the students of the first grade about the digital footprint and was lucky enough to be in front of an incredible audience, who asked pertinent questions, exercised their critical thinking and responded positively to our call for more control of our personal data!

We would like to thank the Director Mr. Tsiliverdi Dimitrios and the IT Teacher Ms. Eleni Letta for the invitation!

Homo Digitalis’ actions in the field of student awareness are carried out with the organization’s own resources and with the contribution of our network of volunteers! Your support is very important to achieve more in the new year!

 


Voluntary educational actions in schools: Homo Digitalis visits the High School of Ierissos

Last week Homo Digitalis literally hit the road again!

After the very successful 1500 km tour in the Peloponnese and Central Greece, the 4 schools and the more than 600 students and teachers we met there, this time it was the turn of Northern Greece with 5 different schools and a new record of kilometers and students!

After Serres, it was the turn of Chalkidiki!

Homo Digitalis talked about the digital footprint to all the students of the Ierissos High School and Ierissos Gymnasium. The active participation of the children and teachers in these interactive presentations fills us with joy and hope, but also with ideas for a wider public awareness on these issues.

We thank Charalambos Daftsios and Lambrini Yftokosta for representing us to over 350 children and especially to our excellent host and Director of the High School, Mrs. Mavroudi for inviting us to host the event.

Homo Digitalis’ actions in the field of student awareness are carried out with the organization’s own resources and with the contribution of our network of volunteers! Your support is very important to achieve more in the new year!

 


Voluntary educational actions in schools: Homo Digitalis visits the 3rd High School of Serres

Last week Homo Digitalis hit the road again!

After the very successful 1500 km tour in the Peloponnese and Central Greece, the 4 schools and the more than 600 students and teachers we met there, this time it was the turn of Northern Greece with 5 different schools and a new record of kilometers and students!

We started from Serres, in a historic place, a neoclassical building built in 1885 to house the city’s hospital and then converted into the first Gymnasium of Thileon Serres, and now operating as the 3rd Gymnasium of the city! We were there on April 1 to talk to students and teachers about the digital footprint.

We would like to thank the Director Mrs. Arapaki Chrysanthi and the IT teacher Mr. Moscholios Stavros for the invitation!

Homo Digitalis’ actions in the field of student awareness are carried out with the organization’s own resources and with the contribution of our network of volunteers! Your support is very important to achieve more in the new year!

 


We participated at DFF’s Annual Strategy Meeting (ASM24)

We participated at DFF’s Annual Strategy Meeting (ASM24)

Two weeks ago, Homo Digitalis’ President, Elpida Vamvaka, was in Berlin at Digital Freedom Fund’s Annual Strategy Meeting (ASM24). We are grateful for the chance to engage in enriching dialogue with such inspiring fellow digital rights defenders working to propel human rights forward!

The meeting’s goals were to share meaningful exchanges and updates on digital rights topics, explore new opportunities to organise and collaborate at the intersection of racial, social, economic and environmental justice, to centre care, to safeguard well-being and to build resilience.

The meeting featured peer-driven highlights from DFF’s network, discussions mapping the 2024 landscape and beyond on digital rights issues, knowledge and skill sharing sessions, and a powerful panel on war crimes & digital rights. Stay tuned for the video coming soon!

Topics ranged from queer & trans*, labour, disability, environmental, welfare, prisoners’, children’s and migrants’ rights, to spyware, surveillance, digital policing, platform accountability, movement lawyering, organising for digital justice, and many more.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the organizers for inviting us, as well as to all individual participants and represented organisations for making this year’s Annual Strategy Meeting a success.


Elpida Vamvaka of Homo Digitalis at the Multistakeholder Committee of the Digital World Summit Greece

Elpida Vamvaka of Homo Digitalis is a member of the Multistakeholder Committee of Digital World Summit Greece as an expert in cybersecurity and privacy.

Elpida Vamvaka is a Lawyer, co-founding member and President of Homo Digitalis, to which she volunteers her services, while she is currently working as Head Legal Counsel at Team Blue Greece, Papaki/Tophost which are two of the largest technology companies and Digital Enablers in Greece.

She has led data protection compliance projects in Public and Private Entities. In addition, he has been employed as a legal advisor to the Athena Research Centre in Information, Communication and Knowledge Technologies.