THE ''ANTI-INCONVENIENCE'' OF CIVIL SERVANTS AWARDED IDEAS FOR LESS BUREAUCRACY - Filenews 12/5 by Evagora Prokopiou
With proposals aimed at digitization, automation and, to put it simply, to make the citizen stop needing the patience of a saint for a process, the competition "The Anti-Sufferer", a joint initiative of PASYDY and the Cyprus Fiscal Council, has been completed.
At the award ceremony, which took place in Nicosia, presentations by public sector officials were honoured which focus on simplifying procedures and enhancing the productivity of the state, with the ultimate goal of reducing the inconvenience for both civil servants and citizens.
The competition had started in March 2025 and was aimed at executives of the public and wider public sector, either with individual or group participations. The aim was to identify bottlenecks, complex practices and time-consuming procedures and to put forward workable proposals that could cut red tape, reduce administrative costs and increase the efficiency of the public service.
The winner was the proposal "Digitization of Building Outline", which provides for the automatic interconnection of Urban Planning and Land Registry data via GIS, in order to ensure the immediate updating of state records and to limit bureaucratic delays.
The proposal "Automation of Recruitment" (Proposal 37), which concerns the acceleration of recruitment procedures in the public service through an automated system, with the aim of reducing the waiting time and administrative burden of the Public Service Commission, as well as the proposal "Modernization of Building Permitting" (Proposal 41), which provides for the creation of a single electronic system to simplify the issuance of building permits, were also awarded. leaving behind - or at least this is the goal - the time-consuming physical processes.
The jury consisted of the President of the Cyprus Fiscal Council Michalis Persianis, the Secretary General of PASYDY Stratis Mattheou, the Deputy Minister to the President Irene Piki and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Budget Christiana Erotokritou.
In a statement, Stratis Mattheou said that, at a time when citizens' demands are increasing and the need for a more flexible, modern and efficient state is becoming more and more imperative, such initiatives are becoming particularly important. As he said, the competition confirms that change can and must start from the people themselves who know from the inside the procedures, the difficulties and the room for improvement.
For his part, Michalis Persianis noted that every hour saved by unnecessary bureaucracy translates into economic benefit and an increase in national productivity. He added that the proposals presented are immediately applicable and that the Fiscal Council will actively contribute to their promotion.
Irini Piki and Christiana Erotokritou also addressed the ceremony, underlining, according to the announcement, the importance of the competition and the need for it to evolve into an institution.
The event was attended, among others, by the Director General of the Ministry of Finance, the Director General of the Ministry of Interior, the Director of the Department of Lands and Surveys, the President and members of the Public Service Committee, the Director of the Department of Public Administration and Personnel, representatives of political parties, members of the Fiscal Council and members of the Executive Committee of PASYDY.
The award-winning proposals will now be sent to the competent bodies for examination, with the aim of incorporating them into the future plans of the competent ministries.
The tender was launched with the aim of identifying procedures that are unnecessarily complicated, time-consuming and costly, as well as submitting suggestions that could simplify the operations of the State, without negatively affecting the quality of services to the citizen. The proposals were evaluated anonymously, based on the analysis of the current situation, the quality of the proposed improvement, their applicability and impact.
As part of the competition, prizes were also provided for the winners, with the first prize being a trip worth €2.000 and two Apple MacBook Air 2024 laptops. This time, however, the main issue was not just the prize, but the hope that somewhere between forms, approvals and transmissions, a little common sense can finally fit.
