Description

Development of a Smart Settlement in the town of Archanes of the Municipality of Archanes of the General Secretariat of the Region of Crete, under the name “Smart Settlement of the Municipality of Archanes: e-Archanes”

The proposed project aims broadly at the development and installation of the necessary infrastructure and services of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for the creation of a “Smart Settlement”.

The main objective is to substantially upgrade the quality of life of citizens who reside, work or visit the Municipality of Archanes and familiarize themselves with new technologies.

Project Scope

The Project scope was the development and installation of the necessary Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure, applications and services for the creation of a “Smart Settlement”. The main objective of the Project was to contribute to the substantial improvement of the quality of life of citizens who reside, work or visit the Municipality, to familiarize them with new technologies, offering through ICT on the one hand improved quality of existing services, on the other hand new value-added services.

Expected Results

In addition, the expected results included:

• the increase in the rate of use of the Internet and the services it provided by the citizens of the Municipality
• the enhancement of the degree of awareness and information of the local community by giving weight to the degrees of adaptation to new technologies and information on the benefits that arise from the exploitation and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
• the removal of the digital isolation of local communities and especially of “remote” and mountainous areas
• the creation of an environment of favorable acceptance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for the acquisition of new professional skills and the broadening of the professional horizons of the unemployed.

Physical Scope of the Project

A part of the Physical Scope of the Project concerns the installation of basic technological infrastructures that provide wired and wireless broadband and support the interoperability of the various services provided. These technological infrastructures include, on the one hand, technical installations and, on the other hand, telecommunications equipment used for the development and provision of electronic services in various sectors such as: Fast Internet access, Communication, Information, Teleconferencing, Electronic public administration, Tourism, Social Services, Health, Education and Entertainment.

In addition, environmental promotion and protection services were provided based on the platform of a GIS (Geographic Information System) system and corresponding geo-information management. The services, depending on their content and nature, were produced via the World Wide Web (Web), electronic mail (e-mail), etc.

Characteristics of the Services

A particularly important characteristic of the services was interoperability, i.e. the ability to communicate and exchange data and information with each other, so as to create a coherent web of complementary and mutually supporting services and not simply a set of individual electronic applications.

All services provided were provided through user-friendly interfaces, which were suitable for the users to whom they were addressed, without requiring special skills and without excluding any population group. The interfaces followed the international accessibility specifications of the W3C-WAI. A Support, Management and Control Center (SMC) of the “Smart Home” was also created in which the basic technological infrastructure is installed and from which remote control of the smooth operation and management of the entire system and services can be carried out.