Costis Toregas Business Process Reengineering

Lessons from Piraeus, Greece: Wi-Fi and the Economic-Development Imperative

My family and I are taking a few days in August to travel to the Greek islands to enjoy the sun and fabulous Aegean Sea. And in doing so, I was presented with a strong argument for Wi-Fi deployment—a link which you, my intrigued reader, may not readily see but will appreciate when all the facts are in…. So let’s set the stage for this story.

To reach the islands, a traveler must go through the port of Piraeus, a bustling place with tens of departures for all parts of the Aegean every day, and also a place where temperatures easily reach 110 degrees or more. As my family and I were connecting with our onward boat, facing an uncomfortable hour-long wait for our departure, we scanned the harbor for some refuge. Our eyes caught two small structures with closed doors, shaded glass windows and the whirr of air-conditioning units inviting a further look. We approached and, through the windows, saw an unexpected sight: men and women in suits sitting in rows of plastic chairs beside teenagers in swimsuits, and just about all of them performing a strange ritual: the laptop tap! All had laptops deployed and were tapping furiously, with silent, smiling faces.

Unsure of this strange phenomenon, I approached a port policeman and asked; she kindly informed me that the City of Piraeus had undertaken this tourist support initiative and set up these holding places for passing travelers who wanted to escape the sun and (drum roll, please) catch up on their office e-mails! A Wi-Fi network had been set up for all to use, thanks to municipal funding. And the cost to me, I asked? She looked at me with a wry smile and answered: “It’s for you, my friend.”

Well, we needed no more urging. We went in, cooled off and joined our fellow travelers in connecting to a broadband, secure signal whose password was given to us on the sign-up screen. A few minutes later, our emails were downloaded, and office requirements responded and made secure for the next few days.

On the boat to our island destination, I reflected on the experience. The waiting room was full of business people and holiday makers from different lands and different economic means. What brought them together was a common desire for broadband connectivity, and a lack of familiarity with the host country and what procedures should be followed to organize an e-mail connection. The ease with which the sign-on procedure took place provided the users with a simple, culture-sensitive process with which they could connect back to their country without needing to set up special accounts, provide large deposits, or speak the native language. And unlike tourist promotions under which a postcard with glorious vistas of the sea or refrigerator magnets cut in the shape of local attractions would encourage travel to Greece, this economic development tool gave practical, memorable experiences and a desire to return and sample the same.

As I understand it, discussions continue in Piraeus to expand the Wi-Fi zone beyond the port area. However, this coordinated intervention in an industry that is vital to Greece (tourism) using shelters, air conditioning, and a Wi-Fi network is a strong example of the practical potential of Wi-Fi in the economic-development sphere.

It is important for us to learn from such examples and adapt them to our own environment. You may not have a tourism imperative in your town or county or state, but whatever the development priority may be, it is essential to evaluate a role for broadband communications. Organizing such investments and assembling a package—as Piraeus did with shelter construction, A/C, Wi-Fi and land provision—requires a process which has as its aim not the deployment of technology but the stimulation and promotion of economic activity. The talents and skill sets of the people who have to be brought together as a team to implement a project like this, and the financing that is assembled and leveraged, are quite different from those traditionally identified with technology efforts.

And this, dear reader, is the point of the whole story—learning to think outside the traditional space of technology and reengineering our thought processes and investment decisions in directions that involve our ultimate corporate or governmental objectives. The City of Piraeus did it by thinking of its economic-development objectives in tourism promotion. What are yours?

Authors