We had a variety of meetings in Athens where we explored diverse issues. Some are macro in nature like culture and heritage, while others are more mundane things like media, public works, and education.

I’ve tried to offer some highlights of what is happening in Athens and Greece in these varied areas.

Post Olympics Athens

We met at Athens City Hall with the architect that helped manage the construction projects in the run up to the Olympics. Athens really bulked up their infrastructure in order to host the games, but with the longer term goal of helping their overall society. The games served as a catalyst to tackle major public works projects.

Some projects include:
• New airport
• New sports stadiums
• Metro and rail system
• Road widening and improvements
• Underground parking systems developed
• Foot trails between major monuments
• Landscaping

Media

Until the late 1980s Greece only had state run television (think all WUNC all the time). Deregulation occurred in the late 80s, but it was not well organized and the result is a bit of media madness.

Today there are over 100 TV stations, 1000 radio stations and 500 newspapers…an astounding number given the geographic size of the country.

Political advertising is allowed, which is much like the US and very much unlike France and Germany.

They have much more relaxed media ownership rules in that a single company can own and operate TV stations, radio stations, newspapers and more in a single market.

Despite the lax rules, there is not a 24x7 news channel devoted to Greece.

Internet penetration is much lower in Greece than in the US. Greece is currently at approximately 33% internet penetration with 20% of those having broadband access.

Higher Education

There are only public universities in Greece. Private universities are not allowed, though this will likely change in the coming years.

Anyone that can pass the entrance exam can go to college tuition free.

50 – 60% of Greeks attend a university.

There are no completion requirements, meaning one can attend school on an indefinite basis without having to make progress. This leads to student and professor apathy.

Professors pay is not tied to performance or research, only seniority, so there is little outside incentive to excel. This is leading to a “brain drain” as the best and brightest want to go where they can earn more and do more exciting work.

There are EU exchange programs, but nothing with the US.

Online classes are popular with some adults, but the whole concept is still new.