I am a founding partner of scicada, a specialized new media agency which assists clients to understand, connect with and utilize the models and tools of the convergent era.
Before that, I was a Strategic Planner for Communication, New Media and information society related projects, many of those via a strategic partnership with VENTRIS, a “boutique” Strategic Research Planning agency. Prior to this, I was a founding staff member and General Manager of “access2democracy“, a novel non-profit institution working to promote and deploy e-participation, open government and social technology projects in Europe.
I hold a B.A. Economics from the University of Sussex and a M.Sc. International Economics from Cardiff University.
A few highlights:
- I have led various e-democracy projects (e-dialogos at City of Trikala, e-Voices Cyprus, e-partnerships etc), regularly contribute to various international fora (Εuropean Commission-DG Comm, Council of Europe, ΕΕΤΤ, European Foundation Centre, WCIT 2004, WSIS, Symi Symposium, World e-Democracy Forum, Global Forum 08, TEE etc), and write & blog about new media, the internet & political communications, e-democracy etc (see Publications for downloads).
- In 2005, thanks to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, I was honoured to be a Senior International Fellow at the Center of Philanthropy and Civil Society, City University of New York, where I published a novel paper on the use of e-democracy practices by public benefit foundations.
- I setup and coordinated ElectionWatch, the electoral observatory website for the 2007 national elections in Greece, for Public Issue the opinion polling company that predicted the results with remarkable accuracy.
- I was the Strategic Planner and co-project manager for the innovative “e-dialogos” e-participation project currently being implemented at the City of Trikala and funded by the Ministry of the Interior. Also, accredited by ITA/KEDKE (the local authorities association of Greece) as a trainer for “Digital City”, the programme that trained the elected local authority officials on the uses of ICTs for local governance.
- I also coordinated the “Civil Society Index-Greece” research project, part of the renowned international research project by Civicus , which maps civil society in over 50 countries worldwide.
- In the more distant past, I worked in the marketing & communications industry, mainly in charge of Strategic Planning for major private and public sector companies and institutions (e.g. Athens Derivatives Exchange, Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos”, Emporiki Bank, Aspis Bank, ELAIS, Elliniki Technodomiki/Aktor, Austrian Airlines, Ministry of Finance and others).
Contact: vgoulandris AT gmail.com [substitute AT with @]
