As soon as his vision is restored, Antonis Samaras should start seeing clearly what lies ahead. In a previous post, I argued that due to the fear tactics, Greeks felt relieved and offered the new scheme a -previously non existent- grace period. This is over now.

There is no time to waste. Here are 10+1 tips to initiate change or at least start being specific about it.

1) Build a West Wing at Maximos Mansion that could initiate policy; stay in charge of the government agenda. Once upon a time, Andreas Papandreou used to prepare draft laws, which were sent to ministers for signature. Disagreement was not an option. Four years ago, Costas Karamanlis’ aloof notion of delegation led a government to its demise. Samaras could walk in the middle; maintain balance and be effective at the same time.

2) Explore new forms of communication. Use digital persuasion. Be active. Half a week later after Samaras’ sworn in ceremony, the website of the Prime Minister had two different names of PMs visible and none of them was his. This is not a good sign in terms of digital policy or other.

3) Talk to citizens on a regular basis; on the web and offline. They really need it. Explain policies; give implementation timelines and keep them. Be specific, give the reasons behind each decision, present the alternatives, and calculate the costs. Associate hope and prospects with your decision-making.

4) Use software to assess ministers’ actions in terms of implementation as well as initiatives. Evaluate the competence of party personnel who were assigned cabinet positions. Do not hesitate for a second to get rid of anyone who steps out of line, especially in terms of ethics. No one should be allowed to use a public position for personal gain. Not anymore.

5) Cut a series of benefits associated with public figures. During crisis, all Greeks are equal. Change ministers’ responsibility law immediately. Explain what’s changed. Create specialists’ task forces within the ministries to discuss structural changes and put their talks online. Maintain transparency of expenses online. Not everything George Papandreou did was wrong after all.

6) Greek population remains concentrated in Attica area; however, the country’s wealth is out there. So, put regional policy first. Integrate information coming from the periphery and local government authorities; activate online dialogue; explore local potential in full. Use local case studies to give incentives to people to think and act in a productive way.

7) Merge public universities and create peripheral clusters of excellence and R&D. Thousands of Greek scientists would be willing to come back to offer their expertise to their country. Use 2% of privatisation revenues to fund such activities.

8) Assign two executives from the private sector -preferably competitors- next to your ministers, as a reality-check mechanism; their companies could pay salaries as a CSR gesture to the country. Campaign towards the private sector with a simple message: “your country needs you”.

9) Initiate full digitisation of ministry activities; Implement the law regarding absenteeism, subordination and evaluation in public service. Deal seriously with human resource issues. Allocate young public servants to fill empty posts in borderline areas or island regions; those who deny the post should become redundant.

10) Invite investors to thematic discussions at seaside or mainland hotels, next to potential areas of interest. Summon locals and explain the potential. Communicate results and use the cases to mobilise others. Boost local investment spirit as well.

11) Boost social economy enterprises to fill the gap between state and private economy. Focus on social services and organise action towards those in need. This field seems more useful than ever.

As Britons would say, Greece is drinking in the last chance saloon. Let’s make it a toast to the future – not a loser’s lament of the past.

Dr. Demetris Kamaras is the Editor of AlYunaniya.com

“Structural factors have changed the context within which the European social model operates: the growing competition from emerging countries, the reorganisation of production processes on a global basis, the speed of innovation, the increasing fragmentation of career paths with ever looser ties to a “permanent position”, the greater instability of families, declining fertility, the prospective decrease in the workforce, an ageing population. The set of risks faced by individuals throughout their life has changed significantly.

The social protection systems are therefore constantly evolving; substantial corrections have taken place in recent years in many countries, including France, the United Kingdom and Germany, the country where the reform process began a decade ago. In Italy, the recent pension reform which approves the full transition to a contribution system completes the necessary correction of the pension spending dynamics which was started years ago. As Germany shows very well, large and effective welfare systems can be made more efficient without compromising social goals.

We are living at a critical juncture in the history of the Union. The sovereign debt crisis has exposed serious weaknesses in the institutional framework; in this context, the difficulties in finding common solutions are having a negative impact on market valuations. The extraordinary measures taken by the ECB have gained us time; they have preserved the functioning of monetary policy.

But we have now reached a point where European integration, in order to survive, needs a bold leap of political imagination. It is in this sense that I have referred to the need for a “growth compact” alongside the well-known “fiscal compact”.

A growth compact rests on three pillars and the most important one, from a structural viewpoint, is political: the economic and financial crisis has challenged the myopic belief that monetary union could remain just that, and not evolve into something closer, more binding, into an arrangement whereby national sovereignty on economic policy is replaced by the Community ruling. If the governments of the Member States of the euro define jointly and irrevocably their vision of what the political and economic construct that supports the single currency will be and what the conditions to reach that goal together should be. This is the most effective answer to the question everyone is asking: “Where will the euro be in ten years’ time?”.

The second pillar is that of structural reforms, especially, but not only, in the product and labour markets. The completion of the single market and the strengthening of competition are crucial for growth and employment. Labour market reforms that combine flexibility and mobility with a sense of fairness and social inclusion are essential.

Growth and fairness are closely connected: without growth, and the events of recent months also reflect this, the temptation to “circle our wagons” gains strength, and solidarity weakens. Without fairness, the economy breaks up into multiple interest groups, no common good emerges as a result of social and economic interaction, and there are negative effects on the capacity to grow.

These reforms have long been indispensable in a global economy very different to the one which witnessed the creation of the institutions still operating today. In the political structure that will emerge from the crisis it is likely and desirable that for these reforms a system of European rules will be introduced similar to that for the fiscal compact, a discipline leading over time to the European harmonisation of objectives and tools.

The third pillar is the revival of public investment: the use of public resources to push forward investment in infrastructure and human capital, research and innovation at national and European levels. (The proposed strengthening of the EIB and the reprogramming of Union structural funds in favour of less-developed areas go in this direction).

Thus, a growth compact complements the fiscal compact, because there can be no sustainable growth without orderly public finances. In this regard I have noted on other occasions the extraordinary progress made by all governments of the euro area in terms of fiscal consolidation, but, once the emergency is overcome, they need to make improvements by cutting current spending and taxation.”

The President of the General Assembly, Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, underlined the importance of new technologies in empowering young people to express themselves, and added that governments should support, not censor these mediums.   “Governments that try to suppress or shut-down new media platforms should rather embrace new media for the beneficial transformation of their societies. They need to create and promote a thriving environment for free media and free expression,” Al-Nasser said.

Free media transform societies by enlightening the decision making process with information, and thus empowering individuals to take control of their destinies. In this context, media freedom plays a crucial role in the transformation of society by reshaping its political, economic and social aspects, according to an UNESCO policy document.

This wave of revolution was triggered by the self-immolation of a vegetable peddler in Tunisia who set himself on fire after having his vegetable cart confiscated and being publicly humiliated by the authorities. This singular image of a desperate act by an ordinary person, which went viral through mobile technology and social media, heralded an extraordinary beginning for this new decade. Years of censorship, suppression, and restriction came crumbling down with the fall of the former Tunisian authorities. Tunisia demonstrated the transformative power that can be brought forth by the convergence of social media, mobile connections, satellite TV and an earnest desire to fundamentally change socio- economic-political situation. It started a domino effect that went on to reach Tahrir Square in Egypt, the city of Benghazi in Libya, and other parts of the region. The actions of young people have been crucial during the movement, and amongst their tools has been social media.

Similarly, in Egypt, the use of social media, ICTs and satellite TV, has also played a revolutionary role in the democratic and political processes. Indeed, the protest movement against the Egyptian authorities was accelerated through the use of social networking sites and specifically through mobile phones. A case in point was the effort of a young Egyptian, Wael Ghonim, who created the Facebook campaign, “We are all Khaled Said”, referring to a 28-year-old Egyptian arrested six months earlier and beaten to death while he was held in detention. This Facebook campaign soon snowballed from thousands to more than a million supporters online. It has been one of the rallying points to denounce the regime’s violence and abuse.

While new voices have come forward seeking transformational change, media freedom is facing severe pressures across the world. According to official figures, 62 journalists were killed last year and many more were injured.

As of December 2011, 179 journalists were detained, indicating a 20 per cent increase from the previous year, and the highest level since the 1990s.

As media moves online, more online journalists, including bloggers, are being harassed, attacked, and killed for their work. UNESCO paper argued they must receive the same protection as traditional media workers.