Thessaloniki is the 2nd largest city in Greece, located in the administrative region of Central Macedonia and extends over an area of 1,455.62 km2, being the 5th largest and most populated city in the Balkans. The Municipality of Thessaloniki is a Public Local Authority (Local Administration). It has a population of 320,000 and is the 2nd largest in Greece, after the Municipality of Athens, while the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki has a population of about 850,000 inhabitants. The Municipality is the main public stakeholder representing the local authority for the city of Thessaloniki. It aims to the development of the city of Thessaloniki in several levels referring to civil, technical and cultural matters, through the provision of services, the coordination of the public instruments, the solution of the city‘s problems and the general supervision of the law‘s implementation. Local authorities‘ vision for the city is to transform Thessaloniki into a sustainable city for its citizens with the use of new, efficient and user-friendly technologies and services in the areas of energy, transport and ICT. At the same time, Thessaloniki has the ambition to become an internationally recognized hub of innovation, where the utilization of scientific knowledge for the development and the production of innovative technologies, products and services with a marked impact on sustainable economic growth will take place.

The Municipality of Thessaloniki consists of several Directorates/Departments, having different responsibilities, such as the Directorate of eGovernance & Information Technology Systems, Directorate of Administrative Services, Directorate of Technical Services, Department of Environmental Services, Department Operational Planning and Development Programmes Monitoring, Resilience Office, etc. All the Directorates/Departments of the Municipality are staffed with highly skilled employees of various expertise (i.e., engineers, environmental scientists, agronomists, computer engineers, etc.).

The strategic vision of THESS includes the strengthening of the metropolitan role of the Municipality, in the Region of Central Macedonia (RCM), focusing on its citizens, with respect for the environment, and enhancing openness and cooperation with agencies and organizations within the national boundaries, as well as abroad. Reaching climate neutrality is one of its newest and major goals, since it is one of the EU Mission "100 Climate Neutral & Smart Cities".

Through its strategic plan the Municipality aims at:

- Fighting bureaucracy

- Constantly upgrading the quality of its offered services through modern, efficient and decentralized management structure

- Using new information and communication technologies (i.e., e-governance)

- Improving the transparency and reliability of service

- The economic development of the municipality

- Supporting local employment and entrepreneurship

- The optimization of the quality of services provided to citizens in the field of social services, and solidarity

- The upgrading of municipal infrastructure (i.e., applying energy efficiency infrastructures etc.)

- The upgrading of the natural, cultural and urban environment of Thessaloniki to become an attraction both for permanent residents and visitors.