The technological development of Thessaloniki and the contribution of educational institutions and businesses

The start-ups and the new technology was the main theme with which they opened tasks of the two-day conference “Innovation in Northern Greece 5.0-Innovation in Northern Greece and the organizations that support it” organized by Alexandria Innovation Zone and is conducted in its context “Beyond 2024”.

The aim of the event is to inform about the use of technology and the tools it offers, in order to improve the everyday life of citizens.

“The aim is to use machines and new technologies to improve our standard of living and in this, the contribution of educational institutions and entrepreneurs is necessary”, said the Deputy Minister of Macedonia – Thrace in his greeting. Stathis Konstantinidis.

For his part, the mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, focused on the city’s fledgling entrepreneurship. “We want to give it a new lease of life,” he said, emphasizing that the startups can partially compensate for the lack of scientific staff, which, as he mentioned, is observed in the Greek market.

“Northern Greece and Thessaloniki are a pole of attraction for entrepreneurship within and outside the borders“, noted the rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Charalambos Feidas.

Mr. Feidas focused on the decisive contribution of AUTH to the technological development of Thessaloniki and emphasized that the University is at the core of innovation, for which he emphasized that “our strategic goal is to strengthen it”.

He also added that the educational institution will continue to support innovation “by building bridges with the local and international market”, while stating that “AUTH could not but be at the core of this innovation ecosystem”.

The head of Operational Strategy of the Bank and the National Bank Group was involved in the technological development of Thessaloniki, Haris Vlatakis.

“We are excited that ThessIntec is moving forward which we funded, while at the same time, we are constantly developing our technologies. Suffice it to say that 58% of our transactions were done remotely from our physical stores,” he said specifically.

The conference “Innovation in Northern Greece 5.0-Innovation in Northern Greece and the institutions that support it” maps, through 22 panels, 150 speakers and 10 workshops, innovation in Northern Greece.