“Very optimistic” that the way in which now the Hellas it changes quickly and in digital domain creates significant positive legacy for the next day of the country, he said today, from his step 11th Technology ForumThe Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou and he added: “the ecosystem that has been created around the change, the digitization of the country, itself now generates ideas”.
Indicatively, he mentioned that, when five years ago, there was a discussion about the position of Greece in the New Space sectorthis may have sounded like an anecdote, but in recent years a whole ecosystem of companies has been set up in this area, some of which are even based in the region of Northern Greece.
“The three competitions we “run” through the European Space Agency (ESA) attracted leading companies to the country. These companies are obliged to cooperate with the Greek ecosystem anyway, but some of them did not even expect to win the tender, but came and opened offices in Greece, because they see that there are minds, there is innovation, there is acumen”.
At the same time, the infrastructures that support the development in the field of Artificial Intelligence, such as the “Daedalos” supercomputer and the data centers, are progressing, so that – among other things – startups in this critical area will gradually acquire the tools , so that they can try out in practice what they want to do. “We are now coming to create the infrastructure, the speeds so that these companies that want to create something can have the space to do it” he added, recalling that with funds from the Recovery Fund and other European resources, 35 million are invested in ” Daedalus”. He added that in this new environment, a huge challenge is the health sector and the data that exists in the health system.
“I could go on and on about how optimistic I am about everything that’s going on. At this time, projects worth billions are running” he noted and added that an important issue is human resources and the need for people who left abroad in previous years to be convinced that they will return and find worthwhile jobs in the country.
Mr. Papastergiou noted, however, that the big challenge lies ahead, clarifying that he is not only talking about the milestones of the Recovery Fund, “which are difficult milestones”, but also about the whole part of the management that will arise “after we digitize all this volume data from health, justice, the Land Registry, urban planning and the General State Archives. I think we are only at the beginning and I think we really have a lot to see in the future, of course combining all this with the smart cities projects, which are run by the ministry and which together with the “Antonis Tritsis” program are close to half a billion” concluded.
The Region aims for even more foreign investments
The Region of Central Macedonia aims to attract even more direct foreign investment in the field of innovation and digital technology, as emphasized by competent deputy governor, Nikos Tzollas. “In 2019, we did not have any multinationals in Thessaloniki. Now we have enough and we want to bring more. That’s why we support all related initiatives such as the (fourth generation technology park) ThessINTEC and the (digital technology exhibition) Beyond, to send the message that we are hungry for innovation,” said Mr. Tzollas.
He added that the goal of the Region is for open innovation in the region to be expressed in a unified way and for information and knowledge about what the market is asking for to be unified in a platform, from which anyone who wants to create a start-up business or settled in the area. In this direction, the One Stop Liaison Office was also created in the Region, he recalled.
Lots of opportunities ahead for a city that has been left behind
The estimate that for the Thessaloniki many opportunities now open up, also due to the city’s geostrategic position at the crossroads of energy networks, stated the Deputy Mayor of Economic Planning and Municipal Property, Georgios Arvanitispointing out that this is at the same time a great challenge for the city, which needs to plan and implement what it needs to move to its next step.
He noted, however, that Thessaloniki has fallen behind in many fields and faces many challenges, including in the areas of technology, the natural environment, traffic and the digital transformation of public administration. In order to achieve the goals, concerted action and effort is needed, as “if we do not coordinate all the agencies, we will see one train leaving after another”. Mr. Arvanitis also referred to the city’s strategic goals for its inclusion in the network of 100 climate-neutral and smart cities in Europe, which should achieve 20 years earlier, in 2030, the relevant goals that have been set as a whole for the EU for 2050.
The decade when Thessaloniki will change
“What we planned for Thessaloniki in the 90s (in the fields of innovation, IT and technology) is now becoming a reality, with a delay of more than 30 years” said the president of TIF-Helexpo SA, Tasos Tzikas. He expressed optimism that Thessaloniki is on its way, since its ecosystem has matured: “I think an alliance has now been formed and we are entering the decade when the city will change.” He said that all the agencies of the city need to defend projects in which all the dynamics of the sector are concentrated and expressed, such as the exhibition Beyond, in which the visitation was today – the first day of the organization – increased by 250%, compared to last year.
According to president of the Alexandria Innovation Zone (AZK), Panagiotis Ketikidis, “it is the moment” for the development of Thessaloniki and its ecosystem. “We are ready, but we are missing the orchestrator, the conductor who will undertake to coordinate all the procedures” he said and added that, in this direction, one of the six pillars of AZK is exactly cooperation. Referring to open innovation, he pointed out the need to put into practice the quadruple helix (universities/research centers, businesses, administration, society) and added that in this direction, citizens should also get into the “game”. “Open innovation cannot be developed without collaboration” he summarized.
Source: RES-MPE
Tags: Papastergiou Space longer joke Greece
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