- In total, 242 proposals were submitted
- Top research foundations, universities and technological educational institutes, as well as individual researchers and companies are among the participants
- A wide range of applied research and innovation fields is covered
- The evaluation process has already started
The 2nd Greece Innovates! Competition confirms its role as a window for showcasing the dynamic and vibrant research and business community that is creatively active throughout Greece. The first round of this second competition, which is again jointly sponsored by SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises and Eurobank, was completed by September 30 2012 with the submission of 242 proposals.
The proposals reflect the unwavering interest of the research and business community in the competition,. The strong regional aspect in the geographical distribution of participants is also quite interesting, confirming that regional Greece actively conducts research and produces innovation!
The main objective of the Competition is to creatively bring together the research and the business world, with the aim of turning applied research and innovation proposals into products and services that will improve everyday life and strengthen the extroversion of the economy.
The proposals demonstrate that the institutions conducting, producing and promoting research and innovation are highly extrovert, while they also establish communication channels with the private sector. This trend initially appeared in the first competition and is clearly present in the second competition as well.
The competition also confirms that Greek research is highly mature, on par with international research and often focusing on the same critical fields. The high quality in terms of the content and originality of both the applied research and innovation projects and proposals participating in the competition is also quite noteworthy.
Proposals were submitted by both public and private research institutions, as well as businesses. covering a wide range of applications in an array of challenging fields. The topics included, among others, systems using IT applications, proposals related to biotechnology, medicine and food, as well as projects on energy saving, renewable energy sources, waste management and water. Other proposals concerned materials science and a range of mechanical applications in relevant fields.
In the context of promoting the competition to the Greek research community, SEV and Eurobank officials carried out more than 130 presentations to representatives of universities, technological educational institutes, science parks, research centres and business innovation venues. These included the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) in Thessaloniki, Demokritos National Centre for Scientific Research, the Science and Technology Park of Crete (STEP-C), the Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park, the Patras Science Park, the Biomedical Research Institute in Ioannina, the Centre for Research and Technology in Thessaly (CE.RE.TE.TH), the Industrial Systems Institute (ISI) in Patras, the Computer Technology Institute & Press in Patras, the Epirus Science and Technology Park, the Association of Information Technology Companies of Northern Greece (SEPVE), the Corallia Clusters Initiative, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the National Technical University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Polytechnic School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Macedonia, the University of Crete, the Technical University of Crete, the University of Patras, the University of Ioannina, the Technological Educational Institute of Athens, the Technological Educational Institute of Larissa and the Technological Educational Institute of Crete.
The aforementioned presentations were given throughout Greece and were held in close cooperation with the administration of each institution. We would like to extend our thanks for their valuable support.
The written assessment procedure is already underway, carried out by a group of distinguished scientists that is selected and coordinated by the scientific council of the competition. Members of the scientific council are Fokion Deligiannis, Despina Alexandraki, Konstantinos Vagenas, Georgios Vassilikogiannakis, Evaggelos Dialynas, Georgios Doukidis, Doros Theodorou, Manolis Kakaras, Giannis Kalogirou, Pantelis Kapros, Athanassios Konstantopoulos, Spyros Lioukas, Nikolaos Melanitis, Babis Savakis and Nikolaos Travlos. This written assessment is expected to be completed by February 2013, when the top 20 proposals will be shortlisted (ten for applied research and ten for innovation). SEV and Eurobank will host a series of exhibitions to promote the shortlisted proposals to the business community and the public, including regional events in large Greek cities (Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Ioannina and Athens). In addition to other promotional activities on television, radio, national and local press, a special album will be printed and distributed to a wide circle of stakeholders, mainly members of the business community.
Following the written, and according to the specifications of the competition, an oral assessment will follow. It will take place ahead of the awards ceremony that will take place in June 2013 in Athens.
This year, the competition is also quite active on the internet. It has so far received 63,268 visits on its website (www.kainotomeis.gr), 1,665 likes on its Facebook page, with a social reach of 608,651 users, while the number of its Twitter followers has exceeded 320.
All the information pertaining to the competition has been posted on its website (www.kainotomeis.gr). The same applies for any announcements regarding the next rounds, e.g. the completion of the written assessment and the regional events.