Consortium Members of Pharos AI Factory participated in the event “Greece and the EU in the Era of AI”, 14/06/2025

Stefanos Kollias, Professor Emeritus at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), President at GRNET and Coordinator of the AI Factory “Pharos” and Vangelis Karkaletsis, Director of the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications at NCSR “Demokritos”, Technical Coordinator of the AI Factory “Pharos” participated in the event “Greece and the EU in the Era of AI”, held on Saturday, June 14, from 10:00 to 14:30 at the “Hermes” Hall of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).

Both consortium members took part in Panel 1: AI and the Economy, where the challenges and opportunities that Artificial Intelligence brings to the economy were discussed. The panel was moderated by Dimitris Tsiodras and included the following speakers:

  • Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Minister of National Economy and Finance
  • Markos Veremis, Chair of the Innovation Committee at SEV, Partner at BigPi Ventures
  • Stefanos Kollias, Emeritus Professor NTUA, President of GRNET BoD, Coordinator of the AI Factory “Pharos”
  • Vangelis Karkaletsis, Director of the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications at NCSR “Demokritos”, Technical Coordinator of the AI Factory “Pharos”

During the discussion Greece’s progress in digital transformation was highlighted and the need to harness AI to boost productivity and drive sustainable national growth was emphasized. Pharos Consortium Members stressed the importance of timely and meaningful integration of AI tools across both public and private sectors, in the areas of Health, Culture and Language and Sustainable Development, with a particular focus on supporting SMEs. These priorities are central to the European project coordinated by GRNET “Pharos AI Factory”, aiming to develop and implement innovative Artificial Intelligence solutions for public services and industry. He also supported the discussion concerning the need to redesign policy frameworks to enable faster and fairer adoption of AI enabled technology in all sectors boosting technological advancement.

The event served as an important forum for dialogue on the role of AI in the broader European and national context, advancing the discussion on policies, strategies, and social implications of the rapidly evolving technological landscape.