Youth entrepreneurship and the role of innovation in education were the main subjects of the events of ?Innovation Days 2008?, organised by Microsoft Hellas in Athens. Among the events realized at the newly inaugurated Microsoft Innovation Centre, the Greek innovation award Imagine Cup was granted to the 16-year old high school student, Antonis Platanios, who will represent Greece in the world finals of this year?s Imagine Cup competition with the ?Protasis? application for the home of the future.
Antonis Platanios presented 'Protasis' at this year?s competition which focused on the Environment and was sponsored by WWF-Hellas. ?Protasis? involves a system for saving energy from household appliances. Sensors and microcontrollers with a wireless connection were used, centrally controlled by a computer. This system, which automatically controls electronic appliances and aims at reducing power consumption and facilitating daily life was planned and developed by the 16-year old student himself.
The second place was awarded to the group of students from the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory of the Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics of the Patras Polytechnic. Their proposal, entitled 'Be Natural' involves a system for informing consumers regarding the environmental characteristics of products through mobile telephony and wireless connection. Third place was awarded to the ?e-recycle? system proposed by students of the Informatics Department of the Technological Educational Institute of Athens, relating to a system of recycled products management.
The events took place under the auspices of the Ministry for Development, the ?Digital Greece? programme of the Special Secretariat for Digital Planning of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Federation of Hellenic Information Technology and Communications Enterprises (SEPE) and the Youth Entrepreneurship Society (SEN). This year?s 'Innovation Days' attracted representatives from both the public and private sector, as well as young entrepreneurs and representatives of youth associations.
The central speaker on the first day of the event was the Minister for Development, Mr. Christos Folias, who referred to the need to reinforce and promote innovative enterprise ideas developed by young people for the growth of the Greek economy. Among other things, Mr. Folias stated, ?while creativity is the birth of a set of new ideas and inspiration, innovation is the application of creative ideas in practice, the creation of a commercial product from an invention. This ascribes added value and is the foundation on which the ability of an economy to be renewed and evolve is based. It is the basis for competitive, extrovert economies and enterprises and the creation of new job positions.?
The President of Microsoft for Central and Eastern Europe, Jan Muehlfeit, presented the initiatives being developed by Microsoft on a European level, which promote youth innovation and creativity. In turn, Mr. Dimosthenes Anagnostopoulos, Secretary General for Information Systems of the Ministry of Economy and Finance analysed the potential of making use of new technologies for the development of innovative practices and activities.
The presentations were followed by discussions on special subject areas (tools for the development of youth entrepreneurship, activities of youth entrepreneurship bodies, pioneering entrepreneurial activities developed by young people). At the same time, in a special area of the Innovation Centre, the public had the opportunity to learn about innovative applications, such as the Worldwide Telescope which provides the unique opportunity to explore the Universe with three-dimensional photographs from major observatories in the world, the Smart House which allows the allocation of household operations through a central control system, Robot, which is a robot-forklift that can transfer containers to a model-storage space and Classmate PC which is a student computer that reinforces the education process and more.
At the centre of events during the second day, was the role of innovation in education and academic research, as well as the development of innovative technological solutions in fighting environmental problems. The central speaker was the Deputy Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs, Mr. Andreas Lykourentzos, who referred to the need for integrating technological achievements in education. PASOK MP, Ms. Anna Diamantopoulou also pointed out that ?Greece needs initiatives that will reinforce the development of innovation.?
A discussion followed regarding the usefulness of developing innovative technological applications in fighting contemporary problems, with a greater emphasis on issues related to environmental protection. The following persons took part in the discussion: Mr. Kostas Doukas, President and Managing Director of Information Society SA, Mr. Tasos Kafantaris, Science and Technology Analyst for the newspaper ?To Vima? and Innovative Planning and Development Consultant, Mr. Achilleas Plitharas, Director of Strategy Policy for WWF-Hellas and Mr. Vasilis Nikolopoulos, PhD candidate at the National Technical University of Athens.
The Innovation Days were concluded with the award conferred by the Minister for Employment and Social Welfare, Ms. Fani Palli-Petralia upon the winner, Antonis Platanios, who will represent Greece in the world finals of the Imagine Cup in Paris in July. It is noted that the subject of this year?s Imagine Cup competition was ?Imagine a world where technology will ensure environmental protection?, with an ecological theme and the aim of developing solutions that may contribute to facing environmental problems.