Productive Meeting of the Enterprise Europe Network Hellas Consortium

At FORTH and H2B HUB in Heraklion, Crete, the Greek consortium Enterprise Europe Network Hellas discussed the progress of the EEN 2025 project over two days, May 16-17, 2024. The discussions highlighted women's empowerment in entrepreneurship, digital transformation, methodologies and tools for supporting startups, the use of popular AI applications to increase productivity, and the role of innovation clusters.

The 5th consortium meeting for the 2022-2025 period was successfully organized by the PRAXI Network and the Heraklion Chamber of Commerce in an environment of knowledge exchange, mutual understanding, and support. The event was attended by European Commission officials, consortium members, and the local innovation ecosystem.

From the National Documentation Centre (EKT), Angelos Angelidis, project team coordinator, and Panagiotis Frantzis, Communications Manager of the Greek consortium, participated.

Panagiotis Frantzis presented best practices for leveraging AI applications to boost productivity.

The first day began with updates from European Commission representatives. Mariella Masselink, Head of Unit D.2. of DG GROW - Industrial Forum, Alliances, Clusters, spoke remotely, while Natalia Martínez Páramo, Head of the SMP/SME Pillar Unit of EISMEA - Internal Market and Support to Standardisation, attended the meeting in person.

The program included interesting presentations and discussions, emphasizing the importance of communication and information exchange with institutions and initiatives within the innovation system.

European Digital Innovation Hubs: Ioannis Amarantidis, Senior Project Manager at Greece's first European Digital Innovation Hub in Agri-Food, DigiAgriFood EDIH, discussed synergies between European Digital Innovation Hubs and EEN.

Greek Digital Health Cluster: George Dimitriou presented developments and initiatives within the Greek Digital Health Cluster.

Women's Entrepreneurship: Natasa Grigoraki and Eri Pavlaki were applauded for presenting the successful Women Do Business initiative, highlighting the importance of empowering women in entrepreneurship.

Snapshot from the consortium meeting at H2B HUB in Heraklion. 

Project Progress and Artificial Intelligence

The second day focused on internal consortium matters, supplemented by presentations and information on services tailored to the startup community and the utilization of AI.

Work Package Overview: Consortium coordinator Dr. Achilleas Barlas and Maki Tikfesis, an EU official overseeing the Greek consortium, presented progress details, Greece's participation in the network's overall results, and management issues, ensuring all consortium members are aligned and well-informed.

Lean Startup Methodology: Christos Arapis, Innovation and Development Specialist at Innovate UK Business Growth, presented the Lean Startup methodology, analyzing examples of successful startups and explaining lessons learned from how they tested and developed their ideas and products.

AI Tools Workshop: Panagiotis Frantzis presented methodologies and practical ways to utilize AI tools to increase productivity and foster collaborative functioning among the Communications team members, emphasizing the cultural shift these tools can bring to organizations.

Hellenic Development Bank of Investments: George Bakis highlighted funding opportunities from venture capital and private equity, which can be leveraged for the further development of ambitious, innovative businesses.

The customary group photo of the Enterprise Europe Network Hellas consortium, this time at FORTH facilities. 

Overall, the Enterprise Europe Network Hellas consortium meeting in Heraklion provided the necessary momentum for the successful continuation of the project and reminded all partners of the value of collaboration and information exchange with all stakeholders in the field of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises with innovation and extroversion potential.

Enterprise Europe Network Hellas

The Enterprise Europe Network is the largest business support network in the world. It consists of more than 450 partner organizations, 3,000 specialized staff, and 17 expert groups in corresponding business sectors.

The Enterprise Europe Network Hellas, the Greek node of the Enterprise Europe Network coordinated by EKT and the PRAXI Network, is a comprehensive business support network that has been supporting small and medium-sized enterprises with innovation potential since 2008. It comprises 16 organizations, including industry associations, research and technology institutions, and commercial and industrial chambers, distributed throughout Greece.