Report on Innovation Northern Greece 6.0
The two-day conference "Innovation Northern Greece 6.0: AI the day after” was crowned with success and well attended. The conference was held on Wednesday 28 May at OK!Thess, and on Thursday 29 May 2025 at the Alexander Innovation Zone, with 52 speakers participating in 11 panels, and attended by 225 participants. The conference is an initiative of Smart Attica EDIH, co-financed by the European Union and co-organized by NBG Business Seeds, OK!Thess, the Alexander Innovation Zone, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Macedonia, CERTH, HDBI, Uni.fund, Metallon, L-Stone Capital, and the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.
The “OK!Thess” was opened with welcome speeches by Mr. Stavros Kalafatis, Deputy Minister for Development, Mr. Pantelis Kazantzidis, Deputy Mayor of Thessaloniki, Mr. Nikos Tzollas, Deputy Regional Governor of Central Macedonia, Mr. Haralambos Feidas, Rector at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Mr. Savvas Pasaloglou, NBG Regional Manager. The “Alexander Innovation Zone” was opened by Mr. Kostas Gkioulekas Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Dr. Evangelos Bekiaris, Chairman of the Board of CERTH, Professor Alexandros Chatzigeorgiou, Vice Rector of Extroversion University of Macedonia, and Dr. Panagiotis Ketikidis, Chair of the Alexander Innovation Zone.
In parallel with the conference, executives of NBG Business Seeds and partner Funds, Uni.fund, Metavallon, L-Stone, Evercurious, Loggerhead, Investing for Purpose, TecsCapital and Genesis Ventures visited the research laboratories of the Center for Research & Technology Hellas of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, of the American Farm School, of the International Hellenic University, and of the University of Macedonia.
On Tuesday 27 May, they visited five research laboratories at CERTH. On Wednesday 28 May, the group toured the facilities of the International Hellenic University of Thessaloniki in Sindos, where they were introduced to the research outcomes of ten scientific teams. The day concluded with a visit to the American Farm School. On Thursday 29 May, they visited five research laboratories at the University of Macedonia. The tour concluded on Friday 30 May at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation (CIRI) of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, featuring visits to laboratories and presentations of outcomes from 21 research teams.
