Athena Forum 2024: Inventing the Future - Highlights
The Athena Forum 2024 opened on November 28 at the Benaki Museum Cultural Center, with a strong turnout highlighting Athena's significant impact on the country's research landscape, as well as the public’s interest in new technologies and scientific research.
The event began with a speech by the Deputy Minister for Development, Ms. Zoi Rapti, who praised Athena’s role in Greece’s technological advancements, saying: “Athena operates as a beacon of applied research and innovation for our country.”
Following this, the Minister for Digital Governance, Mr. Dimitris Papastergiou, in his detailed presentation on Greece’s prospects in the era of artificial intelligence and digital transition, expressed confidence that a new channel for more frequent meetings was opening with the creation of AI Factories, in which Athena will play a key role. The ultimate goal is to "align our efforts in Artificial Intelligence" he emphasized, stating, “We have the talent, we have the strategy, now we must find solutions.”
Next, the President and General Director of Athena, Professor Ioannis Emiris, highlighted: “We have a responsibility towards the State and society to offer technologies and AI tools, while also safeguarding and protecting the country from potential risks.”
The first panel discussion of the event, moderated by the former President of Athena and Professor at NKUA, Mr. Yannis Ioannidis, focused on Culture as an achievement and way of life, Sustainability as a goal, and the "dance" between them, i.e., their interaction. It was discussed how the development and expansion of technologies in various human activity sectors can help protect cultural heritage, predict risk factors, and contribute to circular economy practices and achieving sustainable development goals. Technologies like digital twins, Big Data analysis, and Artificial Intelligence promise to improve lifestyles and foster a more sustainable world.
The next discussion started with a brief greeting from the President of the Special Permanent Committee on Research and Innovation of the Greek Parliament, Mr. Stratos Simopoulos, who expressed concern about the level of innovation generated by research, stating that this needs to change. The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Emerging Technologies discussed in the subsequent session, led by Professor Christos Stylios, Director of INVIS, raised high expectations. The challenges and prospects of integrating robotic systems into the Greek industry were discussed, along with the technologies currently being developed in the field of robotics (co-robots, humanoid robots, agricultural robots, etc.). The contribution of Artificial Intelligence to sustainable production was also emphasized. A shared acknowledgment of progress towards greater integration of research with industry was agreed upon, to meet the real needs of society in the Fourth and upcoming Fifth Industrial Revolution, where technologies will support human decision-making processes.
The Deputy Minister for National Economy and Finance, Mr. Christos Dimas, highlighted the efforts made in recent years in the country to strengthen research and innovation, with continuous increases in tax and other incentives that encourage investment and attract capital to this critical sector.
With the recent Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry marking a new era of AI contributions to research and innovation, Professor Andreas Boudouvis, former Rector of NTUA, delivered an extensive discussion on supporting and encouraging innovation, as well as its commercialization at both European and national levels. He reviewed existing conditions that hinder the development of innovation in relation to the international environment, concluding that significant but not necessarily sufficient efforts are being made to establish an effective research, entrepreneurship, and innovation ecosystem. Mr. Bountouvis, who began his speech by highlighting Athena's impressive developmental progress and its leading position in the field of digital sciences and technologies, concluded by emphasizing the urgent need to attract new, capable, and modernly trained scientists to the universities.
Mr. Timos Sellis, Scientific Director of the Archimedes Unit, moderated an insightful discussion on Big Data and Life Sciences. As mentioned, the most valuable data are those that describe human activity. However, these data pose the greatest challenges in terms of management and processing. For optimal utilization and to address these challenges, these data need to be distributed. The application of a regulatory framework, combined with experienced management, provides valuable insights for analysis systems. As a final point, Big Data were recognized as the cornerstone of healthcare, and their application leads to better prevention and prediction.
Athena also made notable strides in the development of Large Language Models. The research center has developed the first open Large Language Model for the Greek language. A thematic panel moderated by Mr. Stelios Piperidis focused on various models developed to act as productive assistants in business, research, and various fields. The discussion examined specialized language models, which operate individually or in combination to provide solutions to specific problems, as well as multimodal models used in medicine and autonomous systems. The risks related to LLMs were analyzed, and the need for developing such models for languages like Greek was emphasized.
Ms. Evgenia Bozou, Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Google in Greece, Cyprus, and Malta, in her speech highlighted that Artificial Intelligence can significantly contribute to technological progress. She stated that at Google, they leverage the power of AI to accelerate technological advancements and improve the lives of more people. Tools such as AlphaFold, Neuroglancer, and GraphCast are open-access systems that have the potential to benefit all of humanity.
The final panel of Athena Forum 2024, moderated by Mr. Nasos Katsamanis, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Language and Speech Processing, tackled one of the most crucial stages of innovation and research outcomes: crossing the "Valley of Death" and achieving the much-needed Product-Market Fit. What are the key traits that make a successful entrepreneurial team? What are the essential factors that contribute to its success? What role do the members and research centers play in strengthening entrepreneurial endeavors? Tools, stages, and barriers such as Goal Myopia and the lack of Freedom to Operate were thoroughly discussed by a strong panel with significant experience in navigating the "Valley of Death" - a thought-provoking conclusion to an event that brought research and the public together.
The event concluded with a speech by the President and General Director of Athena, Professor Ioannis Emiris, who emphasized one of Athena's key features: its national outreach. He highlighted that the dynamic growth and progress Athena has demonstrated in the last five years has led to a doubling of both its human resources and financial size, necessitating the upgrade of its existing facilities. He stressed that Athena’s mission focuses on applied research while maintaining a commitment to basic research, which serves as the foundation for producing innovation with significant societal, cultural, quality of life, and sustainability outcomes. Professor Emiris closed his speech by emphasizing: "At Athena, we want to continue to help the country by providing powerful technologies with responsibility."
The event was followed by networking in the museum foyer, where Athena’s researchers presented their technological exhibits to the public.
You can watch each session you are interested in on our YouTube channel.
Photo highlights from Athena Forum 2024 are available on Athena’s Flickr account.