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The Athena Research Center participated prominently in the 89th Thessaloniki International Fair (September 6–14, 2025), within the pavilion of the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation. Athena’s presence highlighted its commitment to research excellence, innovation, and digital transformation, while also emphasizing its contribution to shaping the future of the Greek economy and society.

 

The President and Director General during 2021–2025, and Professor at the University of Athens, Mr. Ioannis Emiris, represented Athena at the opening event organized by the Ministry of Development and the GGRI on Saturday, September 6, 2025.

 

In his speech, Mr. Emiris discussed Athena’s contributions to research and innovation, emphasizing the responsibility that research centers have toward society, notably stating: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

 

Mr. Emiris highlighted Athena’s role in shaping digital transformation and national digital readiness, placing particular emphasis on nurturing the next generation of scientists and reclaiming the Greek diaspora’s human capital. Additionally, he presented Athena’s significant national contributions to Artificial Intelligence and Open Science, referring to a range of achievements with direct societal applications, and stressing the importance of technology transfer and the effective utilization of research results through best practices and successful examples.

Athena’s presence was further enriched by researchers’ talks, a variety of exhibits, and parallel activities.

 

Professor Chrysostomos Stylios, Director of Athena’s Institute of Industrial Systems, participated in the event organized by the General Secretariat for the Management of EU Structural Funds Programs, Ministry of National Economy and Finance, on the theme: “From EU Funds to Resilient Societies: Creating Prospects for Competitiveness, Social Cohesion, Transport, Environment & Civil Protection,” on Saturday, September 6, 2025. During discussions with officials from Civil Protection and innovation sectors, Professor Stylios presented applications and potential uses of research results in critical areas for industry and the economy.

 

Odysseas Chlapanis, PhD candidate at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) and research associate at Athena’s Archimedes Unit, presented the legal chatbot Eureka, a tool that provides immediate and accurate responses to legal issues concerning taxation. Giorgos Moschovis, also a PhD candidate and research associate at the Archimedes Unit, presented the results of the Natural Language Processing team in automatically predicting medical tests and generating preliminary diagnoses from medical images. The tool provides doctors with a draft diagnosis, saving time and speeding up the process.

 

A highlight was Athena’s experimental autonomous driving technology vehicle, displayed outdoors at the fair, which attracted the attention of numerous visitors and political leaders. The vehicle, developed by Athena’s spin-off AviSense.AI, integrates semi-autonomous driving technologies, innovative sensors, and an augmented reality interface, presenting an accessible and reliable vision aimed at enhancing driver capabilities, improving road behavior, and contributing to safety. Behind the vehicle’s screens were Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Minister of Development Takis Theodorikakos, and Deputy Minister of Development Stavros Kalafatis. The Prime Minister showed great interest in the vehicle and the innovative technology behind it, highlighting the importance of Greek research in autonomous driving.

 

Athena showcased a range of exhibits covering a broad spectrum of technological fields. Visitors had the opportunity to interact with AI applications in healthcare and business administration, as well as open Large Language Models (LLMs) in the Greek language.

Additionally, several robotic systems for telesurgery and handling delicate objects, solutions for smart cities and digital twins of school buildings and industrial production lines, applications for sustainable tourism and cultural heritage preservation, and platforms for security event analysis and malware protection were presented.

 

As part of its presence in Thessaloniki, Athena organized the satellite event “LLMs Made in Greece: From Research to Entrepreneurship” on Monday, September 8, at the “Ypsilon” multipurpose venue in the city center. The event, aimed at the business, research, and technology communities, focused on Greek-language Large Language Models (LLMs), their prospects, and applications in the economy and society. More details on the event’s conclusions are available here.