News

In a visit of high symbolic significance, confirming Greece’s pivotal role on the European map of innovation and digital sovereignty, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, visited the Athena Research Center, and specifically its Archimedes Unit. She was accompanied by the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou.

 

The visit took place as part of her official presence in Athens and her meetings with the Greek Government. Discussions focused on the European strategy for Artificial Intelligence (AI), the strengthening of AI Factories, cybersecurity, and technological defense. Particular emphasis was placed on the fact that Greece has been selected to host Pharos, one of Europe’s first AI Factories.

 

Welcoming her to Athena, Prof. Ioannis Emiris, President and General Director of the Athena Research Center (2021–2025), presented the organization’s strategic direction, highlighting its role as a national and European hub for research and innovation in fields such as artificial intelligence, language technology, computational science, and applications of public interest.

 

Prof. Timos Sellis, Director of the Archimedes Research Unit, spoke about achieving the goal of creating a community of excellence in Artificial Intelligence and connecting it with Greek academics of the diaspora. He emphasized the unique opportunities offered to Greek students to conduct high-quality AI research in Greece and referred to the initiative to design and organize the 1st Panhellenic Student Competition in Artificial Intelligence.

 

Minister Dimitris Papastergiou underlined Greece’s upgraded position in the EU’s emerging technological landscape through the implementation of a coherent national AI strategy, based on investments in infrastructure, data, and expertise.

 

Particular attention was given to the presentation of “Pharos: The Greek AI Factory in the European Language Data Space” by Vassilis Katsouros, Director of Athena’s Institute for Language and Speech Processing. Pharos represents a strategic Greek contribution to the European AI Factory ecosystem, focusing on key sectors such as Health, the Greek Language and Culture, Sustainable Development, and Cybersecurity, leveraging high-performance computing infrastructures and Greek data resources.

 

In the second part of the visit, three doctoral candidates and fellows of the Archimedes Unit presented indicative examples of AI applications in critical areas:

Commissioner Henna Virkkunen engaged in discussion with the researchers and concluded her visit expressing her enthusiasm, recognizing the dynamism of the Greek AI ecosystem and the leading role of the Athena Research Center on Europe’s innovation front - focused on democracy, security, and technological autonomy.