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The British Council organized its third annual three-day event focused on the use of emerging technologies for the common good, held from December 10-12, 2024. The event took place at the Eugenides Foundation, where 30 young people from the fields of technology, social sciences, and communication had the opportunity to collaborate in teams and create original videos with their messages on how emerging technologies can be used for the benefit of humanity.

 

The event was organized under the Youth Connect | Tech for Humanity program by the British Council. Participants explored questions such as "How can humanity influence the emerging technological wave?", "How can we predict and guide the impact of artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum and other new technologies?", and "How can we ensure technology serves the common good and empowers people?".

 

The event was hosted at the Eugenides Foundation, in collaboration with the Athena Research Center, the Laboratory of Administrative Science, Department of Administrative Science and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business, the Advertising & Public Relations Laboratory (ADandPRLAB), and the Cultural Informatics, Data & Digital Cultural Studies (CID-CCS Lab), Department of Communication, Media, and Culture, Panteion University, with the support of Navarino and under the auspices of the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Education, Religion, and Sports.

 

The event was opened with a letter from the Chairman of the Eugenides Foundation, Professor Ioannis Gkollias, and greetings from Anastasia Andritsou, Director of the British Council, and Mr. Tasos Patrikakos, Head of Communication Department, Athena RC.

 

An interesting series of talks followed on the increasing role of technology in various aspects of society, science, and different professional sectors by distinguished speakers Mario Dafnomilis, Special Advisor to the Presidency of the Government, Special Secretariat for Long-term Planning, Giorgos Karas, Associate Professor at the University of Thessaly Department of Informatics & Telecommunications and Scientific Advisor at the Eugenides Foundation, Georgia Koutrika, Director of Research at Athena Research Center, and Ioannis Vamvakakis, Business Development Manager at Navarino.

 

The participants then took part in a workshop on the importance of communication titled "CREATIVITY: The Art of Storytelling" by Giannis Sorotos and Eric Parks from ADandPRLAB. The ClimateProof Foundation team with their idea for creating a foundation supporting resilience in the climate crisis through technology and science won first place and the grand prize, a study visit to Edinburgh in 2025!

 

Other ideas that emerged included reducing microplastics with the help of artificial intelligence, enhancing dementia care and optimizing daily life, minimizing food waste, and skills development in the workplace.

 

The jury, which selected the winners, included British hackathon coordinator Mike Lloyd, founder of Learn Tech io, AI expert, Microsoft collaborator, and Fellow at the British Computer Society, Elena Zaglaridou from Microsoft, Georgios Ioannou, Professor of Production Management and Business Processes at the Athens University of Economics and Business, Kostas Karpouzis, Associate Professor of Cultural Informatics, Department of Communication, Media and Culture, Panteion University, Georgios Karas, Scientific Advisor at the Eugenides Foundation, and Betty Tsakarestou, Associate Professor at the Department of Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University and Head of ADandPRLAB.

 

The teams were supported by experts and valuable guidance from Athena Research Center researchers Maria-Olympia Katsouli and Conrad Landis, and Faye Orfano, Tasos Giannaros, Konstantina Koutsioumba from Science-2-Business.