TF 2026 | Program
Program at a Glance
13th Technology Forum
22th May | Friday
Apothiki D | Thessaloniki Port
09:00 – 10:00
REGISTRATIONS
09:30 – 10:00
COFFEE
10:00 – 10:30
OPENING
Stavros Kalafatis
Deputy Minister of Development
Athina Aidona
Governor, Region of Central Macedonia
Stelios Aggeloudis
Mayor of Thessaloniki
Dimitris Terzis
Secretary General for Research and Innovation
10:30 – 11:00
Aliki Foinikopoulou
Head of the Global Public Policy team, Salesforce
Keynote Speaker 1
The agentic revolution: Building trust and opportunity in the era of AI agents
11:00 – 11:10
Spyros Tzelepis
Deputy Mayor for Innovation
& New Entrepreneurship
Innovation & New Entrepreneurship
Municipal Innovation in Action:
The Example of OK!Thess
11:10 – 12:40
Stavros Mantzanakis
Technical Consultant, O.S.L.O Region of Central Macedonia I CEO, Helenos Consulting
Innovation for Society Awards – IFSAwards by RCM 2026
Facilitator: Stavros Mantzanakis
From Challenge Unveiling to Call 4 Solutions
11:10 – 11:25
Nikolaos Tzollas
Vice-Governor, Region of Central Macedonia
Presenting the Initiative
11:25 – 12:25
Challenge Owners
Experts & Audience
Reverse Pitching – Challenge Unveiling
Expert stress-test & audience interaction
12:25 – 12:40
Stavros Mantzanakis
Technical Consultant, O.S.L.O
Region of Central Macedonia,
CEO, Helenos Consulting
Next Steps
/ Open call 4 solutions
12:40 – 13:45
LUNCH BREAK
13:45 – 15:15
Konstantinos Fouskas
Head of Technology Transfer Office, University of Macedonia
From Lab to Market:
Innovating Through Technology Transfer
Facilitator: Konstantinos Fouskas
From Challenge Unveiling to Call 4 Solutions
13:45 – 14:00
Dr. Katerina Papadopoulou
Head of Technology Transfer Office, CERTH
Coordinator of SPIRA+ TTOs Network
Introduction:
The Role of Technology Transfer Offices
(TTOs) in the Innovation Ecosystem
14:00 – 14:55
Moderator: Eri Toka
Head of Technology Transfer
and Innovation Unit, AUTH
Success Stories:
Συνεργασίες ερευνητικών ομάδων
με βιομηχανία και spin-offs
Patroklos Vareltzis
Assistant Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Co-founder of POSSi
Nikolaos Fachantidis
Professor, Department of Educational & Social Policy, University of Macedonia
Nikolaos Kladovasilakis
Assistant Professor, Department of Supply Chain Management, International Hellenic University
Konstantinos Karystinakis
Business Developer CDXi Solutions P.C.
Panagiotis Sarigiannidis
Full Professor, University of Western Macedonia, Co-founder of MetaMind Innovations
14:55 – 15:05
Dr. Antonios Gypakis
Head of Planning and Programming for Research and Innovation Directorate GENERAL SECRETARIAT FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
The importance of designing policies and actions to leverage research results
15:05 – 15:15
Konstantinos Fouskas
Head of Technology Transfer Office
University of Macedonia
Q & A / Conversation
15:15 – 15:45
COFFEE BREAK
Moderator: Nikos Katsiadakis
Ecosystem Development,
Thess INTEC
15:45 – 15:55
Alexandra Gouta
Financial & Technology News Editor
AGI or Physical AI? Two bets on the future of AI
15:55 – 16:40
Paul Jansen
Associate Director Organised Innovation Spaces, ARUP
Keynote Speaker 2
Orchestrating, Scaling and Governing Innovation Ecosystems
– Enabling and constraining factors.
Some first views for Thessaloniki’s innovation ecosystem
16:40 – 17:35
Alexandra Gouta
Financial & Technology News Editor
How can juniors collaborate with modern AI tools rather than be replaced by them?
Moderator: Alexandra Gouta
Round Table
Aliki Foinikopoulou
Head of the Global Public Policy team, Salesforce
Kostas Malamas
CEO at Dataviva
Anastasios Manos
CEO at Dataviva
17:35 – 18:35
European Innovation Council (EIC)
17:35 – 17:45
Vaya Piteli
Technology Transfer Consultant, National Contact Point for Horizon Europe, PRAXI Network / FORTH
What’s right for you?
16:40 – 17:35
George Kotrotsios
National Representative of Greece for ERC & EIC; Former Vice-President and Member of the Executive Committee,
Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM); Vice-President, Hellenic Chip Competence Center (HCCC); Member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
IC-Ready or Not Yet?
Τι Χρειάζεται η Ελληνική Καινοτομία
για να Ξεκλειδώσει τις Ευκαιρίες του EIC;
Moderator: George Kotrotsios
Round Table
Stavros Kalafatis
Deputy Minister of Development
(tbc)
Evangelos Bekiaris
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH)
Manolis Frantzerkakis
Vaya Piteli
Technology Transfer Consultant, PRAXI Network / FORTH)
Panayiotis H. Ketikidis
National Representative of Greece, European Innovation Council (EIC); President of Alexander Innovation Zone;
Professor of Innovation and Technology, University of York Europe Campus; Member of the National Council for Research, Technology and Innovation (NCRTI)
18:35 – 18:40
Closing remarks from TF Organizing Committee
Dr. Simos Veloudis
Associate Professor, University of York
Europe Campus
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