About our Conference

As the Metaverse is starting to have an effect on many sectors of industry and society with great impact and promise, we are increasingly seeing applications in culture and tourism, classrooms, hotels, cities, factories and many more.

Given its position and potential, Greece has a unique opportunity to embrace and lead these exciting new technologies and possibilities!

Our Conference “5G and the Metaverse” will focus on the latest trends in the Metaverse all over the world and showcase technologies and use-cases from Greece and abroad. It will include presentations from prominent public agents, scientists, organizations, technology vendors and startups.

We aim, through this event, to identify tangible projects which could be developed in Greece in collaboration with local and global technology partners.

AGENDA

09:00

09:00 – 09:30: Reception

09:30

09:30 – 10:10 - Opening Ceremony


  WATCH VIDEO

Didoe Prevedourou Managing Director
p-NET Emerging Networks & Applications
Dr. Christos Dimas Deputy Minister for Development and Investments
Research, Innovation and Technology
Ministry of Development and Investments (Remote - Video)
Dr. Athanasios Staveris-Polykalas Secretary General of Telecommunications & Posts
Ministry of Digital Governance
Prof. Athanasios Kyriazis General Secretary for Research and Innovation
Ministry of Development and Investments (Remote)
Fokion Zaimis Deputy Governor of Entrepreneurship, Research & Innovation
Region of Western Greece
Prof. Panagiotis Dimopoulos Vice Rector for Research and Development
University of Patras

Maggie Athanassiadi Director of Industry, Growth, Technology & Innovation
SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (Remote)
Prof. Emeritus Kleomenes Barlos Chairman of the Board
Federation of Enterprises and Industries of the Peloponnese and Western Greece (Remote)
Platon Marlafekas President
Chamber of Achaia (Remote)
Prof. Vassilios Loukopoulos President & CEO
Patras Science Park

10:10

10:10 – 11:25 Session 1 : 5G/6G for Digitalization of Vertical Sectors


  WATCH VIDEO

Prof. Spyros Denazis Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Patras
 Empowering Verticals through Experimentation
Pavlos Fournogerakis Program Officer
Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) (Remote)
 6G Research and Innovation in Europe
Dr. Ioannis Markopoulos Head EU & International Business
NOVA
 Towards 6G: Defining testbeds for Private Networks and the role of Digital Twins
Dr. Constantinos B. Papadias Scientific Director
The American College of Greece ACG Research Center (ACG-RC)
 Emerging communications and sensing techniques for Metaverse Environments
Dr. Kostas Katsaros Head of Technology
Digital Catapult UK (Remote)
 5G and the Metaverse - Lessons from the UK

11:25

11:25 – 11:45 : Coffee break

11:45

11:45 – 13:15 Session 2: Latest METAVERSE & XR Trends


  WATCH VIDEO

Marios Nicolaou Business Development Director
p-NET Emerging Networks & Applications
 Latest Trends in the Metaverse and XR
Jan-Erik Vinje Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
OnSiteViewer AS, Norway
Managing Director
Open AR Cloud Association
 The cutting edge of XR applications in Norway and possibilities for Greece
Rasmuss Filips Geks Digital Advisor to the Mayor of Riga
Riga City Council, Latvia (Remote)
 How to build a Metacity?
Prof. Vasos Vassiliou Associate Professor
Computer Science Department
University of Cyprus (Remote)
 Creating Immersive and Accessible Experiences in the Metaverse
Dr. Dimitrios Tzovaras Chairman of the Board of Directors
Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH)
 AI-driven enablers for improved QoS within the Metaverse
Dr. Vasileios Theodorou Master Research Engineer
Research & Development Unit
Telco Software Business Division
Intracom Telecom
 Next-generation extended reality (XR) for remote collaboration: The CORTEX² approach

13:15

13:15 – 14:00: Lunch

14:00

14:00 – 15:25 Session 3: METAVERSE for Culture & Tourism


  WATCH VIDEO

Dr. Sophia Kompotiati

&

Stavros Kalimeris		 Associate musicologist and Head of the Virtual Educational Museum
Greek National Opera


Technical Design Office Supervisor
Greek National Opera
 AR/VR Environments and the Greek National Opera
Prof. Panagiotis Parthenios Professor of Digital Technologies in Architectural Design
Director of the Digital Media Lab
Technical University of Crete
 Greek Case Studies: how can architects employ XR to transform Culture and Tourism?
Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis Professor
Director of the eTourism Lab
Deputy Director of the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research
Bournemouth University Business School (Remote)
 Latest trends of METAVERSE in Tourism
Dimitris Efraimoglou Managing Director
Foundation of the Hellenic World (Remote)
 How a digital native Cultural Centre  and Museum  is looking at  a Metaverse future
Dr. Maja Ćirć Independent Curator & Web 3.0 pioneer (Remote)
 Metaverse for Museums and the Arts

15:25

15:25 – 15:45 : Coffee break

15:45

15:45 – 17:15 Session 4: METAVERSE for Business & Society


  WATCH VIDEO

Anthony Karydis MSc, ASIS/FRPS / Founder & CEO
Mativision Limited
 The value of Immersive technologies in various sectors

Georgia Kotretsos Visual Artist / Publisher / Arts Interdisciplinary Research (AIR)
Member at the Research, Technology & Innovation Network (RTIN)
ACG 150
 Metaverse Academy 3.0
Yiannos Georgiades Co-Founder/Director
KV Kinisis Ventures Fund RAIF V.C.I.C. PLC (Remote)
 The importance of private equity in regional innovation and economy
Pieter van Ysseldijk Founder, Lawyer Financial Technology
Isonom Cooperative CH
 Winged Sandals for the Metaverse; an Electronic Identity Card for Decentralised Governance in Default-Trust Communities
Ioannis Papidis Chief Technology and Business Change Officer
Dixons South East Europe
 The Future of Retail: Building a Resilient Phygital Retailer
Prof. Nikos Mylonopoulos Professor of Digital Business
ALBA Graduate Business School
Director
SEV Center of Excellence in Creative Leadership (Remote)
 Leadership Challenges in the emerging Metaworld

17:15

17:15 – 18:00 Roundtable - How Greece can lead in 5G/6G and METAVERSE Technologies


  WATCH VIDEO




Moderator

Marios Nicolaou Business Development Director
p-NET Emerging Networks & Applications

Panelists

Dr. Athanasios Staveris-Polykalas Secretary General of Telecommunications & Posts
Ministry of Digital Governance
Dr. Ioannis Markopoulos Head EU & International Business
NOVA
Prof. Panagiotis Parthenios Professor of Digital Technologies in Architectural Design
Director of the Digital Media Lab
Technical University of Crete
Prof. Spyros Denazis Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Patras
Ioannis Papidis Chief Technology and Business Change Officer
Dixons South East Europe


Speakers


Managing Director
p-NET Emerging Networks & Applications
Didoe Prevedourou, MSc., is the Managing Director of π-NET. She is also Vice President of Innovation and Research at the CTiF Global Capsule, a global, collaborative, non-profit organization for cross-/inter-disciplinary research, education, and innovation. Didoe has extensive work experience in both academic and corporate environments. She has worked as a research scientist in numerous EU and nationally funded research projects, also in the roles of project coordinator and technical manager, as well as in industrial projects, covering diverse thematic areas in ICT and innovation management. Her research interests are in ICT and its applications in healthcare-wellness, the environment, education, and culture. She holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.

Secretary General of Telecommunications & Posts
Ministry of Digital Governance
Dr. Athanasios Staveris-Polykalas, completed his Bachelor Degree in Physics from University of Athens and Masters in Applied Physics and Mathematics from NTUA. He completed his PhD in High Energy Physics.
He worked as a researcher in the international experiment of CDF at Fermilab USA, under European Scholarship (RTN) and in co-operation with Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Pisa. Furthermore he has over 10 years professional experience in large scale ICT projects in private sector. He specializes in data analysis, use of AI and ML algorithms and Natural Language Processing.
From July 2019 to November 2020 he worked as Technology Advisor to the Minister of Digital Governance Hellenic Republic. Since November 2020, he holds the position of Secretary General of Telecoms and Posts, under the Ministry of Digital Governance – Hellenic Republic.
He is responsible for Space strategy implementation of Greece, Cyber Security, use of new technologies in telecommunications (AI/IoT) and the design of sustainable and resilient telecommunication infrastructures aligned with Secure Connectivity initiative, etc.

General Secretary for Research and Innovation
Ministry of Development and Investments (Remote)
Athanasios Kyriazis is a Professor at the Department of Statistics and Insurance Sciences at the University of Piraeus in the field of Applied Mathematics and New Technologies. He has graduated from the Department of Mathematics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and holds a PhD degree from the same Department. He has been a visiting researcher in Universities and Research Centers in the U.S.A. and Europe. He has taught a significant number of courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, as well as in training programs. He has supervised Doctoral Dissertations and Master’s theses, and has participated in several research programs as the Project Leader. His academic work includes four monographs, eight university textbooks and a great number of scientific publications and papers in international and Greek journals and in conference proceedings. He is an active participant in International and National Conferences and Seminars while he has been the national representative in a significant number of European and international institutions and working groups. In addition, he has participated in Ministerial Councils, meetings, official visits and international collaborations. He has served for several years as the General Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs as well as the Special Secretary for Higher Education at the same Ministry. Finally, he has been a consultant in companies and Institutions in relation to educational and training subjects.

Deputy Governor of Entrepreneurship, Research & Innovation
Region of Western Greece
Fokion A. Zaimis is Deputy Governor of Entrepreneurship, Research and Innovation of the Region of Western Greece and Vice-President of the CPMR IMC.
He is leading the initiative for the Tripoli-Patras Gas pipeline as well as a series of projects in the Interreg program and major regional construction and services projects. He represents the RWG in several bodies like the Kalavryta Ski Company, the Autodrome project, Achaiki Leader, VIOPA Industrial Park etc.
He holds a M.Sc. in Geology and attended the Athens University of Economics and Business MBA programme.
He is the President of the BoD and one of the founding partners of iForce Communications, S.A.
He successfully lobbied to bring the World Congress on Information Technology to Athens. He has worked with the European Commission - Directorate General XVII and was Head of the Department of European Affairs of DRM International S.A.
He is the writer of many articles on the new economy and cultural issues. He has submitted and managed a number of proposals in European programmes. He has coordinated more than 150 events and conferences mainly on financial, social, environmental and cultural issues. He is fluent in Greek, English, French and is learning Chinese.

Director of Industry, Growth, Technology & Innovation
SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises
Maggie Athanassiadi is Director of Industry, Growth, Technology & Innovation Division of SEV. She is responsible for industrial policy, growth strategies, investments, digital transformation, innovation, research commercialization and technology adoption. Her main efforts focus on increasing the share of industry in GDP, systematically strengthening investments, improving the digital maturity of enterprises, reinforcing the innovation ecosystem to scale up quickly and facilitating the transformation of research activities to value adding products and services.
She has extensive experience with business development as an entrepreneur herself.  She has established and managed production units in Greece and abroad and she has achieved extraordinary results in growth, revenue and operational performance, mainly based on extroversion, new technologies, Innovation and high-quality standards.
She has also worked as Senior Consultant, responsible for the project management of various operational and strategic consulting projects related to the reform, restructure and digitalization of the Greek Public sector.
She is a Chemical Engineer, ‎NTUA, and has a certificate in internal auditing for quality management systems.

Chairman of the Board
Federation of Enterprises and Industries of the Peloponnese and Western Greece
Professor Emeritus Kleomenes Barlos was born on March 20, 1949 in Patras. He received a BA in Chemistry and a PhD in Chemistry degree from the University of Munich in 1976, concerning the composition and fasmatoskopeia boranes, organophosphorus and organosilicon compounds.
In 1980, he joined the Organic Chemistry Laboratory of the University of Patras as Specialist and subsequently came to the rank of Professor. Since 1981, he teaches “Organic Chemistry” and “Peptide and Combinatorial Chemistry” at the University of Patras where he worked in the areas of amino acid derivatives, specialty polymers and synthesis of peptides and small proteins.
Moreover, he founded CBL Patras S.A. in 1990 with the business of which he is engaged to date.
Since 2015, he serves as Chairman of the Board, Federation of Industries of Peloponnese & Western Greece and from 2016, he is a member of the National Council for Research and Innovation of the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs.

Vice President of Loux Marlafekas SA
President of EFEPAE
President of Achaia Chamber (Remote)
Platon Marlafekas is Vice President of Loux Marlafekas SA, the largest 100% Greek soft drinks and juice company. In addition, he is President of EFEPAE (Intermediate Body of the Competitiveness/Entrepreneurship Business Program) since 2021 and since 2012 President of the Chamber of Achaia.
He was born Patras in 1972. He is a graduate of the Department of Business Administration & Organizations, and he has studied Computer Programming - Analysis and Marketing. He took over the company’s administration along with his brothers in 1989 and led Loux ever since to a dynamic growth path.
In addition to his capacity as President of EFEPAE and President of the Chamber of Achaia, he represents the Chamber of Achaia in the European Parliament within the European Parliament of Entrepreneurs of the European Chambers since 2016. He is President of the Regional Council of Chambers of Western Greece and since 2015 has been President of the "Management of European Programs of Western Greece - Peloponnese - Epirus and Ionian Islands", which is a partner of EFEPAE. He has been founding member and board member of the initiative "ELLA-DIKA MAS" since 2012.

President & CEO
Patras Science Park
Vsasilios C. Loukopoulos is a Full Professor in the Department of Physics of the University of Patras. He holds a BSc. in Physics and a PhD in Computational Fluid Dynamics from the Department of Physics of the University of Patras in Greece. He also holds two M.Sc. in “Theoretical, Computational Physics and Astrophysics” and “Quality Assurance”. He is Director of the Postgraduate Program in Advanced Studies in Physics. His Academic experience is long lasting in Higher Education at Undergraduate and Postgraduate Level. His research interests are concerned with: Fluid Mechanics, Computational Fluid Mechanics, Programming, Numerical Methods, Nanofluids, Electric/Magnetic Fluids and Biomechanics. Additionally, he has published over 90 original publications in international journals and conferences and has authored 4 books.
He is responsible for research programs and a member of national and international scientific associations. He has cooperated with institutions abroad, such as “The University of Western Australia” and the “University of Luxembourg.” He is a member of the Editorial Board of International Scientific Journals and Conferences. He is a reviewer of scientific articles in international scientific journals and conferences.
He has worked as a Consultant of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technological Development of Western Greece, which was a structure of the Ministry of Development. He also has occupied at the Development Company of Etoloakarnania (AN.AIT SA) as a Scientific & Technical Consultant, responsible for European Projects.

Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Patras

Spyros Denazis is a Professor at the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering of the University of Patras. In 1987 he received his degree in Mathematics from the University of Ioannina, and in 1993 his PhD from Bradford University, UK.
He worked in the research departments of Intracom from 1996 - 1997, and Hitachi Europe, in Cambridge, UK from 1998 – 2003 as a Senior Research Engineer, and then in Sophia Antipolis, France from 2004 – 2010, as a Research Consultant. During the period 1998 - 2001, he worked as an Industrial Research Fellow at the Center for Communications Systems Research, University of Cambridge.
Throughout his professional and academic career, he has worked on over 40 research projects, mostly European, while coordinating a few. Overall, his scientific work includes over 100 publications in international journals, conferences and book chapters. He is (co)publisher of 3 books, and holder of 1 patent, has participated/contributed to various standards such as IEEE, IETF, and ETSI. He has co-organized and served as chairman or member in many conferences and work symposia and has been invited to speak at many.
His current research interests and activities include areas such as 5G/6G, Experimental Testbeds (https://wiki.patras5g.eu/), NFV, SDN, Smart Cities and Cybersecurity. Today, he is the scientific coordinator of the new Competence Center, π-NET (www.p-net.gr) while he is also the coordinator of the European research project METACITIES. Together with his research team, he has designed and implemented two platforms for smart cities, sense.city (https://sense.city/) which is used by 10 municipalities and has over 15,000 users and SafeAmeA (www.safeamea.gr) a registration, organization and tracking service for people with disabilities.

Program Officer
Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) (Remote)
Pavlos Fournogerakis is a Program Officer in Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU).
His responsibilities include Horizon Europe programme management and implementation, contribution to research and policy activities in the area of connectivity/6G.
From 2012 to 2022 he held various positions in the CONNECT Directorate General of the European Commission and in the Research Executive Agency, where he was involved in the implementation of the 5G Public Private Partnership and cybersecurity programmes, research strategy and policy development in the areas of 5G and future networks, IoT and telecom/network security.
Prior to joining the European Commission, he has occupied several telecom engineering and project management positions in the Greek public sector, industry and academia. He holds a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Master of Business Administration, both from National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).

Head EU & International Business
NOVA
Dr. Ioannis Markopoulos is the Head of EU & International Business at NOVA. He holds an Electrical Engineering Degree and PhD from the National Technical University of Athens. He has had extensive participation in EU and local R&D projects as well as in commercial projects in the areas of 5G private networks and services, dataspaces, security and large ICT solutions. He has led the 5G-PPP task force on mapping network KPIs and the respective White Paper. He is collaborating with the Association of ICT Companies in Greece contributing to reports for the forthcoming national ICT strategy. He is a member of the Technical Chamber in Greece and PMI certified.

Scientific Director
The American College of Greece ACG Research Center (ACG-RC)
Dr. Constantinos B. Papadias is the Executive Director of the Research, Technology and Innovation Network (RTIN) of The American College of Greece (ACG), in Athens, Greece, since 2020. At ACG, he is also Scientific Director of the ACG Research Center (ACG-RC), Head of the Smart Wireless Future Technologies (SWIFT) Lab, Professor of Information Technology at Deree College and Associated Professor at Alba Graduate Business School (AGBS). Prior to these, he was the Dean of Athens Information Technology (AIT), in Athens, Greece, where he was also Professor and Head of the Broadband Wireless and Sensor Networks (B-WiSE) Research Group. He currently holds Adjunct Professorships at Aalborg University and at the University of Cyprus. He has been active in IT-related research, addressing areas such as signal processing and machine learning, wireless telecom systems & networks, biomedical engineering and energy efficient technologies for more than 30 years. He has published over 240 scientific papers, 12 patents and 4 books and has received over 10000 citations and several recognitions for his work, including 4 best paper awards. He has participated in and lead several EU-funded research projects, such as the recently completed project PAINLESS on the topic of energy autonomous infrastructure-less wireless networks (2018-2022) of which he was the Research Coordinator and the ongoing EU CHIST-ERA project FIREMAN on the topic of predictive maintenance via machine type wireless communication systems of which he is Technical Coordinator. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and of the European Alliance of Innovation. From 2020-2022 he was a member of Greece’s sectorial scientific council of Engineering Sciences, which supports the country’s National Council for Research and Innovation. He was recently elected Director- at-Large of the IEEE Signal Processing Society for Region 8 (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Head of Technology
Digital Catapult UK (Remote)
Dr. Kostas Katsaros has 10+ years of experience in wireless communications across industry and academia. At Digital Catapult, he provides oversight for 5G and beyond 5G system architecture and subsystem implementations. Specializing in new architectures using virtualisation and edge computing across industrial sectors. Has led research into the use of mobile edge computing to assist immersive applications (5G-Festival and VISTA projects). He has co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed technical articles and conference papers.

Business Development Director
p-NET Emerging Networks & Applications

Marios Nicolaou started his career at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey USA where he served as a Senior Manager for several years focusing on Innovation Management and Wireless Strategy. He was then promoted to Director at Bell Labs Consulting where he led the Wireless Strategy team delivering projects all across the world with leading Mobile Operators.
After a long (18+ year) career with Bell Labs, Marios undertook an exciting assignment with the Digital Catapult in the UK focusing on 5G for Vertical Sectors, after which he became an advisor to various Governments on the strategic introduction of 5G. During the last 3 years he is also on the Board of Directors of JCC Payment Systems. Marios holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of California and an MSc in Engineering Management from the University of Southern California.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
OnSiteViewer AS, Norway
Managing Director
Open AR Cloud Association

I'm passionate about open, interoperable, and ethical real-world reality computing to connect the physical and digital world (phygital) for the benefit of all. As the Director of the Open AR Cloud association, I'm currently volunteering to lead the effort to build city-scale prototypes of a reference Open Spatial Computing Platform built on a core set of universal standards and protocols around real-world pose (GeoPose), a real-time updated locally shared machine-readable world and seamless spatial discovery. My hope is that such efforts would contribute to a future decentralized “Open Reality Web Platform” inspired by the principles of the world wide web.  We want to repeat the success of the Open Web Platform but for reality computing to create an equally scalable and interoperable "Reality Web”.  
In my day job, I am the CEO of OnSiteViewer AS, a startup developing an OnSiteRealism technology platform set to bring an amazing capability to the phygital realm. One such use- case is to revolutionize urban planning using high-definition digital twins and AR-EdgeCloud technology for physically accurate real-time photorealistic on-site visualizations, another is allowing visitors to historical world heritage sites to experience buildings, statutes and monuments as they would have looked in their glory-days and even create photorealistic and massive re-creations of historical events that can be experienced at the sites they occurred.

Digital Advisor to the Mayor of Riga
Riga City Council, Latvia (Remote)
Rasmuss Filips Geks is the Digital Advisor to the Mayor of Riga. He has experience working on technology products, as well as policy analysis. Currently, Rasmuss oversees strategic innovation initiatives in Riga City, working on digital transformation, smart city, mobility, AR/VR, and 5G projects.

Associate Professor
Computer Science Department
University of Cyprus (Remote)

Dr. Vasos Vassiliou is an Associate Professor at the Computer Science Department of the University of Cyprus. He is the co-Director of the Networks Research Laboratory and the Group Leader of the Smart Networked Systems Research Group of the CYENS Research Center, situated in Nicosia, Cyprus. He has published more than 125 technical articles and scientific papers on topics that include Next Generation Network Architectures, Mobile Protocols, Mobile Networks, Wireless Communications, QoS, and Traffic Engineering for computer and telecommunication networks.
Dr. Vassiliou’s current research work is in the Next Generation Networks and the Internet of Things domains, where he and his team work on Security, Privacy, Mobility, Resource Management, and Data Management issues. He did undergraduate studies at the Higher Technical Institute (HND Electrical Engineering, 1993) and the University of South Florida (B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, 1997), and graduate studies with a partial CASP scholarship from the Cyprus Fulbright Commission at (M.Sc., 1999 and Ph.D., 2002 in Electrical and Computer Engineering). He is a Senior Member of IEEE and ACM, and participates in the Editorial Boards of several journals, including the Journal of Computer Communication (Elsevier) and the Technical Program Committees of several conferences, such as Globecom, ICC, WCNC, PIMRC, DCOSS and MedComNet.

Chairman of the Board of Directors
Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH)

Dr. Dimitrios Tzovaras is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas. He has conducted very important scientific and research work, which is summarized in 3 books, 55 book chapters, 250 publications in International Journals with Referees and 636 presentations in International Conferences with Referees.
His main research interests include network and visual analytics for computer vision, virtual and augmented reality, visual analytics, multidimensional data analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence. He is also deeply engaged in applied research aiming at providing innovative solutions in the fields of Energy, Medicine, Industry 4.0, Transport and Culture.
Since 1992 he has participated with his team in more than 300 Research and Development projects funded by the EU and the GSRI and has concluded industrial contracts with leading companies in the world, such as Samsung. He has an extensive management record having been the project coordinator and/or the technical/ scientific manager of 56 projects, during the last 5 years.
Dr. Dimitrios Tzovaras has concluded industrial contracts with leading companies in the world, such as Samsung, while he is actively involved in innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives. He is the co-founder of nine (9) spin-offs of CERTH/ITI and the initiator of one of the most innovative activities in the area of electronically equipped infrastructures in Greece, the near zero Energy Smart House, an officially recognized Digital Innovation Hub of the EU. He is also the coordinator of Mega Project 3, Artificial Intelligence and Simulation Applications of the 4 th Generation Technologic Park, ThessInTec.

Master Research Engineer
Research & Development Unit
Telco Software Business Division
Intracom Telecom

Vasileios Theodorou is a Master Research Engineer at Intracom Telecom, Greece, active in the areas of multi-access edge computing (MEC), data-driven systems, and network function virtualization (NFV) for 5G/6G networks. He has been a Research Associate at the Database Technologies and Information Management Group of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), Spain, conducting research on Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) and data quality, business process management and goal-oriented requirements engineering for data-intensive processes. He has also been a Research Assistant at the Adaptive Systems Research Lab of York University of Toronto, Canada, working on adaptive and autonomic architectures, performance modeling and evaluation, cloud computing and SDN security. He holds a Diploma (M.Sc. equivalent) (2010) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, a M.A. (2013) in Information Systems & Technology from York University, Canada and a joint Doctorate Degree (2017) – PhD from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain, and Dr.-Ing. from the Dresden University of Technology, Germany – on automating user-centered design of data-intensive processes. Dr. Theodorou participates standardization activities in ETSI ISGs and 6G-IA. He has authored publications in renowned international journals, conferences and workshops and has received numerous awards and scholarships for achieving academic excellence.

Associate musicologist and Head of the Virtual Educational Museum
Greek National Opera

Sophia Kompotiati studied at the Department of Music Studies, University of Athens, where she also completed her PhD. From 2006 to 2008 she taught at the Department of Folk Music of the Technological University of Epirus, Greece. She has participated in numerous conferences in Greece and abroad and has worked as a musicologist in many research programs. Moreover, she has cooperated with prestigious cultural foundations, institutes, music labels, printing houses, GNOs. Her texts about music in/as culture, music-space-identity, cultural geographies, archiving and digitalization, as well as about the history of the Greek National Opera have been published in magazines and newspapers in Greece and abroad. She is head of the Virtual Educational Museum, she has been co-coordinator of the Virtual tour, while currently she works for Maria Callas tribute, all projects of the Greek National Opera.

Technical Design Office Supervisor
Greek National Opera

Stavros Kalimeris works as the Supervisor of the Technical Design Office at the Greek National Opera. He graduated from the Civil Engineering School of NTUA (2010) and received his Master’s Degree in “History and Philosophy of Technology” from UOA (2012). Since 2013, he has been working in Film-TV, Opera and Art constructions as a technician, 3D CAD designer and technical consultant. Stavros has worked as a Technical Design Office collaborator for the Belgian Opera House, La Monnaie (2016) and Documenta 14 exhibition in Kassel (2017). He is specialized in 3D CAD, Digital Fabrication and Construction Management for event special constructions. His interests lie in the interfaces of materials and data flows such as Computational Design, Augmented Reality and Physical Computing. Stavros speaks English, French, German, Greek and Python.

Professor of Digital Technologies in Architectural Design
Director of the Digital Media Lab
Technical University of Crete

Panagiotis (Panos) Parthenios is a Professor of Digital Media in Architectural Design at the School of Architecture, Technical University of Crete, where he teaches since 2009. He received a Diploma of Architecture from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a Master in Design Studies from Harvard Design School and a Doctor of Design on Conceptual Design Tools for Architects from Harvard Design School. He has conducted research at the Harvard Center for Design Informatics on Advanced 3D Modeling Techniques, Object Oriented CAD (Early BIM) and Model Based Collaboration.
A 2000 Fulbrighter, he has been awarded the 2001 Harvard Digital Media Prize and the 2002 National Internet and Digital Media Prize in Greece. He has been selected among Europe’s 40 most important emerging young architects for 2009, receiving the “Europe 40 Under 40” Award from the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
He serves as the Director of the Digital Media Lab at the School of Architecture since 2010. From 2016 until 2020 he served as the Director of the Post Graduate Studies Program, where he teaches Information Technologies and Cultural Heritage, and Advanced Digital Media.
His research interests focus on Advanced Digital Media, Building Information Modeling, Digital Twins, Digital Cultural Heritage, Music and Architecture, Smart Buildings and Smart Cities, Sustainable Design. He has supervised Doctoral and Post-doctoral research on Advanced Digital Media and Digital Cultural Heritage, while he has served as a reviewer for well-established scientific journals and conferences in the fields of Computational Design, Virtual, Augmented and Extended Reality and Digital Cultural Heritage. He is a member of the INNOVA Center (European Centre for Innovation in Virtual Archaeology). He has been the principal investigator on research projects in Advanced Digital Media, such as the Virtual Reality Online Collaborative Environment for designing, analyzing and modeling buildings and monuments, and the Crete3D: An online platform for the 3D representation of the monuments of Crete.

Professor
Director of the eTourism Lab
Deputy Director of the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research
Bournemouth University Business School (Remote)

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis is Director of the eTourism Lab and Deputy Director of the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research, at  Bournemouth University Business School in England. He is a Strategic Management and Marketing expert with specialisation in Information Communication Technology applications in the Tourism, Travel, Hospitality and Leisure industries. He is the Editor in Chief of Tourism Review and the Editor in Chief of the  Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing . 
Professor Buhalis has written and co-edited more than 25 books and 400 scientific articles. Professor Dimitrios Buhalis was recognised as a Highly Cited Researcher 2020, 2021 and 2022 by Clarivate™. He is featured in the Stanford University’s database of the world’s top 2% of scientists. He is the 3rd most cited for tourism, 2nd most cited for hospitality, 10th on strategy, and 29th in Marketing on Google Scholar with more than 59000 citations and h- index 104. He was also ranked #5 in the UK and #46 in the world in the Business and Management Scientists list by  Research.com. For more information, books, articles and presentations see  www.buhalis.com.

Managing Director
Foundation of the Hellenic World (Remote)
Dimitris Efraimoglou is the Managing Director of the Foundation of Hellenic World. He is Head of the research-scientific programs of the Foundation of Hellenic World and Director of the Center for Research, Development and Excellence in Virtual and Augmented Reality at the Cultural Center “HELLENIC WORLD”, one of the most ambitious research programs and innovation.
He is Vice President of the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation “B. Papantoniou “, as well as to the” Filotis “Association for the promotion of the Greek donation. He has been a member of the Council of Museums of the Ministry of Culture from 2006 to 2015 and a Member of the Board of Directors of KETHEA (Treatment Center for Addicts).
He is a pioneer in the design, development and use of new technologies in the service of Education and Culture. He has created interactive Virtual Reality tours in ancient cities and monuments of world cultural heritage, which are presented in the state-of-the-art “Dome” of Virtual Reality of the “Hellenic World” Cultural Center, and have won important awards and distinctions.
He has a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Boston University. He has authored numerous articles in the field of Virtual and Augmented Reality.

Independent Curator & Web 3.0 pioneer (Remote)
Maja Ćirić (PhD) is an independent curator & a Web 3.0 pioneer. The geopolitics of the curatorial, which were her primary field of expertise, has been upgraded recently to the multipolar geopolitics of planetary computation. She became involved in phygital (physical + digital) projects, conferences and exhibitions in the hybrid field of art + science + tech. She has experience in curating in the Metaverse.
Historically speaking, Maja was the curator (2007) and the commissioner (2013) of the Serbian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, the curator of Mediterranea Young Artist Biennale (2017), the curator of the 20th Pančevo Bienniale (2022). 
Maja's speaking engagements, were, amongst others, at MAC VAL (2017), Centre Pompidou (2018), MNAC Bucharest (2018), AICA Serbia Conference (2021), Zlin Digital Exhibition Design Conference (2021), Interact Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (2021), IKT Conference (2021), AICA Macedonia & Croatia Conference (2022). 
Maja's writing has been commissioned for FlashArt, Obieg, Artforum, Artmargins Online, Arts of the Working Class, springerin, Third Text etc. 
She is the recipient of the Lazar Trifunović Award, ArtsLink Independent Projects Award, ISCP Curator Award, Dedalus Foundation Curatorial Research Award, and Visual Artists Ireland Curator Award.
She is on the board of The ΤΕΛΟΣ SOCIETY, Arts & Culture Research Lab in Athens, Greece.

MSc, ASIS/FRPS / Founder & CEO
Mativision Limited

Anthony Karydis (MSc, Aeronautics, BSc, Electronic Engineering), is founder and Managing Director of London-based Mativision Limited (global leader in Immersive Tech, winner of the 2019 Digital Catapult Platinum Award and the SME News Business Elite Awards for London's Best VR Media Production Firm 2021 and London’s Best VR and Immersive Technology Specialist 2022). He has 30+ years of working experience, including flight control software for fighter aircraft simulators, managing multi-national European R&D projects, lecturing on Digital Media Production, and managing high-tech companies. He is a multi-awarded photographer, Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, holding its highest distinction of Accredited Senior Imaging Scientist (ASIS FRPS), and some of his other passions are cats, Jazz & Blues, electric guitars, and responsible motorcycling.

Visual Artist / Publisher / Arts Interdisciplinary Research (AIR)
Member at the Research, Technology & Innovation Network (RTIN)
ACG 150

Georgia Kotretsos is a visual artist, researcher and publisher based in Athens, Greece. Kotretsos holds an MFA Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the United States and a BFA Degree from the Durban Institute of Technology in KwaZulu Natal, in South Africa. She is a member of the Arts Interdisciplinary Research (AIR) team at the Research, Technology & Innovation Network, ACG 150 and an Associate lecturer in the Visual Arts Dept. of the Frances Rich School of Fine and Performing Arts at Deree - The American College of Greece.  
With her work, she critiques the conformity of seeing by studying, proposing and practicing liberating and anarchic approaches to looking at art. Through her research-based practice, she encourages speculative approaches to how knowledge is and/or could be produced in the physical and digital world. On object-based works, she is collaborating with the Ach Art Advisory in Athens, Greece. 
Her work has been presented at the: Onassis Art Center, NY; the Asian Society, NY; the 4th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art; the Tinguely Museum, Basel, La Kunsthalle Mulhouse; the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, and at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis among other institutions in Greece and abroad. 
Kotretsos is currently serving as the creative advisor for a socially engaged project on agrifood and innovation, and along with Maja Ćirić for the last two years, they are serving as the TTS creative advisors for an AI, Web3 international consortium.

Co-Founder/Director
KV Kinisis Ventures Fund RAIF V.C.I.C. PLC (Remote)
Yiannos Georgiades is the Managing Partner of the law firm Y. Georgiades & Associates LLC, which is based in Nicosia, Cyprus, with presence in the UK and Greece. He graduated from West London University (LL.B. Hons.) in 1989 and Inns of Court School of Law, Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, London (Barrister-at-Law) in 1990. Apart from becoming a Barrister, he has previously worked in a reputable solicitor’s firm in London, as well as worked as a visiting attorney at Corboy & Demetrio in Chicago and Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C. in the US. He has been practicing law since 1990 and his main focus of his law firm is on litigation, corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, IP and technology, medical law, real estate, ADR. He is a member of the Cyprus Bar Association, the Law Society in the UK as a European Registered Lawyer and President of the Cyprus Chapter of the European Court of Arbitration and Mediation for commercial disputes (CEAM). He is also the President of GLAWBUS Global Law and Business Organisation for lawyers and professionals. He is also listed as a legal professional representative before the European Patent Office, for the purpose of representing clients before the EPO. He is a co-founder of the business accelerator KV Kinisis Ventures Limited, which aims at scaling up innovative and technology companies to the US market. He is nominated advisor for the Emerging Companies Market (the ECM) of the Cyprus Stock Exchange and has been appointed to the CY-Biobank Independent Bioethics Advisory Board as part of the Centre of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research, co-founded by the European Commission, the Government of Cyprus and the University of Cyprus

Founder, Lawyer Financial Technology
Isonom Cooperative CH

Pieter van Ysseldijk was trained as as an EU lawyer in Brussels and London, and qualified as a SFA corporate finance and banking representative in London. During his career, Pieter has invested in, and co-developed, different technologies, and has managed his family group of shellfish farming and processing companies. Pieter served as a director on the board of asset management funds, a family office in Luxembourg and has volunteered for different non-profit organisations, such as 'THE ΤΕΛΟΣ SOCIETY, Arts & Culture Research Lab Observatorium '. Since 2017 Pieter has acted as a technology legal counsel from his base in Switzerland where he was responsible for the design of a novel concept for an electronic identity card for the offline exchange of uncertificated register securities on an innovative microledger- based infrastructure. Pieter holds a BSc.in European Law from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, a LL.M in Marine Insurance from the University of London and a MSc. in Investment Analysis from Stirling University.

Chief Technology and Business Change Officer
Dixons South East Europe

Ioannis Papidis holds the position of Chief Technology and Business Change Officer at Dixons SE Europe A.E.B.E. – Kotsovolos since October 2018.
During this period, Kotsovolos has been rapidly transforming its operating model and technology stack, leveraging on its traditional values and its culture of trust and innovation. Past positions include OTE Group (incumbent telco in Greece) starting from the Internet subsidiary OTEnet as IT Director and moving on to lead a total Enterprise architecture transformation effort within OTE Group including CRM transformation, Sales & Order Management, Workforce Management and Total Rebranding.
He also worked on Digital Transformation & Innovation subjects. He was involved in the formation of the strategy and vision of the company in its transition to the new digital era. He started his professional career in 1986 working for Commodore BM and participated in tech startups in the late 90s. Mr Papidis holds a Master degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor degree in IT Engineering.

Professor of Digital Business
ALBA Graduate Business School

Dr. Nikos Mylonopoulos is a Professor of Digital Business at ALBA Graduate Business School, The American College of Greece and Director of the SEV Center of Excellence in Creative Leadership. He has teaching and research interests in the areas of Digital Business, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Systems, and Mobile Services. He has taught at Warwick Business School, Sheffield University Management School, Loughborough University Business School, Birkbeck College (University of London), Kedge Business School, and the Athens University of Economics and Business. He delivers Executive Education seminars to senior leaders of global companies in banking, pharma, industrials, IT, and others. His teaching makes use of computer-based business simulations (by INSEAD/CALT, Harvard Business School, and the ERPSim Lab at HEC Montreal). His research has been published in international refereed journals and conferences, including Management Science, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Computers and Human Behavior, Communications of the ACM. During the 2009-2014 Greek crisis, he led a successful turnaround as Associate Dean of Academic Programs and MBA Academic Director. He has also served as Associate Dean of Innovation and Technology, Academic Director of Applied Research and International Projects, and Academic Director of IT. He is a member of the Association of Information Systems. As a Board Member of HEPIS (Hellenic Society of Informatics Professionals) he was the lead author of the reference study on employability and digital skills in Greece.


Presentations


Prof. Spyros Denazis
5G technologies introduce new capabilities in the next generation networks that can be exploited by various vertical industries. However, we are still far from this objective. In this talk I will focus on how experimentation can play a pivotal role in empowering verticals and accelerate the deployment of vertical applications. For this purpose, mature, open, near-to- production 5G networks are required with automated on-boarding mechanisms which is the kind of service offered by π-NET, the newly established 5G competence Centre.

Pavlos Fournogerakis
An overview will be given of the 6G research funding framework in Europe and the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) role and activities towards Europe’s technology sovereignty in 6G. Highlights will be provided on the current 6G research status, achievements and perspectives, the collaboration environment at European and global level, as well as the research priorities and challenges that the 6G community should take into account to get prepared for the next SNS phases and the upcoming standardisation activities.

Dr. Ioannis Markopoulos
The presentation aims at illustrating the opportunities and challenges that industry faces using 5G private networks. A robust initial step towards staging and measuring the performance KPIs are the establishment of flexible 5G testbeds with near commercial expandable infrastructure and resources exposure and orchestration capabilities. Even such infrastructure has limitations in terms of special coverable and vertical functionality. Digital Twins come to augment the functionality of such testbeds able to address mutli-vertical needs and provide a consistent ground towards verifying performance prior to field deployment.

Dr. Constantinos B. Papadias
Dr. Papadias is a recognized authority in future communication systems. He has a holistic perspective on the evolution of telecom but also adjacent technologies which will enable the next generation of Metaverse systems. In this talk we will hear about future communication and  sensing technologies and devices being developed globally and how they could be soon applied to Autonomous Cars, Smart Environments, Digital Twins and more.

Dr. Kostas Katsaros
In the UK, we saw the Government's early involvement in the development of 5G across vertical sectors using the Digital Catapult as one of the main driving forces. This is continuing in future developments of open networks. In this talk we will hear how this was achieved and the main lessons learned.

Marios Nicolaou
Globally we see these technologies to start becoming a reality and entering more and more sectors across industry and society. In this talk we will hear about the latest trends and how these will impact our daily social and business lives.

Jan-Erik Vinje
Jan-Erik is a global XR thought-leader involved in several interoperability and standards initiatives across the world and is currently setting up the "Reality Web Cities" innovation hub project in Norway with starting focus on novel on-site XR Tourism experiences. In his talk we will hear about the state of the art of current applications but also what's next for the industry, as well as some ideas on how Greece can leverage its strong historical heritage and tourism industry to push forward with some exciting innovations!

Rasmuss Filips Geks
Riga was among the first cities in Europe to highlight the potential of XR applications for cities and has been actively working on building an ecosystem around these technologies. In this talk, you will hear about how Riga aims to become one of the first metacities in Europe.

Prof. Vasos Vassiliou
In this talk, we will discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with creating immersive and accessible experiences in the metaverse. We will draw insights from multiple projects running at the CYENS Centre of Excellence (CY). We will explore how technologies such as the Internet of Senses can enable new forms of interaction and how XR technologies can be used to create educational and training experiences that are more engaging and effective.

Dr. Dimitrios Tzovaras
The Metaverse is a persistent, digital reality comprised of vast amounts of information and activity that stays anchored where you place, even while being offline. Taking advantage of the 5G offered capabilities, one can ideally connect to the Metaverse from anywhere using non-tethered devices at high bandwidth & low-latency, enjoying thus, a realistic experience in the most seamless & immersive manner. Unavoidably, this poses a series of technological & scientific challenges that need to be addressed a-priori. To this direction this talk will briefly elaborate on 3 novel 5G-enablers that are in position to facilitate the Metaverse needs in terms of, (i) continuity in the Virtual Experience through optimized QoS over Handover, (ii) low-latency through optimized resource management in the edge & Cloud rendering, (iii) unified environmental perception for a maximum amount of simultaneous actors.

Dr. Vasileios Theodorou
The introduction of state-of-the art eXtended Reality (XR) features (interactive avatars, 3D environment models, speech/gesture recognition etc.) on video-conferencing tools is expected to revolutionize next-generation tele-presence and tele-cooperation applications. In this talk, we will hear about the recently-launched Horizon Europe eXtended Reality (XR) project CORTEX² that will devise an open, extendable and interoperable framework encompassing such features, as well as Intracom Telecom's contributions towards seamless and resource-efficient integration of IoT devices in XR experiences.

Prof. Panagiotis Parthenios
In the recent years we see a plethora of exciting new projects in XR and Metaverse emerging across sectors and institutions. In this talk we will hear about emerging research projects that take advantage of the latest digital technologies for spatial transformations and user engagement, and how they can be applied in various case studies ranging from museums and theaters, to tourist destinations and housing for digital nomads.

Dr. Sophia Kompotiati - Stavros Kalimeris
During the last year the Greek National Opera has been experimenting with emerging technologies like AR/VR and Metaverse environments in order to explore new horizons for the performing arts of the future. In this presentation we will discuss their perspective on the impact of those new technologies, the value they could bring and the challenges and opportunities both technically and artistically that lie ahead.

Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis
Professor Buhalis is a leading Global authority on Digital Tourism. In this fascinating talk he will explain the opportunities and challenges of metaverse for tourism and hospitality and suggestions on how destinations and hospitality organisations can take advantage of the emerging opportunities.

Dimitris Efraimoglou
The Foundation of the Hellenic World could in one sentence be depicted as "the promotion of culture and education through the use of new technologies". Within the framework of this workshop, I would like to talk to you about how FHW uses the technology of Three-Dimensional Representations and Virtual Reality to reconstitute monuments and places or intangible assets of Hellenism and how we envision this in the metaverse future.

Dr. Maja Ćirć
Maja is a renowned Art Curator and writer who is also deeply involved in digital arts as they relate to the future of Museums. In this talk she will provide a general overview of the latest trends and some exciting projects she worked on. Most importantly she will give us unique insights on the future of Metaverse Museums and how to make them successful.

Anthony Karydis
Mativision is a leading company in the domain of Immersive technologies with successful projects such as Live Events, Enterprise/Business, Culture, Healthcare and Wellbeing. In this talk we will hear how they are implementing immersive technologies in real projects for global brands and showcasing the value of immersion.

Georgia Kotretsos
Education is one of the most promising areas for applications for Metaverse and XR. It is already applied in classrooms, business education and even medical and expert training. Georgia is focusing on this topic in her research and project work. In this talk she will provide us with a visionary proposal on the educational tools Greece will be called to provide us with, as we collectively take the leap into the next metamodernity. Rendered through our distinct geography, and invaluable localities, she will advocate for a stronger implementation of a service-providing technology overall.

Pieter van Ysseldijk
Large Internet platforms are investing heavily in immersive technologies that are set to impact the lives of billions in years to come. If governance of social media during the last two decades is an indication on how the Metaverse will be regulated, then humanity should be prepared for the fact that their ultimate resources, i.e. biometric data, may be up for sale to the highest bidder, alternatively exploited by those with subversive political agendas. Traditional governance from ancient Greece, however, in combination with the latest electronic identity hardware and microledger blockchain technology can offer straightforward solutions. Users in the Metaverse secure control over personal data and engage with others in the defaulttrust immersive environment of decentralised communities.

Ioannis Papidis
Retail is a highly competitive and volatile industry sector, but also one that can benefit greatly from emerging digital technologies. It is the perfect playground for automation, business intelligence, and new digital and physical (phygital) experiences through VR and AR. Technology is the key driver for these changes, but the actual change happens through the company's vision, culture, and talent. Therefore, it is mostly dependent on people rather than technology. This presentation aims to show how emerging technologies, along with the right talent and culture, can help build a future-proof retailer.

Prof. Nikos Mylonopoulos
The ubiquity and convergence of emerging technologies bring virtuality to the physical world and physicality to virtual worlds. The way in which humans respond to and assimilate the affordances of these environments is the most critical open question that we face.  An adaptation enabling all people to thrive is consistent with utopian visions, while dystopian visions are premised on adaptation for a few and maladaptation for most. As we charge forward into the future, leadership makes all the difference and the greatest challenge for leaders will be juggling the multitude of paradoxes and contradictions that this new era gives rise to.

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