Palladian Conferences, in the context of highlighting current important issues, organized on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, the conference “Digital Transformation: the driving force for the continuous development of the private & public sector”.

The conference was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Development and Investment, the Ministry of Digital Governance, the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Chamber of Greece (ECC), Elevate Greece and the Association of Information & Communications Enterprises of Greece (SEPE).

Gold sponsor of the conference was Alpha Bank, bronze sponsors were Info Quest Technologies, KLEEMANN, Pancretia Bank, Qualco Group and supporters were the Corporate Responsibility Institute, PEOPLE & DB Schenker.

The conference focused on the changes that businesses, as well as public bodies, are required to design and implement for their digital transformation. Through panels and one-to-one discussions, creators of digital solutions and services came in contact with executives of businesses and public organizations seeking immediate solutions and innovative proposals for their smooth transition to the new digital era.

In his address, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Christos Staikouras, emphasized that the government’s absolute priority has been and remains the digital transformation of the state. He extensively presented the digital platforms developed in recent years to contribute significantly to the country’s digital leap, including the new digital portals of AADE (Independent Authority for Public Revenue), the “MyDATA” platform for electronic invoicing, the out-of-court settlement mechanism, and more.

In his speech, the President of the Economic Chamber of Greece, Mr. Konstantinos Kollias, highlighted the progress made by businesses in terms of digitization, automation, the use of tools for exports, improved customer service, and staff training.

Next, the greeting by the President of the Board of the Hellenic Association of ICT Enterprises (SEPE), Mrs. Giota Paparidou, followed. She mentioned the significant reforms in recent years, which were notably accelerated by the outbreak of the pandemic and she also emphasized the need to increase funding for innovation and to boost efforts related to extroversion.

Digital Transformation & Small and Medium Enterprises was the subject of the first session of the conference with the participation of Mr. Dimitris Skalkos, General Secretary of Public Investment and NSRF of the Ministry of Development and Investment, Mr. Mr. Dimitris Yantsis, General Director Of the General Directorate of Projects of “Information Society S.A.”, Mr. Yannis Melas, Member of Parliament for Piraeus & Islands and Mr. Stavros Kafounis, President of the Commercial Association of Athens, President & CEO of KIDSCOM Commercial Company of Children’s Products.

The discussion was moderated by Mrs. Athena – Daphne Korlira, Journalist of Athens 9,84 FM and focused on the current digital tools, the development of digital products and services, as well as digital transactions.

This was followed by a speech by Mr. Nikos Vlona, President & Founder of the Center for Sustainability (CSE), Vice President of the Corporate Responsibility Institute (CRI) on the importance of ESG ratings in corporate finance.

In the second panel on Fintech & Digital Transformation Applications in the Public and Private Sector, Mr. Dimitris Litsikakis CEO of Snappi focused on the challenges and opportunities for businesses, public institutions and local governments through digitization and organizational modernization. The panel was moderated by Athena – Daphne Corlira, Journalist of Athens 9,84 FM.

Digital Ecosystems in the tourism sector was the topic of the third panel in which Mrs. Olympia Anastasopoulou, General Secretary of Tourism Policy & Development of the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Vassilis Polyzos, Co – Founder & Managing Director of VSCOPE and Mr. Alexandros Vassilikos, President of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, participated. Under the coordination of Ms. Athena – Daphne Corlira, Journalist of Athens 9,84 FM, the innovations, successes and challenges related to the digital reform of the “heavy industry” of our country, tourism, were thoroughly discussed.

This was followed by the speech “Supply Chain Monitoring, Just a huge Advantage or our Duty” by Mr. Sotirios Ptochos, Senior Executive & Co-Founder of PEOPLE.

In the fourth panel on Digital Ecosystems in the Energy, Transport & Telecommunications sector, with the participation of Mr. Nikolaos Kouretas, Vice Chairman of the Board & CEO of Attiko Metro SA and Mr. Sotirios Ptochos, Senior Executive & Co-Founder of PEOPLE, case studies and new ideas regarding the digital transformation of these sectors were thoroughly developed. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Haris Doukas, Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical Industrial Devices and Decision Systems of the National Technical University of Athens. 

Afterwards, the panel discussion of the next section focused on the Health sector and specifically on the reform measures concerning it. The panel included Mr. Ioannis Kotsiopoulos,  General Secretary of Health Services of the Ministry of Health, Mr. Yannis Sotiriou, CEO of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Technology (IFT) and Dr. Angelina Kourooubalis, Researcher at the Institute of Computer Science (ICS) of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH). The discussion was moderated by Athena-Daphne Corlira, Journalist of Athens 9.84 FM.

The last session of the conference was about a modern Discussion Forum on “Best Practices of digital business transformation, B2C retail, the e-commerce sector & Start-ups”. The discussion was attended by Mr. Makis Savvidis, CEO of Savvidis Group of Companies, Representative for Greece and Member of the Board of the European Federation of E-Commerce, Ms. Zina Mavroidis, CEO of e-fresh. gr, Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis, CTO of Mantis Business Innovation, Mr. Dimitris Neofotistos, Head of Communication of the Hellenic Institute of Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Development and Mr. Vassilis Angelopoulos, Managing Partner of Get Involved. Under the coordination of Ms. Athena – Daphne Corlira, Journalist of Athens 9,84 FM, the good practices and useful digital tools that the speakers have developed through their businesses were discussed.

Alongside the Conference, PEOPLE organized a Workshop on: “Transparent Supply Chain on FMCG, FB and Pharma sectors”, in which a number of participants had the opportunity to participate. 

Finally, in the framework of the conference, the 2nd General High School of Xanthi, winner of the 1st student competition of the Space Missions of the Hellenic Physicists Union, presented in detail the experimental device, Nitrate Reduction, from its conception to its award and international recognition. The presentation and analysis of the awarded experimental arrangement was carried out by the Hellenic Physicists Union, the responsible teachers, and by students of the T i S (Trace In Space) team of the 2nd High School of Xanthi, who participated in the experiment. 

Conference sponsors: Athenian-Macedonian News Agency, Bankwars.gr, Epixeiro.gr, Euro2day.gr, Insider.gr, Mikrometoxos.gr, Theceo.gr.

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