The next revolution in technology belongs to the development of quantum mechanics, where Greece today has greater research achievements than the leader in this field, Singapore, did ten years ago. At the same time, international investment funds are financing research, as it is from there that products and solutions will emerge in the near future, with commercial and everyday applications, as well as technologies in defence.
This important conclusion emerged from the panel on private investment and research, which was attended by distinguished personalities at the 7th Delphi Economic Forum, which is taking place in Delphi, 6-9 April, under the auspices of the A.E. of the President of the Republic, Mrs. Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
Mr. Yannis Gikopoulos, Head of Innovation, AI and Analytics at Qualco, spoke about the areas where research is currently focused, with the aim of company growth, capital unlocking, profitability maximization and forward investment. Indeed, the latter, such as in education systems, are the ones that will provide the competitive advantage of tomorrow, not only for companies but also for societies. Michael Valfopoulos, founder and CEO of Linked Business, focused on the importance of the ecosystem that has now been created in Greece, centred on Demokritos, where research now meets business needs. The result is the creation of innovative solutions and development of innovative startups. At the same time, this Greek ecosystem is supported by large companies and investment funds, such as through the EIB. At the same time, there is international interaction, through Democritus and its participation in NATO as a technology accelerator.
At this point, Mr Ioannis Kaltsas, from the European Investment Bank, as Head of the Research and Innovation Financing Department, highlighted the contribution of Democritus and the new trends in research funding. The EIB is renewing the culture and approach to the concept of innovation. As he said, innovation is adding another blade to disposable shaving machines, innovation is also trying to find future solutions to climate change, energy independence and even defence. Thus, the EIB has entered the fieldof defenceresearch funding , specifying that it does not support the development of weapons systems. The EIB funds research that can be applied to defence, but also to everyday applications. And the largest funding is focused on research that leads to commercial successes. Taking the example of the US, investment in defence research has benefited their entire industry and innovation. Now, NATO is also investing in AI and quantum engineering. One of the main reference points for evaluating research programmes in Greece is Demokritos.
For his part, the founder and Chief Scientist of AngelQ Quantum Computing, Dimitris Angelakis, stressed the importance of quantum engineering for the next day of technology. As he explained, data and its interaction are growing every day at such a high rate that we can no longer create faster and faster computers with today’s technology. So along comes quantum mechanics, which, in the first instance, has already found application in mobile phones. The next phase is the creation of quantum computers and the contribution of quantum mechanics to the analysis of information.Greece is currently producing more research in quantum mechanics than Singapore, the leader in this field. With a national initiative, such as the establishment of a quantum mechanics institute, Greece can become one of the leaders in this field in the near future.
This interesting discussion was moderated by Mr. Georgios Nounesis, Director and President of the National Research and Development Centre “Demokritos”.
On the Forum’s website(www.delphiforum.gr) you can see the sections and all the thematic discussions that will take place during the 4-day April Forum, as well as the 750+ distinguished personalities – confirmed speakers from Greece and abroad.
The article How attracting investment capital is changing the research landscape in Greece was originally published on Fortunegreece.com.
