The 14th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ECIE) took place in Kalamata hosted by the Laboratory of Sustainable Development and Entrepreneurship (SDE Lab) of the University of the Peloponnese.
Two hundred delegates, professors and researchers from more than 40 countries joined Conference Chair Panagiotis Liargovas and Dr. Alexandros Kakouris to present and discuss their research results on these topics. Invited speakers were Prof. Paul Jones (Swansea University) and the Rector of the University of Piraeus Angelos Kotios.
The Rector of the University of Piraeus, Angelos Kotios, analyzed the decade of the Greek Crisis and the way it affected and modified the Greek business arena and not only. Crises act as vehicles and levers and transform the whole of a society both as individuals as well as on the institutional level, motivating the whole of society to take intensive transformational actions.
In parallel sessions speakers introduced innovations through the new digital systems and the utilization of information technology that ran through all areas: from the training and digital skills offered, to business organization and staff management, innovation management, finance and financial industry, and virtual reality and artificial intelligence. The strong impact of social media on modern marketing. Innovation in the agricultural sector and the phenomenon of "neophobia" in food, digitization, social networks and open data as well as examples of infrastructure development. The subjects of sustainable development, green and social entrepreneurship, green innovations, the "identity" of the green entrepreneur, the role of universities, legislation and funding. In the agricultural and food sectors such as the concept of "zero waste", the impact of digitization on green companies, their networking and activities.
Innovation issues focused on business ecosystems, their practices and their results and cooperation between universities, governments and industry was a major topic of discussion. Issues of e-government and policies to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship were also analysed.
In the final round of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Teaching Excellence Awards with 10 finalists, teams from Ireland, Greece, Finland, Portugal, South Africa, China, USA, United Arab Emirates and Switzerland presented their case histories. The winner was the Swiss team and the runner-up was the Chinese team.
The full research results of the conference are published in two volumes (1268 pages) edited by Prof. Panagiotis Liargovas and Dr. Alexandros Kakouris and are available online.
Photo1: The delegates in Olympia
Photo2: Zacharias Dermatis, Angelos Kotios, Alexandros Kakouris, Panagotis Liargovas
The Rector of UniPi Angelos Kotios and Professor Panagiotis Liargovas on the Greek Parliament channel 16/09/2019