The Laboratory of Industrial and Energy Economics (LIEE) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) organized the Validation Workshop of the research project: “Leveraging Global Value Chains for Innovation and Competitiveness: The Case of Greece (GRinGVCs)” (Principal Investigator: Aimilia Protogerou, NTUA Assistant Professor). The project was carried out within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan Greece 2.0, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (Implementation body: Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation).

The workshop was held on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, from 16.00 to 19.00, in the “Koumoutsou” Hall of the School of Chemical Engineering at the NTUA Zografou Campus. Online participation was also available.

The Workshop’s Programme is available here.

The project’s main objective was to examine Greece’s participation in global value chains (GVCs), with a particular emphasis on the interplay among GVC integration and innovation performance as key drivers of growth and international competitiveness. The core premise is that globalization – manifested through integration into fragmented international production networks – can serve as a catalyst for innovation-led competitiveness, which, in turn, can serve as a backbone for the country’s structural and productive transformation.

The aim of the workshop was to present and discuss the key findings of the research project in order to assess the reliability, relevance, and usefulness of the research results, as well as the associated public policy and business strategy recommendations. The workshop brought together executives from businesses and business associations, policy experts, as well as researchers and academics with significant expertise in the project’s scientific field. Undergraduate and postgraduate students of NTUA also attended. The total number of participants in the validation workshop was 50.

The workshop opened with a welcome address by Angelos Tsakanikas, NTUA Professor and Director of LIEE. This was followed by presentations by Aimilia Protogerou, NTUA Assistant Professor, and Petros Dimas, NTUA post-doctoral researcher, who presented the key findings of the research project and the corresponding public policy and managerial implications, formulated on the basis of the project’s two core empirical pillars.

The first pillar of the research work regards the country and sectoral level (macro level) and draws on two extensive databases developed within the project. These include a) the GRinGVCs database, which provides information on participation and positioning of 45 industrial sectors of 77 economies (including all EU27 members and other OECD countries) in global value chains, and b) the ESPAT database, which contains patent data (applications and grants) from the European Patent Office (EPO) for 99 industrial sectors of 24 European countries. The second pillar concerns the micro level analysis and is based on a field survey conducted with a structured questionnaire among 161 of the largest Greek manufacturing firms. The presentation of these findings was followed by a constructive discussion, with participants posing questions and providing comments that further enriched the analysis.

Subsequently, an organized discussion – panel was held with executives from manufacturing firms that participated in the survey. The panel included: Nikos Adamopoulos, New Business Development Director of GALENICA S.A., Dionysis Ventouris, EU Funding & Continuous Improvement Manager of SIDENOR STEEL INDUSTRY S.A., Violeta Ioannidou, CFO and Chair of the Board of Directors of ELASTOTET S.A., Manolis Bazigos, CEO of N. BAZIGOS S.A., Vasilis Boursinos, COO of MAILLIS METALS SOLUTIONS S.A., and Giannis Tserepas, CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors of LARIPLAST S.A. The discussion focused on targeted questions regarding the extent and nature of their firms’ participation in global value chains, as well as the strategic planning challenges and opportunities arising from this engagement.

The workshop provided a constructive platform for dialogue and the exchange of views, underscoring the relevance and practical value of the project’s findings for both business practice and current public policy in Greece. Insights gathered from the discussion directly informed the final formulation of the project’s main conclusions and policy recommendations. These contributions reinforced the central finding that Greece’s position in global value chains remains largely peripheral and must be strengthened through coordinated efforts aimed at enhancing value creation and supporting the country’s productive transformation.

As part of the activities of the PromethEUs network, the Elcano Royal Institute organized a workshop in Madrid on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, entitled “Making the EU’s 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework Work for Southern Europe.”

The conference provided an opportunity for the PromethEUs network to present and discuss preliminary findings, in view of the final report to be presented in Brussels in November, on the European Commission’s proposal for the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and its implications for Southern Europe. The meeting brought together representatives from public administrations, academia, industry associations, and think tanks from Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece.

The main topics discussed were the budget allocation in the new MFF, the European Competitiveness Fund, digital leadership, and the Horizon Europe programme. Aggelos Tsakanikas, head of the Laboratory of Industrial and Energy Economics (LIEE), presented the joint work with Postdoctoral Researcher Petros Dimas (in progress) on the digital footprint of previous HorizonEU programs in SMEs and Southern Europe, with excellent comments from Dimitris Liakos.

Emeritus Professor of NTUA Yiannis Kalogirou was a guest of Nikos Varsakelis, Professor of Economics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, on the show “Discussing the Economy” on the online channel Web TV Detections. The specific show, which aired on Tuesday 15/12/2020 at 8 p.m., was titled “The New Technological Revolution and Greece”.

Watch the video of the show here

We are pleased to announce the launch of the 2nd Innovation Competition “NOYNOY Idea Challenge – Sustainability”, which is an initiative of the company FrieslandCampina Hellas and the Industrial and Energy Economics Laboratory (IEEL) of the National Technical University of Athens, in collaboration with the company Break-Even. The Competition aims to highlight potentially exploitable ideas, with an emphasis on sustainability in the food industry. The “NOYNOY Idea Challenge – Sustainability” Competition aspires to contribute to strengthening the cooperation between academia and industry and the exploitation of research results and ideas. It seeks to highlight the innovative potential of student and research groups, in thematic areas that concern both the reduction of the environmental footprint, as well as the protection of the environment and the overall more efficient management of natural resources in a sustainable manner. The thematic areas of the competition are:

• Climate Change & Energy
• Utilization of Renewable Energy Sources
• Reduction of CO2 emissions
• Reduction of environmental and noise nuisance
• Reduction of electricity consumption
• Energy recovery
• Environmental protection & Circular economy
• Recycling, Water solutions, zero pollution and reuse
• Circular economy technologies
• Biological soil reinforcement, biodiversity conservation
• Sustainable dairy packaging
• Circular design
• Low CO2 footprint
• Promotion of recycling
• Green chain
• Process optimization/Innovative processes
• Liquid & solid waste management technologies
• IT & telecommunications solutions
• Quality assurance & safety
• Sustainable and smart transportation
• Reduction of the environmental footprint of an environmental process

The innovation competition “NOYNOY Idea Challenge” is aimed at:

• Young researchers, PhD candidates, PhDs with potentially commercially exploitable research results,
• Teams that have creative ideas and wish to transform them into sustainable production processes or products,
• Students and new graduates of higher education

The prizes of the competition are the following:

• Consulting support from the company FrieshlandCampina Hellas,
• Use of the facilities of the company FrieslandCampina Hellas,
• A cash prize of €2000 for the business maturation of the idea,
• Individualized support and guidance (Business Coaching) from the incubator EPI.noo NTUA.

More detailed information about the competition can be found on the Competition website https://noynoyideachallenge.gr.

Interested parties are invited to submit their proposal on the specially designed platform (here) by Friday, September 11, 2020.

Within the framework of the support services of the INVENT ICT program implemented by the EPI.noo incubator of EPISEY/NTUA, a closed meeting in the form of a pitching of 13 business schemes supported by the incubator with representatives from important Funds that finance start-up entrepreneurship in Greece was organized on Tuesday 17/12/2019 by the Scientific Committee of the program.

The groups were introduced by Professor Yiannis Kalogirou, member of the Scientific Committee, and Dr. Evangelos Siokas, coordinator of the program. The groups presented their business plans and in several cases follow-up meetings were scheduled to further explore their funding prospects.