Page 28 - COMPASS - COMPETITIVENESS REPORT 2021 | COUNCIL OF COMPETITIVENESS IN GREECE

“COMPASS” REPORT 2021 – COUNCIL ON COMPETITIVENESS OF GREECE 27

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
• Elevate Greece established, with the objective to identify promising start-up enterprises and showcase them internationally;
and to conduct innovation competitions to encourage innovative solutions in the development of applications to address
the pandemic and support the healthcare system (e.g. #COVIDhackGR, Antivirus Crowd hackathon)
• Investment in advanced technology has been attracted – such as Microsoft’s data centres, Deloitte, Pfizer and Cisco’s digital
innovation centres in Greece
• National as well as European funding mechanisms – such as Equifund – created, focusing on the digital transformation of
economies/societies
• Industrial scholarships started (e.g. Upatras IQ, industrial research scholarships)
• Tech transfer offices established at universities; these aim at bolstering those mechanisms that facilitate and accelerate the
conversion of research outcomes into business ideas

KEY TAKEAWAYS
Integrating innovative methods into the production process is a defining factor in a country’s development. In the present
day, a sizeable portion of innovation regards digital technologies. Greece lags behind in the number of companies whose
organisational models and activities make use of innovative ideas and technology. This is mainly due to a lack of digital skills
and the absence of a research and innovation ecosystem that would link organisations to each other and to applied research.
On the topic of enterprise clusters, Greece is a small market compared with other countries. Therefore, there is great difference
in size and quality compared to clusters established abroad. Greece also lags behind in promoting “the markets of tomorrow”
(investments in technological and institutional systems that can create new products and processes, which will contribute to
financial development and market transformation). Examples include the promotion of new technologies to consumers (cloud
computing, internet of things); digitising public sector procedures and public services (electronic transaction protocols, crypto-
patents, digital ID, digital tokens); a shift towards clean energy and energy-efficient transportation methods; etc. It is certainly
worth noting that recent moves to promote innovative enterprise and attract investment are expected to positively influence
innovation in Greece. On the other hand, Greece demonstrates comparatively good performance in research publications, as well
as R&D expenditures and underlying technology. This performance complements the also relatively large number of patents per
capita – although this sector shows room for improvement in terms of linking research centres and universities to the market.