“Window to Greece” for tech, innovation and entrepreneurship
The Consulate General of Greece in Boston and the Massachusetts Office for International Trade and Investment (MOITI) hosted “Window to Greece”, a technology and innovation event on October 20, at the Greek Consulate.
Guest speakers included leaders from MIT Enterprise Forum, the Thessaloniki Technology Innovation Zone (TIZ), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and business people.
The event was targeted to business leaders in the Boston area, and was attended by senior executives of software, health care, and biotech companies. The event highlighted companies with innovative technology research, universities with laboratories and clinical studies expertise, startups with proven commercialization and entrepreneurship success and incubators that facilitate value creation in Greece.
Antoinette Matthews, Executive Director of the MIT Enterprise Forum
Antoinette Matthews, Executive Director of the international network, MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) based in MIT, talked about her experience with the Greek tech community and discussed about how the Greek chapter, MIT Enterprise Forum Greece, is trying to help the Greek startups to enter the international market.
“In early 2012, when the founding members of MITEF Greece invited me and asked me to launchαchapter in Athens, I thought that there was no prospect for such amovement. After eight months I visited Athens and realized that there is an incredible techcommunity that needed help to rise up. I found people with good technical training and strong desire to more and take the risk by creating Greek companies that could play an essential role in the international market. ”
During the last 3years, MITEF Greece has contributed significantly to the improvement of the Greek technological entrepreneurship by sharingthe expertise developed at MIT. This know-how has led the companies created by the MIT graduates around the world. These companies have a turnover of around 2 trillion dollars, creating the 10th economy in the world!
MITEF Greece implements a multifaceted program with three key features: (1) the annual international conference StartSmart Greece, which this year will take place on November 5 in Athens, (2) MITEF Greece Startup Competition, the international development program for innovative enterprises, and (3) several other programs and events providing inspiration, empowerment and networking opportunities with the international market to the Greek tech community.
Concluding her brief presentation, Ms. Matthews urged all attendees and the Greek-American community to come closer and contribute actively to the efforts of MITEF Greece since she believes that through the actions carried out by the Greek chapter, they will have the chance to meet remarkable people and companies who want to change their country for the better.
Consul General Mrs Ifigenia Kanara, George Scangos, CEO & Director at Biogen and Marina Hatsopoulos representing MIT Enteprise Forum Greece. Photo: “E.K.” Theodore Kalmoukos
Marina Hatsopoulos, Photo: “E.K.” Theodore Kalmoukos
Among the attendees were the following: George Scangos, CEO & Director of Biogen, George Danis, Founder & President of Plastic Molding Manufacturing, Tilemachos A. Dimoulas, representative of the large food supermarket chain Market basket, Nicos Vekiarides, Vice President of EMC-DELL, Stathis Antoniades, Vice President of Lahey Clinic, Robert Badavas, Peter Bassett, Charles Lavrentios, Constantinos Spiliakos, Marina Hatsopoulos and Michael Bletsas from MIT Media Lab.
There were also the directors of Mass Trade and Investment Office, Mass Life and Sciences, Mass Tech Collaborative, Mass Clean Energy Center, as well as representatives from Google and IBM.
More on MIT Enterprise Forum Global: http://www.mitef.org
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