The Athena Research Center (RC) is the only research center in Greece with a dedicated focus on IT technologies and applications. It conducts high-quality research, develops technologies, and contributes to innovation in information technology, communications, and computing sciences. The center’s physical presence covers a wide geographical area, with its headquarters in Athens and institutes, units, and infrastructures in the cities of Athens, Patras, and Xanthi.
The ATHENA RC was founded in 2003 as the “Integrated Research center for the Information Society” (IRIS), to consolidate and further expand Greek R&D activities and initiatives in the areas of information technology and communication. The new Center initially comprised the following existing institutes: the Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP), the Cultural and Educational Technology Institute (CETI) and the Industrial Systems Institute (ISI). The founding act provided for the creation of new institutes that would cover vibrant areas of digital technology, as well as units that would incubate knowhow development activities that may lead to new major development directions. In 2006 IRIS was renamed the “Research and Innovation Center in Information, Communication and Knowledge Technologies,” with the name designation “Athena.”
A wide range of sectors define its scope of action:
-
large networks and databases,
-
embedded systems
-
data/information/language/knowledge processing,
-
automation and robotics,
-
artificial intelligence,
-
editing, documenting, and curating digital content from all areas of human activity,
-
interdisciplinary research.
ATHENA RC invests in interdisciplinarity, as it also deals with problems arising from other sciences, such as Linguistics, Archaeology, Engineering, Medicine, Biology, Ecology, Space, Mechanics, and Arts but also from Social Challenges such as Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Social Exclusion, universal access to information, etc.
Strategy and Vision of the ATHENA RC
Τhe vision of the ATHENA RC is to support the full cycle of research and innovation, starting with basic and applied research, continuing with the creation of systems and products, the development and support of infrastructure, and ending with technology transfer and entrepreneurship.
The following elements are the main expressions of the ATHENA RC strategy and the values of its research and innovation actions:
-
Research design oriented towards basic and applied research challenges with significant impact (internet accessibility for people with disabilities, educational applications, public services for accessing and processing data, etc.).
-
Transfer of technology without geographic restrictions, especially within Greece.
-
Development of human research potential based on identifying and supporting talented young people.
-
Partnerships with companies, government agencies, local/regional authorities, and international research and educational organizations.
-
Educational initiatives for the creation or participation in national and international postgraduate study programs.
ATHENA RC has demonstrated unique elements of excellence:
-
Over 400 Research and Development projects in the last 8 years.
-
Founding participation in 2 major international research infrastructures.
-
World-class technological platforms in embedded systems, digital repositories, language technologies, databases, digitization, and documentation of cultural stock.
-
Online services in its fields of activity with thousands of cultural online services and thousands of active users every day.
-
3 cooperative knowledge-intensive business formations (clusters) and international recognition of excellence in their management.
-
4 active and 2 artificial plants under construction.
-
High degree of participation in the most important international associations and initiatives of their fields of action.
Contribution to ThrombUS+ project: Wearable for continuous monitoring, risk prediction and immediate alert for deep vein thrombosis at the point of care.
