Projects

Since 1992 I have participated in more than 40 research projects funded by the European Commission or the Greek Government. These projects deal with intelligent cities, smart cities, innovation systems, regional innovation strategies, innovation clusters development and multimedia systems.

  1. DECODIT: Digitally empowering citizens to deliver the twin transition. The project empowers homeowners to confidently navigate and adopt energy-efficient home upgrades by developing user-centred digital tools. DECODIT delivers personalised, comparable retrofit options through natural-language apps and a “Consumer Digital Twin,” lowering barriers for citizens—even those with low energy or digital literacy—while enabling data-driven loan underwriting to unlock financing. Pilots in four diverse European countries test these solutions, shaping enabling business models, regulatory frameworks, and flexible energy markets to support a scalable, smart energy ecosystem. (2024-2027), European Commission – HORIZON-CL5-2023-D3-03-04.
  2. RE-WITCH: Renewable and Waste heat valorisation in Industries via Technologies for Cooling production and energy Harvesting. The project aims to transform industrial heating and cooling by developing cost-competitive, innovative thermally driven technologies—particularly advanced adsorption and enhanced absorption chillers—powered by low-grade waste heat and renewable sources, such as solar thermal. It demonstrates these solutions across four industrial demo sites (Greece, Spain, Poland, Italy) and assesses their scalability in replication environments, including district heating networks. Alongside piloting, the project provides open-access engineering and modelling platforms, digital twins, and best‑practice guidelines to facilitate integration, replicability, and policy uptake, ultimately enabling decarbonised, efficient industrial processes. (2024-2027), European Commission – HORIZON-CL5-2023-D4-01-06.
  3. AUGMENTED CCAM: Augmenting and Evaluating the Physical and Digital Infrastructure for CCAM Deployment. The project aims to enhance Cooperative, Connected, and Automated Mobility (CCAM) by evaluating and harmonizing physical, digital, and communication infrastructure across various environments. Using a technology-agnostic approach, it implements 11 PDI solutions across test sites in France, Latvia, and Spain. AUGMENTED CCAM utilizes AI, big data, and crowdsourced high-definition maps to improve situational awareness and safety. Pilot evaluations and socioeconomic assessments provide recommendations and decision-support tools to guide infrastructure investments and accelerate the large-scale deployment of CCAM technologies. (2022-2025), European Commission – HORIZON-CL5-2021-D6-01.
  4. CHRONICLE: Building Performance Digitalisation and Dynamic Logbooks for Future Value-Driven Services, (2022-2025), European Commission – HORIZON-CL5-2021-D4-01. The project develops a holistic framework for assessing the life-cycle performance of buildings—integrating energy efficiency, occupant comfort, well‑being, and environmental impact. By creating digital twins, dynamic logbooks, and AI-powered decision-support tools, CHRONICLE enables real-time monitoring, maintenance alerts, renovation planning, and whole-life carbon and cost assessments. Through pilots across five European countries (Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Greece, Switzerland), it supports evidence-based policies and user-centered services for sustainable building management and investment decisions.
  5. Intelligent Cities Challenge 2.0, (2023-2025), European Commission, EISMEA. A follow up of the Intelligent Cities Challenge initiative. The ICC 2.0 initiative supports around 100 small and medium-sized EU cities in their green and digital twin transition by offering expert advisory services, capacity-building, and peer-to-peer collaboration. It enables cities to co-design evidence-based strategies, develop Local Green Deals with local stakeholders, and prioritize thematic action plans—ranging from sustainable mobility and energy to circular economy and digital governance. Through a mix of assessment tools, expert mentoring, training labs, and knowledge exchanges, ICC empowers cities to accelerate smart, resilient, and inclusive urban transformations aligned with European policy goals. with a new focus on creating Local Green Deals to accelerate the Twin Transition of the European cities.
  6. CREAMARE: Linking creativity, culture and media technologies in the transnational coproduction of digital interactive products for the communication of maritime and underwater cultural heritage (2022-2025), European Commission – CREA-CULT-2021-COOP. The project aims to promote Underwater Cultural Heritage and raise environmental awareness through co-creation of digital experiences. By engaging cultural, scientific, and creative sectors, it develops a participatory framework for producing interactive tools—such as a 3D serious game—that highlight the impact of marine pollution. The project combines innovative storytelling with capacity-building activities to support sustainable and inclusive digital communication of submerged heritage.
  7. IRIS: Integrated and Replicable Solutions for Co-Creation in Sustainable Cities, (2017-2022), European Commission – H2020-SCC-2016-2017. The project is a collective of seven cities working to make urban environments better places for citizens and the planet. The project aims to accelerate the transition to sustainable, inclusive, and resilient urban environments by implementing integrated solutions across energy, mobility, ICT, and citizen engagement. Focusing on real-life demonstrations and replicable innovations, IRIS supports the development of energy-positive districts, smart e-mobility systems, flexible energy management, and digital city platforms, all guided by co-creation with citizens. By bridging technological, social, and economic goals, the project seeks to drive systemic change and scalable impact in smart city development.
  8. POCITYF: A POsitive Energy CITY Transformation Framework, (2019-2024), European Commission – H2020-LC-SC3-2019-ES-SCC. The project helps historical cities to become greener, smarter and more livable while respecting their cultural heritage. By implementing and testing Positive Energy District in its cities, POCITYF will support Europe in the race to become the first Carbon Neutral Continent by 2050
  9. NESOI: New Energy Solutions Optimized for Islands, (2019-2014), European Commission – H2020-LC-SC3-2018-2019-2020. The project sets up a physical and digital platform to provide technical assistance to local authorities and communities for obtaining funding and competencies to deploy investments required to realise the islands’ energy transition plans.
  10. Intelligent Cities Challenge, (2020-2022), European Commission, EISMEA. A European Commission initiative bringing together 136 cities to achieve intelligent, socially responsible and sustainable growth through advanced technologies.
  11. Digital Cities Challenge (2017-2019), European Commission, EASME. A European Commission initiative to help 41 European cities to reap the benefits of advanced technologies, develop comprehensive strategies and thriving ecosystems and achieve smart and sustainable growth.
  12. ONLINE-S3: ONLINE Platform for Smart Specialisation Policy Advice, (2016-2018), European Commission – H2020-ISSI-4-2015. The project developed an interactive e-policy platform and a comprehensive toolbox tailored to support national and regional authorities across the EU in designing, implementing, and monitoring Smart Specialisation Strategies (RIS3). By integrating established European Commission methodologies with innovative digital tools—such as intelligent assistants, roadmaps, and data aggregation from institutional, social, and user-generated sources—it sought to transform regional policy-making into a transparent, evidence-based, and co‑creative process. The initiative addresses key challenges of policy complexity and uncertainty by enabling stakeholders to build knowledge-driven strategies collaboratively in an accessible online environment.
  13. STORM CLOUDS: Surfing towards the opportunity of real migration to cloud-based public services, (2014 – 2017) European Commission – CIP-ICT-PSP-2009. The project aimed to facilitate the shift of public authorities toward cloud-based service delivery by exploring end-user needs and leveraging edge ICT technologies. Through real-world demonstrations in at least four European cities, STORM CLOUDS established use‑case guidelines and best practices, delivering a consolidated portfolio of interoperable, citizen-validated cloud services. These solutions were designed for transferability and scalability to other cities across Europe, accelerating digital transformation in public services
  14. Apps for Thessaloniki – Tourism Edition: 2nd Apps Contest for the City of Thessaloniki, (2015-2016), Municipality of Thessaloniki, Greece. The initiative invited developers and citizens to co-create mobile and web apps using open tourism data from the Municipality of Thessaloniki. Focusing on crowdsourcing and open data, the competition generated new storytelling capabilities and enriched visitor experiences. The top entries leveraged citizen ideas to explore the city’s history, culture, and landmarks through interactive, location-based digital services. The winning app represented Thessaloniki at an international startup contest in Tel Aviv.
  15. Thessaloniki Hackathon: 1st Smart City Hackathon in Thessaloniki, (2014), Municipality of Thessaloniki, Greece. The hackathon invited programmers and software designers to propose and develop ideas for web and mobile applications that enhance municipal services and urban living. Eleven teams of 1–3 developers worked with the city’s open data across four thematic areas—economy, utilities, quality of life, and governance—while an expert jury evaluated projects based on idea quality and potential to solve real citizen problems.
  16. Apps for Thessaloniki: 1st Apps Contest for the City of Thessaloniki (2013-2014), Municipality of Thessaloniki, Greece. As part of its new e‑Government portal, the Municipality of Thessaloniki launched its first Apps4Thessaloniki competition to encourage citizens and developers to harness its open data platform. The initiative received over 200 ideas and more than 3,000 votes, resulting in about 30 web and mobile applications developed to improve city life. By fostering crowd‑sourced innovation, the project turned open data into practical services aimed at enhancing quality of life through citizen-centered digital solutions
  17. Development of Web 2.0 content management system to underpin the regional innovation ecosystems of Belarus and Ukraine Universities (2013 – 2014), University of Bradford, School of Management
  18. INNOLAB: Innovation Laboratories: using an open innovation learning platform & action research in enterprise education in order to enhance the engagement & innovative capabilities of Universities in Post-Socialist Societies, (2012 – 2014), European Commission – TEMPUS IV. The project aims to develop a network of innovation platforms that engage all stakeholders at the early stages of innovation in order to experiment with breakthrough concepts & generate value for society & enterprises). These will bridge education & research, stimulate innovation, & enhance the capacity of Belarusian and Ukrainian universities to engage with enterprises as a result of transforming the experience of universities from EU countries to post-socialist countries.
  19. PEOPLE: Pilot smart urban ecosystems leveraging open innovation for promoting and enabling future e-services (2010 – 2013), European Commission – CIP-ICT-PSP.2010.4.1. The project aims to accelerate smart city development by implementing citizen-driven, open innovation processes that support the rapid deployment of internet-based services addressing urban challenges. Through four pilot ecosystems in Bilbao, Vitry-sur-Seine, Thermi, and Bremen, PEOPLE runs iterative co-creation loops involving users from the outset to define needs, test solutions, and validate ICT services. By the end of the project, each pilot will deliver a portfolio of user-tested, market-ready services aligned with local interests and sustainable business models.
  20. FIREBALL: Future internet research and experimentation by adopting living labs – towards smart cities (2010 – 2012), European Commission – FP7 Objective ICT-2009 1.6 Future Internet experimental facility and experimentally-driven research. The project aims to align research on Future Internet technologies with user-driven open innovation to foster successful smart city development. By connecting research communities, innovation ecosystems, and urban stakeholders, FIREBALL establishes a collaborative framework for sharing assets—such as testbeds, applications, and methodologies—and co-developing smart city showcases. Through a network of advanced European cities, the project promotes joint experimentation, knowledge exchange, and the creation of a shared roadmap for Future Internet innovation, offering strategic recommendations for policy and practice at the EU level.
  21. MEDLAB: Mediterranean living lab for territorial innovation – INNO SME networks pilot action  (2010 – 2011), Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia. The project applied the Living Lab methodology to align Mediterranean regional development policies with transnational R&D, co-designing ICT services across five key domains: SME innovation networks, rural development, coastal zone management, participatory planning, and tourism. Over the course of two years, MedLab piloted concrete regional initiatives to establish an open, multi-level governance network that links local needs to cross-border research, thereby enhancing social innovation, policy coherence, and competitiveness. By anchoring Living Lab practices in regional strategies and validating them through pilot projects, it built a sustainable Mediterranean structure that encourages ongoing ICT co-creation for regional growth.
  22. HES e-toolkit: Excellence in energy efficiency for the tourism industry: online toolkit (2010 – 2011), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The project developed an interactive online toolkit to support small and medium-sized hotels in improving energy efficiency and adopting renewable energy solutions. The toolkit includes benchmarking tools, return-on-investment calculators, carbon footprint estimators, and tailored recommendations, enabling hoteliers to make informed decisions that reduce energy use and environmental impact while enhancing operational performance.
  23. INTERVALUE: Inter-regional cooperation for the valorisation of research results, (2009 – 2011), European Commission – South-East Europe Programme. The project aims to bridge the gap between academic research and market application by fostering R&D exploitation and interregional cooperation in South-East Europe. Rooted in the Digital Research Centre of Central Macedonia, INTERVALUE supports the transformation of research results into marketable products through a multilingual methodology toolkit, expert evaluation of R&D outputs, and brokerage events connecting researchers, businesses, and investors. By enabling valorisation agreements and building a collaborative platform, the project strengthens innovation ecosystems and promotes sustainable regional growth.
  24. Intelligent Thessaloniki: design of integrated project, opc 2007-13 (2008), Greek Ministry of Development, General Secretariat of Industry.
  25. Open platform for digital cities – application in the city of Thermi (2007 – 2008), Greek General Secretariat for Research and Technology.
  26. Regional innovation pole of Thessaly – evaluation (2008), Greek National Centre for Research and Development of Thessaly.
  27. MEDI-CUBE: Mediterranean technology intensive incubators (2006 – 2007), European Commission – INTERREG Archimede.
  28. Implementing innovation strategies – project concept of innovation website – Prague (2007), Logotech SA.
  29. SUPER-SME: Supporting potential and existing research intensive SMEs (2006 – 2008), European Commission – FP6 –KNOWREG 2.
  30. FUTURREG: Futures for regional development (2005 – 2007), European Commission –  Interreg IIIC – West Zone.
  31. STRATINC: Strategic intelligence in innovative clusters (2004 – 2006), European Commission INTERREG ΙΙΙC.
  32. ISTOS: Digital Aegean (2004 – 2005), European Commission, DG Regio – ERDF Innovative Actions 2000-2006 – Region of South Aegean
  33. METAFORESIGHT (2004 – 2005), European Commission – DG Research, Regions of Knowledge Programme
  34. Digital Research Centre, Central Macedonia (2003 – 2005) European Commission, DG Regio, ERDF Innovative Actions
  35. Go-Online: Supporting SME in the Digital Economy (2001-2004) Greek Ministry of Development
  36. Digital innovation centre, Thessaly (2002 – 2003) European Commission, DG Regio, ERDF Innovative Actions, Region of Thessaly, Regional Development Fund.
  37. Regional documentation centre, Thessaly (2002 – 2003) European Commission, DG Regio, ERDF Innovative Actions, Region of Thessaly, Regional Development Fund.
  38. VERITE: Virtual environment for regional innovation technologies (2002 – 2004) European Commission Programme “Promotion of Innovation and encouragement of SME Participation”.
  39. ONLI: on-line innovation. The project aims to create a virtual one-stop-shop connecting Technology Parks, Universities, and Technology Transfer Centres to deliver online innovation support services for European SMEs. Through a unified platform, ONLI provides accessible tools for technology transfer, innovation management, and spin-off support, including technology audits, self-assessment tools, training, and best practices. By integrating and adapting validated tools from previous innovation programmes to national contexts, the project fosters collaboration, consolidates fragmented expertise, and showcases European best practices in SME innovation support. (2000 – 2002) European Commission, DG Enterprise, Innovation Programme.
  40. INNOREGIO: Dissemination of innovation technologies in c. Macedonia. The project promotes trans-regional cooperation to enhance innovation capacity in European regions by building on the experience of past Regional Innovation Strategies. Coordinated by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, InnoRegio develops and disseminates practical methods that help SMEs, technology providers, and intermediaries manage knowledge and implement technological innovations. Focusing on R&D, technology transfer, product development, and networking, the project empowers regional innovation actors to collaborate effectively and drive sustainable growth. (1999 – 2003) European Commission, DG Regio, RECITE II.
  41. Training of architects in the 21st century – restructuring of curriculum and new teaching, learning and communication means in the School of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1998-2000) Hellenic Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs, Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training.
  42. Development of multimedia system for the Telecommunications Museum of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, (1998-1999).
  43. Thracian Electronic Thesaurus: Development of a multimedia system and a distributed database, (1996-1998), Greek Secretariat of Research and Technology, EPET II.
  44. Multimedia CD-ROMs and on-line kiosks for the Technical Museum of Thessaloniki, (1995-1997), Greek Secretariat of Research and Technology.
  45. EUROFORM: Community initiative concerning new qualifications, new skills and new employment opportunities, (1992-1993) European Commission. The project aimed to promote pan-European convergence in vocational skills and qualifications, thereby enhancing worker mobility and adapting to internal market and technological changes. The initiative supported transnational partnerships among training institutions, enterprises, and public bodies through staff exchanges, coordinated training programmes, and shared best practices. By funding joint vocational training, trainer development, and employment promotion measures—complemented by Structural Funds—it enhanced consistency in vocational training across regions and fostered innovation in workforce development.