RIS Hub Greece actions for 2021

The project “Actions of the RIS Hub Greece for 2021” aims through its activities to make the Greek Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) Hub as the “point of interaction” between the European Institute of Innovation and Technology EIT Urban Mobility and the existing ecosystem innovation in the country and to be a reference point for innovation organizations seeking to expand their activities, capabilities and capabilities and to work with leading organizations in the field of mobility.

The role of the Hub is:

providing information to companies active in urban mobility in order for them to benefit from the competitiveness programs that operate and
the interconnection of stakeholders in urban mobility with citizens in order to participate in actions and initiatives aimed at jointly designing solutions to achieve more sustainable cities.
Description of Research Results

The Laboratory of Transportation Technique (EST) of the Aristotle UNiversity of Thessaloniki (AUTh). in the context of his participation in the project, organized two (2) main activities:

Educational activity entitled “Mobility for more liveable urban spaces”
Datathon on urban mobility and innovation

In the framework of the “Educational Activity” which was part of the physical object of the project and was organized by the Laboratory of Transportation Technique (EST) of AUTh, specialized speakers, successfully presented to students its future trends Urban Mobility as well as the opportunities provided by the EIT academy to further deepen the concepts and key issues of sustainable mobility.

The event initially included the presentation of the educational structures of the EIT academy by a representative of the organization and the training opportunities available to students at postgraduate level. Experts in the field of urban mobility then introduced the attending students to new concepts related to transport innovation and in particular in relation to the analysis of mobility data, the development-calibration of traffic simulation models, autonomous vehicles and shared mobility.

The event was a success as it attracted a much larger number of AUTh students than expected. In addition, the analysis of the results of the evaluation of the event by the students proves the satisfaction of the expectations of the students, who found the information useful, plan to be further informed, rated the educational activity from very good to excellent and were visibly satisfied.

In the context of the project activities on November 30, 2021, the Laboratory of Transportation Technique (EST) of AUTh organized a Datathon on urban mobility.

Given the severity of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic and recognizing the importance of the new conditions and their relevance to the transport sector, the organizers chose the following Datathon theme: “Challenges and prospects for post-COVID transport era: Searching for solutions to return to normalcy “.

The main goal of the event was to introduce the participants to the basic principles of data analysis, research and problem solving. In addition, the event provided an opportunity to address the existing challenges in the field of Urban Mobility and helped to raise awareness around the issues of Urban Mobility.

The event was a prime opportunity for students and professionals to find suggestions / solutions to meet the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to transport. The competition process enabled the participants to develop both their skills in transforming an idea into a well-structured business model, as well as to contribute to the strengthening of innovation in the field of transport in Greece.

From the impact of the event on the participants, it can be concluded that Datathon contributed to the involvement of citizens in the design of more sustainable cities, which is a key aspect of the role of the EIT RIS Hub in the country.

Finally, it is estimated that Datathon can be the foundation for encouraging citizens and stakeholders to actively participate in the project / mobility design process in Greece.

In addition, the desire of the participants to attend future events of RIS HUB Greece and EIT Urban Mobility, since the fact that participants in the event followed the social media profiles RIS HUB Greece, after the event, proves that the event had a positive effect in terms of promoting the EIT Urban Mobility initiative.

Examples of Application of Research Results:

The activities of the project “Actions of the RIS Hub Greece for 2021” aim to bridge the gap between stakeholders in urban mobility and EIT Urban Mobility (EIT UM). Among the results of the project is the enhancement of the interaction between the EIT UM and the local ecosystem, which will facilitate the strengthening of capacity building in systems related to urban mobility.

The activities of EIT UM RIS Hub Greece focus on the educational and business sector. The Hub offers opportunities for students to engage in EIT UM education and training activities, through their regular information and participation in EIT UM Academy initiatives.

By attracting students, RIS Hub seeks to raise awareness and guide them to adopt more environmentally friendly and safer mobility standards with the ultimate goal of creating more sustainable spaces. In addition, for RIS Hub Greece, supporting local businesses is an important priority to strengthening their competitiveness. Thus, the Hub aims to guide the exploitation of opportunities offered by the EIT UM.

Start-ups are also very important for the Hub as despite their existence they have not developed sufficient capacity in the transport sector. The Hub will provide specific guidance to existing start-ups to develop their activities, but also to students participating in the project activities, in order to develop their ideas in the form of a business proposal in the future.