The Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH) had a strong presence, as an Academic Partner, at the MIT Global Startup Workshop 2023, the international Conference of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on technology and start-up entrepreneurship. With the aim of strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the host countries, the Conference was held for the first time in Greece on March 30 and 31, at the Athens Concert Hall.

FORTH, the largest Research Center in Greece, with international recognition, state-of-the-art infrastructures and highly specialized staff, supports the interconnection of the Greek innovation ecosystem with the MIT network, and actively participates in the global knowledge community.

At the FORTH exhibition booth, a large number of visitors, members of the Greek and international innovation ecosystem, had the opportunity to talk with specialized executives, with the aim of creating new opportunities for networking and cooperation, learning about technological achievements, innovative activities, award-winning start-ups, but also developing partnerships to strengthen the national entrepreneurship. More specifically, the FORTH booth included exhibition sites for:

• The PRAXI Network, one of the most important national organizations for supporting innovation at the European level. It acts as a reference point for the Greek research community on technology transfer issues. Since 1998, it has also been the National Contact Point for Horizon Europe programs, while it constitutes an official information and support office for Greek Organizations and companies.
• The gnΩsi Network, formed by eleven leading Greek Universities and Research Institutions, as the gateway of the Greek research groups to the society, industry and entrepreneurship. It is coordinated by the PRAXI Network and constitutes the largest network of Technology Transfer Offices in the country.
• The Science and Technology Park of Crete, which promotes innovative entrepreneurship and the commercial exploitation of research results, supports the creation of start-ups and hosts innovative companies, offering networking and collaboration opportunities. In particular, five innovative and dynamic companies, which are established in its incubator, were present at the workshop: Traqbeat Technologies, Exapsys Exascale Performance Systems, BIOPIX-T, JADBio - Gnosis DA and Code BGP.
• smartHEALTH, the first European digital innovation hub in the field of digital health, which is coordinated by the Institute of Computer Science (ICS), brings together internationally recognized expertise in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security, high performance computing and specialized technologies in computational biomedicine, to accelerate the digital transformation and enhance innovation in digital health.
• The Center for eHealth Applications and Services, which transforms many years of research experience and know-how into innovative solutions in the field of digital health, creates products and services to improve the health and life of the elderly, in the Greek and international market.
• The Hellenic Digital Health Cluster, the collaborative innovation network, which brings together the most important domestic entrepreneurial operators in the field of digital health. Main objective is to transfer the know-how and innovation of FORTH to Greek businesses, making Greece one of main participants in the field of digital health globally, with multiple benefits both for the people and the national economy.

As part of the two-day event, the President of FORTH, Professor Nektarios Tavernarakis, participated in a panel discussion on health and biotechnology. Referring to the basic research carried out at FORTH, he emphasized that it is required as the “raw material” to design therapeutic treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, which tend to reach pandemic proportions.

Regarding FORTH collaboration with the MIT Global Startup Workshop and FORTH participation in the conference, Professor Tavernarakis stated: "We have the opportunity to present our achievements in regards to innovation development and start-up entrepreneurship. These specific areas are of priority at FORTH which, since its establishment, has had a long tradition and important success stories in the field of creating spin-off companies.”