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Lufthansa’s General Sales Manager in Greece and Cyprus speaks to Voria.gr about Thessaloniki as a destination and the plans of the company.

With increased expectations for the success of the Thessaloniki-Frankfurt flight, the German airline, Lufthansa, returns to the city this October following an absence of 17 years. Speaking to Voria.gr, Lufthansa’s General Sales Manager in Greece and Cyprus, Konstantinos Tzevelekos stresses that in recent years Thessaloniki has taken its place on the map as an important tourist destination for the whole year. At the same time, he estimates that the continuing investments in both the port and the airport will show the geostrategic importance of its location and this will have a direct positive impact on attracting businesses and hence on the demand for business trips.

According to Mr. Tzevelekos, Lufthansa is considering the possibility of direct connection between Thessaloniki and Munich, while discussions on the inclusion of new destinations on the routes of the Lufthansa’s Group airlines, Austrian Airlines and Eurowings from Makedonia airport are in progress.

The interview of Lufthansa’s General Sales Manager in Greece and Cyprus, Konstantinos Tzevelekos, at Voria.gr:

• The business community as well as the municipality of Thessaloniki have been calling in recent years for Lufthansa to restore the Frankfurt-Thessaloniki flight. Why did the company leave Thessaloniki in 2001 and what is it that changed and led the company to the decision to return to the city?

The decision of the Lufthansa Group to reestablish the Thessaloniki-Frankfurt route was based both on Northern Greece’s travel market and on the tourist perspective of the city. In recent years, Thessaloniki has taken its place on the map as an important tourist destination for the whole year. Its special features, capabilities and culture are being utilized more effectively today and the city has regained the momentum of attracting even more tourists, tourist investments and businesses. Indicative factors of this growth are the increase in the number of overnight stays in hotels as well as the expansion of business relations with Germany.

Lufthansa had been present in Thessaloniki for many years. It left in 2001, a year when air transport suffered a major blow after the events of the twin towers in New York and the forced adaptation of the flight network. At the same time, the signs of falling demand and purchasing power in the region were intense resulting in this air link being unsustainable.

• What are the company’s goals and expectations for this flight since it is part of the winter programme, which is less of a tourist interest?

I am optimistic about the movement and completeness of the positions during the winter season. Thessaloniki can also attract German tourists in the winter, as it is an excellent suggestion for short excursions – since there are areas of natural, historical, archaeological and cultural interest in a very short distance – as well as a city break destination. Let us not forget that it is the largest urban centre of Northern Greece. It is a vibrant city all day long, it has its own special ‘‘colour’’, and has become widely known for its gastronomy and quality entertainment options.

In addition, we believe that the continuing investments in both the port and the airport will show the geostrategic importance of its location and this will have a direct positive impact on attracting businesses and hence on the demand for business trips.

• At a recent meeting organized by the Greek-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Thessaloniki, the Lufthansa Group’s Flight Management Team reported that the possibility of linking with Munich is explored. How mature is this plan?

Greece is a key market for the Lufthansa Group. Our interest remains firmly focused on the domestic developments and competition in the country’s aviation market. In this context, the discussion of additional Lufthansa Group investments in our country is ongoing. The possibility of direct connection between Thessaloniki and Munich has not been rejected, but for our part there is no specific information about the timing of the implementation of the plan.

– What is the presence of the Lufthansa Group in Thessaloniki? Is there a plan for linking Makedonia airport to new destinations?

Two more airlines of the Lufthansa Group, Austian Airlines and Eurowings, will offer flights this winter from Thessaloniki to popular destinations in Germany and Austria. Eurowings – the low-cost and high-quality Lufthansa’s subsidiary – will connect Thessaloniki with Cologne-Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart, while Austrian Airlines will offer direct flights to Vienna.

Discussions on new destinations are in progress, but there is no decision that we can announce at this time.

– How does the growing presence of low-cost airlines but also companies outside Europe affect the firm and the airline map of Europe?

The presence of low-cost airlines as well as companies outside Europe clearly causes increased competition in our industry. Increasing competition in its turn leads airlines to seek ways to improve the competitiveness of their aviation product. New destinations, more routes, frequent flyer rewards, offers, specialised services and in-flight entertainment are the main features that airlines are focusing on to distinguish themselves in the competition arena.

The frequency of routes, the easy and fast airport transfers, the state-of-the-art modern aircrafts, the cabin spaces, the lounges, the in-flight services, the attractive frequent flyer programmes – as much for those travelling for personal reasons or for pleasure, and for those who travel for business – and of course the overall value for money, are Lufthansa’s top quality features that maintain high competitive strengths in its products and services.

At the same time, the Lufthansa Group is continuously improving the quality of its services and the passenger’s overall travel experience – from the moment he buys the ticket to the moment of the arrival at the destination – investing in the digitisation and personalisation of air services in order to be able to understand and meet the need of each of our passengers separately.

The world’s largest carmakers, from Mercedes to Toyota and from Peugeot to Honda, have been using Greek emission simulation and antifouling engine technology for a few years now, developed by researchers based in Thessaloniki. The Formula 1 teams have also been using this technology. At the same time, the Commission, 22 out of the 28 EU member states and the government of Hong Kong also rely on Greek ‘‘lights’’ for the census of pollutant emissions from road transport. Also, scientists in Thessaloniki are working on technologies that have raised NASA’s interest, while laboratories where Greek researchers are employed invent technologies in Northern Greece that reach the Airbus aircrafts.

Some decades ago, the phrase ‘‘Technology Made in Greece’’, especially for the automotive industry, would probably cause question if not smirks in the foreign markets, but now, companies such as ‘‘BETA CAE’’ based in K. Scholari of Thessaloniki and spin-offs such as ‘‘EXOTHERMIA’’ and ‘‘EMISIA’’, created in 2007 and 2008 respectively, within the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, have begun to change the image by creating important islets of innovation in the field of simulation and in general CAE (Computer-Aided Engineering). At the same time, the high level of the Greek research force has drawn in Northern Greece foreign companies from cutting-edge industries, such as the US ‘‘ALTAIR’’, which through Thessaloniki produces research work exploited even by Airbus. In any case, it is now clear that the environment that is formed in the area, where the Alexander Innovation Zone is active, is absolutely appropriate for the development of business activities characterized by innovation and high specialization.

The implementation of the ‘‘Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB)’’ project by the Ministry of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media aims at mapping private investment projects related to Next Generation Access (NGA). This particular project, which has to do particularly with Northern Greece, aims at creating the necessary infrastructure for the provision of high-speed broadband internet services in areas of the country which are not covered by such networks.

With the detailed listing of private investments, which are scheduled by the end of 2023, the General Secretariat for Telecommunications and Post of the Ministry of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media will be given the opportunity to plan in the best possible way the new action, which forms part of an intervention grid for the full coverage of the country by fiber-optic networks. This is expected to change the image and broaden the growth potential of the domestic digital economy, which will decisively facilitate the promotion of innovative projects, solutions and proposals.

The ‘‘Ultra-Fast Broadband’ project will be implemented through Public-Private Partnerships with a budget of 350 million euros. The financial size of the project itself shows the needs that exist and the perspectives that are being created, while the public involvement funds come from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) – Operational Programme ‘‘Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, Innovation’’ (EPAnEK) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 (RDP).

The Nanotechnology Laboratory and the nZEB  Smart House function as ‘‘one stop stores’’ with the aim of digital business transformation.

Five centers that support businesses with their digital transformation, Digital Innovation Hub, are already operating in Greece as ‘‘one stop stores’’, where companies, mainly small and medium enterprises, start ups and small cap businesses are being helped to improve their business models, offered services, production lines and products through Digital Technology.

This is a pan-European goal set in 2016 in the framework of the European Union Strategy for a Single Digital Market, so that any business in Europe in any sector, regardless of its location and size, can take advantage of the benefits that stem from the digital innovations.

There are five DIHs in Greece, two of which are in Thessaloniki. Something quite normal and expected for the Greek standards, since the Alexander Innovation Zone SA is active in the city, which aims at promoting innovation as a business practice and a comparative advantage in the wider region.

Analytically these are:

The LTFN Nanotechnology Laboratory, with its facilities at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Center for Organic and Printed Electrical Engineering (COPE-H) in the area of Thermi in Thessaloniki.

The ‘‘Athena’’ Research Center in Athens

The nZEB Smart House – Smart Energy House, in Thessaloniki.

The Center for Digital Innovation in Blue Growth

According to the Nanotechnology Laboratory announcement, coordinated by the Research Institutions of Excellence, DIHs offer: 1) access to digital technologies, tools and know-how, 2) infrastructures for testing new technologies, 3) educational activities for the development of digital skills, 4) consulting services for finding funding schemes, 5) market analyses, 6) networking opportunities. Practices that offer practical business solutions.

”In the European Union the fully functioning DIHs are 174, and another 500 are in a preparatory phase. The outcome of the New Digital Age and at the same time one of the ten European Union’s political priorities for the next decade is the achievement of the Digital Single Market (DSM). The EU objective is the integrated Single Digital Market that will bring

€ 415 billion per year to its economy, creating new jobs, new businesses and enabling existing businesses to be aimed at a market of 500 million people, developing public services and establishing an open government system”, explains the person responsible for issues of extroversion and exploitation of innovation at the LTFN Nanotechnology Laboratory of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the HOPE-A Hellenic Organic and Printed Electronics Association, Phoebe Logothetidis.

European Platform of National Initiatives, but not for us…

60% of large enterprises and 90% of small businesses lag behind the integration of digital innovations with wide variations being recorded between different sectors of the industry. Great emphasis is put on the preparation of the Europeans for the New Digital Age so as to take advantage of the benefits of Digital Transformation. The education system will be adapted and the workforce will be trained in similar skills. The Digital Innovation Hubs will play a key role in assessing the skills needs of the workforce of businesses and providing appropriate educational services.

”Appropriate policies and the appropriate channeling of funds are needed to effectively adapt to the new era. The European Platform of National Initiatives launched in March 2017 with the commitment of the member states and the attraction of investments and various cooperative actions. There are already 15 national initiatives, in which however Greece is not included, and this shows that we have not acted promptly.

A source of funding for the DEI initiative and, more specifically, the DIHs project would be the proper capitalisation of funds from the ”European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). However, this is determined by the National and Regional Strategies for Digital Development and Research and Technology Strategies for Smart Specialization (RIS3), which need to emphasize or even integrate such initiatives into their plans”, as noted in the relevant announcement.

From September 2018 Greek businesses will have the opportunity to be advertised for free in the international market; to promote their products on the cloud of GS1 standards, on the cloud of barcodes.

According to the Market Development Manager of GS1 Association Greece Dimitris Christou, the International Organisation for ISO supply chain management standards, of which Greece is one of 112 members, will very soon make available to companies a very important service for product recognition but indirectly for their promotion.

As yet, as Mr. Christou points out, the barcode on a product gives information only about the manufacturer, which is no longer enough for the major electronic commerce companies, such as eBay, Alibaba, Amazon, Google. Now the next step of GS1, which will be implemented with the use of cloud, will be the GS1 Cloud, which will provide information on the products as well – for instance labels and descriptions – as well as their images.

The GS1 Cloud comes out in September with three functions, starting with the first one, the ‘‘check’’, which will verify the product’s valid or non-valid barcode.

The second function is the ‘‘view’’, while the third function, the ‘‘explore’’, will be the most important since it will allow the search of a product on cloud.

The GS1 Cloud can be used as a very helpful tool by the customs and the financial control officers, but it is certainly a very powerful tool for promoting products.

In the first phase of the standard on cloud, seven fields per product will be included, while in the next phase which will have the characteristics of B2C, the fields will be able to reach the number of 30, depending on the information that companies will wish to provide about their products.

Technology and innovation are the hallmarks of the USA participation as the honoured country at the 83^rd Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) from 8 to 16 September 2018. More than 30 major US companies will participate in the pavilion of the country, while on the occasion of the exhibition, Mr. Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce of the Trump administration, will be visiting Thessaloniki. By participating as the honoured country at this year’s TIF, the USA is seeking to feature Greece and Thessaloniki as the centre of developments in the wider region, while creating at the same time development opportunities for the country.

As the President of the Greek-American Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Simos Anastasopoulos, points out, the aim is to create perspectives for cooperation in technology and innovation, two areas in which the USA is distinguished and is the world’s leading. The interest in investment in Greece, where US companies are already dynamic, especially in the technology sector, is very large and mainly in energy, tourism, real estate and logistics, areas with potential that exceeds the country’s risk.

40 companies

The US participation at the 83^rd TIF will ‘‘occupy’’ No. 13 Pavilion, the largest of the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre. Around 40 companies, which are active in areas such as robotics, artificial intelligence, green environmental technologies, aeronautics, information technology and communications, will be hosted in this venue. Among the companies involved are Lockheed Martin, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Cisco. The orientation of the Pavilion favours the interactive presentations, so that everyone understands how technology and innovation play a key role in development. That is why, in addition to the exhibition stands of the companies, there will be a central venue for events, discussions, artistic happenings as well as a separate seminar room. The US participation in this year’s TIF will be enriched with parallel events. The agenda includes the Energy Forum for the South-Eastern Europe, the round-table discussion with the participation of Secretary Ross and CEOs of multinational companies, as well as the Transatlantic Cooperation Conference in which representatives of regional American chambers will participate. There will also be a forum for cybersecurity as well as a debate on attracting investment in Southeastern Europe.

It is noteworthy that on the occasion of the presence of the USA at No.13 Pavilion , the Hellenic Ministry of Digital Policy and the TIF – Helexpo are organizing the group participation of start ups at No. 12 Pavilion in order to demonstrate the Greek dynamics in this critical area of the modern economy. Besides, in Greece – and particularly in Thessaloniki where the Alexander Innovation Zone is based – many start-up companies operate, the scope of which far exceeds the borders of the country.

The Hellenic Design Centre, a centre created by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the support of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, began operating in Thessaloniki in the first months of 2018. This is an initiative that aims at harnessing the potential of a branch which is closely united with innovation and is of great magnitude in Europe. According to the European Commission, design has significant economic and cultural value for Europe, since 12 million people work in the creative and cultural industries of our continent. These industries have a production that accounts for 4.2% of the EU’s GDP, while more than 400.000 designers are employed. The Hellenic Design Centre, whose scope is expected to soon cover Greece and, more broadly, Southeastern Europe, is ready to offer its services to enterprises – mostly to small and medium-sized ones and start-ups – but also to collaborate with other organisations to promote first-priority issues in a creative manner initially for Thessaloniki. Its first activities include workshops on three themes: the original design clinic concept, the special services for six-month start-ups and the design challenge which at an initial stage starts urban interventions with a special reference to tourism. Design is neither fashion nor aesthetics for the European Union. It is something much more than this, it is of economic and business importance. It is the design that should be integrated into innovative products, services and processes for the sake of private companies that are strong in the global competition as well as efficient public bodies. Based on these facts, the EU has included design into its policies, beginning with its first action plan in 2013. Since progress is flowing and perceptions change rapidly, it is obvious that the design driven innovation becomes a catalyst for innovative changes in industry, services and the public sector.

In the context of new trends and the new European industrial policy, the EU is planning four axes of design intervention:

– The boosting of the European Industry Days every February.

– The opening of a regular communication between the creative and cultural sectors.

– The utilisation of design as a creative stimulus for innovation in the economy but also for the development of skills by human resources.

-The availability of resources that will be directed through new programs to businesses and operators.

The hybrid robot programming platform for children and adults of the CubesCoding Team of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, RoboTiles, won the first place in the 8^th ‘‘Innovation & Technology’’ Competition of the National Bank of Greece.

This is the world’s first hybrid programming platform, which children aged 3 years and over but also experienced developers can make good use of and collaborate with the ultimate goal of teaching children and adult beginners computer coding by playing with physical objects, educational robots and graphical environments. Thus, the platform is the ideal solution for parents, schools and educational institutions. On the occasion of this very important distinction, CubesCoding secured its participation in the Reload Greece Challenge 18, which will be held in London from 26 June to 6 July, in order to present RoboTiles to investors.

The spin-off company of the AUTH, Cyclopt, has excelled in the same competition for its innovative solutions that contribute to the evaluation and improvement of the software quality through continuous and holistic monitoring of the quality characteristics based on the ISO/IEC 25010 model. The goal is to produce better software with the lowest cost and the least effort.

A total of 361 proposals were submitted to the 8^th ‘‘Innovation & Technology’’ Competition of the National Bank, which launched in June 2017, and was completed on 24 May 2018 after three successive evaluation phases. The evaluation of the proposals was carried out in cooperation with professors from nine universities and key criteria for innovation, sustainability, implementation stage and the purpose for which it is created.

It is worth mentioning that the two specific teams of the AUTH have also distinguished themselves in the 10^th ‘‘Ennovation 2017’’ Competition organized by the Athens Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEin) of the Athens University of Economics and Business in December 2017, where Cyclopt won the 2^nd Award and RoboTiles the 3^rd Award in the ‘’Research’’ Category.

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki actively supports the Thessaloniki innovation friendly destination initiative and holds a BoD position at Thessaloniki Innovation Zone.