Innovation as guide to a "smart" future

Elena Papadimitriou was born and raised in Thessaloniki. She studied Journalism and Mass Communication at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, including a semester of studies in The Hague under the European Erasmus program. She completed her postgraduate studies in Political Science and Sociology at the University of Athens. She has been working in the press and electronic media since her student years. From 2003 to 2006 she worked as an editor of free and cultural reporting in the newspaper CITYPRESS. During the period 2006 - 2014 she was a member of the journalism team of the morning news program of MEGA, writing at the same time as contributor for five years in protagon.gr. In July 2014, she started working in SKAI television and radio, covering international reporting in the main newscast and presenting news bulletins and shows. She has covered important events of European and international affairs in recent years, sometimes with long television broadcasts, in journalistic missions to places like Moscow, Turkey, Italy and Belgium. Maintaining to this day the longing for major festivals and concerts, she has traveled to dozens of European cities for cultural events, writing articles in a number of media. She speaks English, French and Italian. 

Elena Barla is an experienced C-level professional with significant corporate & entrepreneurial/startup experience. Corporate-wise she has successfully led a variety of managerial roles in Technology, M&As, Strategy, Change Management and Digital Transformation within large international and cross-functional organizations in Italy, UK and Greece, such as Elsevier, Procter & Gamble, Ericsson etc. Passionate about digital health & innovation, in 2013 she founded Among Doctors, a global networking & collaboration medtech platform, ranked within the Top 9 Social Networks for Physicians worldwide and supported by Microsoft Innovation Center & various medical societies internationally. Elena Barla is also the newly appointed Director of the Digital Acceleration & Sustainable Innovation Unit at Stanton Chase Athens. She has a bachelor and a master’s in mechanical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, an MBA in International Economics and Management from SDA Bocconi (Milan, Italy) and has received an executive education in Leading Digital Transformation in Healthcare from Harvard Medical School.  
 

Stavros Drakoularakos is the Director of Corporate Communications of Papastratos, a senior management executive with a digital DNA and a multilayered career. He is experienced in strategic planning, team leading, media, communication, corporate affairs, digital transformation and global partnerships, in highly challenging & multicultural fields. Previously, he served as Group Managing Director of 24MEDIA. He has extensive studies on Management, Technology and Leadership.
 

Katerina Pramatari is a Partner at Uni.Fund, one of the funds created through the Equifund oriented towards Innovation Window and Technology Transfer and aiming to finance teams and companies in pre-seed and seed stages.
She has significant business experience, having started her career at Procter & Gamble in Brussels and as a founding member of two technology companies. She is also an Associate Professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) and is considered a top expert at European level in the fields of e-commerce, business analytics and Internet of Things (IoT), where she has published many works and has supervised numerous doctoral and research projects.
Katerina also has the scientific responsibility of the ACEin incubator of AUEB, which has been awarded for its contribution to the interconnection of University start-ups with companies. In recent years she has supported a number of teams and has coordinated multiple actions in support of innovation and entrepreneurship (such as entrepreneurship bootcamp, the University Ennovation Competition, the Summer School of Entrepreneurship, etc.).