The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis and the Chairman of Heraklion Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EBEH) Mr. Manolis Alifierakis signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday, December 28, 2018.

Prof. Costas Fotakis, Alternate Minister for Research and Innovation and Ms Efharistia (Efi) Koutentaki, Vice-Regional Governor for Entrepreneurship, Commerce and Innovation were also present at the event that took place at the Hub to Business Hub (H2B HUB) of EBEH. H2B HUB was established by a group of young researchers and entrepreneurs from Greece and abroad with a vision to enhance creativity and innovation and to cultivate entrepreneurial and cooperative culture in line with the modern, international environment.

The MoUaims to reinforce the relationship between the two organizations and to develop joint actions for boosting entrepreneurial activity in Crete. More specifically, it aims to support innovative entrepreneurship through technology transfer, to provide mentoring for the implementation of entrepreneurial initiatives as well as education and training activities, to introduce entrepreneurial culture in education and to establish competitions and awards. FORTH Units, the PRAXI Network and the Science and Technology Park of Crete (STEP-C), in cooperation with H2B HUB will assist towards this direction.

The Chairman of FORTH stated that the signature of the MoUbetween FORTH and EBEH will pave the way for the implementation of actions aiming to connect research and entrepreneurship in order to develop new, dynamic, innovative businesses as well as to support the existing ones, thus contributing to the development of the Region of Crete, and concluded that it is very important that the private sector of Greece invests in domestic research’’

The Chairman of EBEH Mr. Manolis Alifierakis noted that the signature of the MoUwill contribute to the development of start-up entrepreneurship and to technology transfer to entrepreneurs. H2ΒΗUBaims to encourage the contribution of educational and research foundations to the development of innovative companies.

In the framework of the Smart Specialization Strategy, the Region of Crete provides support to initiatives implemented by local entities for boosting entrepreneurship based on the optimum use of knowledge and research findings of the Research and Educational Foundations of our island. This is the first strategic partnership among a purely business entity and the largest Research Institution in Greece, stated the Vice-Regional Governor Mrs Efi Koutentaki.