PRESS RELEASE: HERON Sponsors & Networking Event 2025
With the mission and vision to establish and activate the Robotics Ecosystem in Greece, the Hellenic Robotics Center of Excellence HERON hosted on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at Divani Caravel its 1st Sponsors & Networking Event, a full-day event dedicated to its sponsors, supporters, and prospective partners. The event brought together companies from the fields of Robotics and AI with the founders of HERON, its research personnel, and key government representatives, aiming to foster open dialogue, interaction, and the promotion of practical applications for Greece.
As stated by the Deputy Minister of Development Stavros Kalafatis in his opening address, the event was a great opportunity to assess the needs of the Robotics Ecosystem, to develop synergies, and explore the future for Robotics in Greece, while also contributing to the formulation of a National Strategy for Robotics.
The opening speech and an overview of HERON Robotics CoE was delivered by Prof. Petros Maragos, Director & Scientific Coordinator of HERON, followed by welcome addresses by Prof. Ioannis Emiris, President of Athena Research Center and coordinator of the HERON project, and Prof. Emmanouel Varvarigos, Vice Rector at the National Technical University of Athens, which has provided substantial and multi-level support in the creation and implementation of HERON.
With international partners the Italian Institute of Technology and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the support of the European Horizon EU program, and the Greek government through GSRI, the newly established HERON is pioneering Robotics in the AI era, taking its first dynamic steps. The Sponsors & Networking Event marked the beginning of the implementation of its vision, bringing together academia with Greek authorities and industry in a framework of collaboration, interaction, and meaningful partnership to activate the Hellenic Robotics Ecosystem.
The event, held as an open roundtable discussion, comprised four thematic panels aligned with HERON’s areas of activity:
- Field & Space Robotics (moderated by Evangelos Papadopoulos)
- Healthcare Robotics (moderated by Costas Tzafestas)
- Marine & Maritime Robotics (moderated by Gregory Yovanof)
- National Robotics Reforms (moderated by Vasileia Filidou),
including the participation of senior executives and company representatives active in robotics applications in Greece.
During the event, a shared vision and a strong commitment to collaboration were cultivated, aiming to create a sustainable and innovative Robotics Ecosystem in the country – an ecosystem where academia, industry, and public institutions co-create technological innovations with actual social and economic value for Greece.
