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Friday, 17 June 2022

The Deputy PM of Greece and Ministers at the 2nd Quo Vadis Artificial Intelligence Conference

A fruitful and multi-dimensional discussion concerning the developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was held during the 2nd Quo Vadis AI International Conference on Friday, June 17th, 2022, at the Divani Caravel Hotel. The conference was hosted by the Institute for Privacy Law, Data Protection and Technology (IPL) and the Institute for Justice and Growth (IJG) of the European Public Law Organization (EPLO).

Two years after the first Quo Vadis AI Conference, hosted by the Institute for Privacy Law, Data Protection and Technology rapid progress has been noted in the field of Artificial Intelligence, with regard to the influence of AI in the private sector; and its infiltration in European law which is seen through proposed regulations such as the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act).

This progress in AI was discussed and explained by renowned domestic and foreign speakers, representatives of the Greek State and European institutions; academics and researchers; as well as representatives of the business community. They expanded upon various topics of AI which resulted in an interdisciplinary, educational and critical discussion onthe consequences of the use of A.I. and the algorithm surveillance of citizen’s rights, the role of A.I. in the development of research and innovation and its relationship with the market, as well as theprospects which are being introducedfor the use of A.I. in the judicial system and in the public sector.

Introductory remarks of the event were made by the Director of EPLO, Mr. Spyridon Flogaitis, and the President of the"Institute for Justice and Growth" of EPLO, Mr. Nicolas Kanellopoulos.

Opening speeches were made by the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece, Mr. Panagiotis Pikrammenos, and the Minister for Justice, Mr Kostas Tsiaras.

Moving on, the 2nd Quo Vadis AI conference consisted of four discussion sessions with distinguished academics, researchers and market leaders who participated as speakers and moderators from Greece and abroad.

The first session “A discussion about the AI Act: is AI being regulated?”, focused on the rapid progression of AI in the Europe Union (EU). The panel was moderated by Dr. Lilian Mitrou, Professor at the University of the Aegean (Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering) and President of the IPL of the ELPO. The key speakers of the session Mr. Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Minister of Digital Governance , Mr. Gabriele Mazzini, Team Leader of the Artificial Intelligence policy &  regulation at the European Commission, Mr. Jan Kleijssen, Director of Information Society - Action against Crime at the Council of Europe, Mrs. Cornelia Kutterer, Senior Director and Head of Responsible Tech & Competition European Government Affairs at Microsoft, Mr. Ugo Pagallo, Professor in Jurisprudence at Universita' degliStudi di Torino (Law School), Mr. Vangelis Papakonstantinou, Professor in the Faculty of Law and Criminology at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Mr. Michael Reffay, Advisor for Digital, Telecommunications and Postal Services at the Permanent Representation of France to the EU, focused on the developments of the Artificial Intelligence Act in the context at the EU level and the  concerns around it . 

Mr. Konstantinos Menoudakos, President of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority, President of the Hellenic Council of State, coordinated the discussion on “Artificial Justice, Supervision and Rights”, with key speakers Dr. Eleni Kosta, Professor of Technology Law and Human Rights at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT, Tilburg University, the Netherlands), Mr. Eleftherios Chelioudakis, co-founder and secretary of the BoD of the Greek digital rights organization Homo Digitalis, Dr. Nienke van der Have, Seconded National Expert at the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, within the Unit Just, Digital and Migration, Dr. Ioannis Kompatsiaris, Research Director at CERTH-ITI, the Head of Multimedia Knowledge and Social Media Analytics Laboratory and Deputy Director of the Institute and Mr. Andreas Tsangaris, Chief Technology Officer at Performance Technologies S.A.

In the third panel session, moderated by Mr. Pantelis Tzortzakis, Executive vice chairman at Hellenic Development Bank, the key speakers Dr. Athanasios Kyriazis, Professor at the Department of Statistics and Insurance Sciences at the University of Piraeus in the field of Applied Mathematics and New Technologies, Dr. Michalis Mitsopoulos, Director of the Department of Business Environment and Regulatory Affairs at the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, Mr. Giorgos Nounesis, Director and President of the Board of Directors of the National Centre for Research on Natural Sciences 'Dimikokritos' , Mr. Fotis Kourmousis, Executive Board Member at the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF), discussed their thoughts on 'Artificial Intelligence: Developmentand Research'.

Finally, at the fourth session, moderated by  Mr. Michalis Pikramenos, Vice-President of the Hellenic Council of State and Professor of the Faculty of Law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki an interdisciplinary discussion was held on “AI for Justice and Public Administration: can there be Governing and Judging with algorithms?”. The speakers were:Mr. Konstantinos Kousoulis, Councilor at the Hellenic Council of State, National Representative of Greece to CEPEJ, Mr. Dimosthenis Anagnostopoulospoulos, Secretary General at GSIS, Mr. Michael Kolain, Legal scholar at the "Transformation of the State in the digital age" (Legal) at DeutschesForschungsinstitut für öffentlicheVerwaltung Speyer (German Research Institute for Public Administration, Dr. Gianluca Misuraca, Senior Scientist at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and is coordinating research in the area of Digital governance and Social Innovation, Dr. Rony Medaglia, Professor with Special Responsibilities on Digitalization and the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the Copenhagen Business School, Department of Digitalization and Mr. Stavros Asthenidis, Chief Executive Officer at Information Society S.A.

The event was honored by esteemed representatives of the Hellenic Republic, the academic and research community, the business sector and various international organizations. Among them were Mr Yannis Tsakiris, State Secretary for Development and Investment, Mr Athanasios Koutromanos, President of National Council for Radio and Television,Mr Athanasios Papaioannou, President of Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection,Mr Nikolaos Sekeroglou, Counselor of Council State, Mr Nikolaos Markopoulos, President of Council State and President of the Joint Committee on Personal Data at the Ministry  of Justice, MrsSotiria Douni, Vice-President of the Court of Auditors, Mr Kyriakos Economou, Judge of the Supreme Court, Mrs Angeliki Papanagiotou-Leza, President of the Court of  Appeal, Mrs Evi Vlachou, member of the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection, Mr Nikolaos Fakotakis, Professor at the Electrical, Mechanical and Technology Department of the University of Patra, Mr Konstantinos Christodoulou, Professor at the at  the Faculty of Law of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Mr Michael Avgoustianakis, Professor at the Faculty of Law of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Mr Georgios Triantafyllakis, Professor at  the Faculty of Law at the University of Thrace, Mr Yannis  Charalasbidis, Professor at the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering at the of University of Aegean, Mrs Eleni Rethymiotaki, Deputy Professor at the Faculty of Law of the National and Kapodistrian at the University of Athens, Mr Damianos Chatziantoniou, Deputy Professor at the  Economic University of Athens, Mrs Maria Karyda, Deputy Professor at the Department of Information and Communication Systems at the University of Aegean, Mrs Fereniki Panagopoulou-Koutnatzi, Assistant Professor at the Panteion University, Mrs Antigoni Papanikolaou, Legal and Government Affairs Director at Microsoft, in Greece, Cyprus and Malta, Mr Alexandros Melidis, Director of Foss Repository, executive researcher at the centers: NCSR DIMOKRITOS, Athens Research Centre, KEMEA, as well as many lawyers, mechanical, informatics, responsible for  the protection of private entities in the public and private sectors and postgraduate students .       

The event was held under the auspices of Η.Ε. the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

The event was organized by BOUSSIAS Communications .

The sponsors of the Conference were Microsoft and Performance.

tags: Institute for Private Law, Data Protection and Technology-IPL;

The Deputy Prime Minister of Greece, Mr. Panagiotis Pikrammenos
Τhe Minister of Justice, Mr Kostas Tsiaras
The President of the Institute for Justice and Growth of EPLO Mr. Nicolas Kanellopoulos
The Director of EPLO, Mr. Spyridon Flogaitis

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