Innovation Days 2022 by EKT and University of Thessaly

For the 5th year, the National Documentation Centre (EKT), as an EIT Health hub for Greece, with the support of the University of Thessaly, is organising the Innovation Days (i-Days) from 9 to 11 November 2022.

Groups of students are trained in the development of innovative ideas in the field of health and then compete at a pan-European level. From 9 to 11 November, Greek students will form teams, study and compete under the guidance of university professors and special advisors.

The process is implemented in four stages:

1. Students are enrolled in the Innovation Days.

2. The teams are formed, they select challenges and study the educational material given them.

3. They work closely with professors and expert advisors to carry out the challenge they have undertaken.

4. The teams present their ideas and compete with each other.

The 2022 Innovation Days promote innovation in health, through the active participation and training of students from academic institutions across Europe. From October 17 to November 11, 2022, i-Days are being held in more than 30 different locations across Europe, online and/or in person.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students participating in the Innovation Days are trained and come into contact with modern practices and approaches such as design thinking and ideas pitching, work in multidisciplinary teams to address real health challenges and compete in the development and presentation of their solutions.

In Greece, students will work in the following areas: · Good health and well-being · Mental health

• Good health and well-being
• Mental health
• Technologies focused on women's health (Femtech)
• Real world data
• Electronic health records

The teams will receive support from more than 15 mentors & facilitators from EKT, the University of Thessaly and representatives of industry and the health sector.

On the last day, the student teams will present their ideas and be judged by a team of experts, who will use standard scoring criteria to award prizes to the best teams.

The winning teams of the local i-Days will be invited to the European final, which will take place on 24-25 November 2022, in Vienna, Austria. Winning teams will receive funding to develop their ideas, while all participating students will join the EIT Health alumni network, gaining access to new educational and training opportunities.

Please note that places are limited. For students who are not enrolled at the University of Thessaly, there will be a priority order.

For more information, please contact EKT's Innovation Advisors, George Megas (megas@ekt. gr) coordinator of the EIT Health Hub and Varvara Vasilaki (vasilaki@ekt.gr) project manager at the EIT Health Hub.

At the University of Thessaly, the Innovation Days are supported by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Unit (MOKE) and the Department of Informatics with Applications in Biomedicine. Groups of students of the University of Thessaly can contact Prof. Georgios Stampoulis (ystambou@econ.uth. gr) and Professor Haris Karanikas (karanikas@uth. gr).

Further information about EIT Health

EIT Health is one of the largest European public-private partnerships for health innovation. Composed of around 150 partners, EIT Health is a unique European network of leading companies, universities, research and development centres, institutes and health units. The role of EIT Health is to build an ecosystem conducive to the development of healthcare for a healthier future for European citizens. The National Documentation Centre (EKT) is the hub of EIT Health in Greece.

ΕΚΤ in the innovation ecosystem

EKT, a public interest organisation supervised by the Ministry of Digital Governance, supports organisations and businesses oriented to the new data economy. It is the first Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) in Greece to be listed by the European Commission.

With combined value-added services, EKT supports the Greek research and business community to excel and grow internationally. As National Contact Point for Horizon Europe, for the clusters 'Health', 'Digital, Industry and Space' and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), and for the (EU Mission Cancer ), it supports organisations, businesses, academic and research bodies from identifying funding opportunities to drafting and submitting proposals, implementing projects and exploiting research results. As co-ordinator of the Greek node of the Enterprise Europe Network, the largest business support network in the world, it provides services complementary to those of the National Contact Points, for international networking and search for business and technological collaborations, technology transfer and innovation, access to European funding and finding partners to participate in research proposals.