Greece will host one of the seven AI Factories in the EU.

Pharos” positions Greece on the map of Artificial Intelligence Innovation.

Joint press release issued by the Ministry of Digital Governance, National Infrastructures for Research and Technology (GRNET), the National Centre for Scientific Research DEMOKRITOS  (NCSRD), the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Athena Research Center, GrowthFund and the Special Secretariat of Foresight.

Greece will host one of the first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Factories in Europe. The Ministry of Digital Governance’s proposal for the project “Pharos – The Greek AI Factory for accelerating AI innovation”, has been approved under the EU’s EuroHPC Joint Undertaking AI Factories initiative.

The “Pharos” project will serve as a hub for academia, research, the public sector, and private enterprises, aiming to develop innovative AI-driven services. Its focus will span the sectors of Health, Culture and Language and Sustainability (energy, environment, climate). In doing so, it will play a crucial role in fostering the growth and ongoing support of an innovative and competitive ecosystem of startups and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).

The project has a total budget of €30 million, funded 50% by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and 50% by National Resources. The project is scheduled to commence in March 2025, with a total duration of 36 months.

This initiative is a flagship project under the Blueprint for Greece’s AI Transformation,  developed by the High Level Advisory Committee on Artificial Intelligence (AI) The project will leverage the high-performance computing infrastructure of the “DAEDALUS” supercomputer, enabling seamless collaboration with other European infrastructures. The cooperation amongst AI Factories across countries, will ensure the collective data produced can be utilized for the benefit of all European citizens.

More specifically, an ecosystem of innovative best practices will be developed in Greece that will:

• Enhance competitiveness by providing advanced computational resources, access to big data, and specialised human expertise.
• Support the development of reliable AI services aligned with European AI regulations (AI Act).
• Promote innovation in the targeted key industrial sectors,e. sustainability, through satellite data analysis for natural resource management and mitigating the effects of climate change.
• Invest in human capital via training programs, fostering academic collaborations, upskilling and attracting talent in the AI domain.
• Ensure innovation by connecting with other relevant initiatives, such as European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), Data Spaces, National Competence Centers (NCCs), and key projects such as DeployAI, ALT-EDIC4EU, LLMs4EU, amongst others.
• Foster a cross-border innovation ecosystem through AI, delivering widespread benefits for all EU countries.

The “Pharos” project will be managed and operated by the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology (GRNET), operating under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance. The Greek AI Factory Pharos is coordinated by a consortium of partners which include the National Centre for Scientific Research DEMOKRITOS  (NCSRD), the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), the Athena Research Center, and the GrowthFund, in close collaboration with the Special Secretariat of Foresight of the Government.

Affiliated Bodies include: a) The National Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), b) Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), c) National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), d) Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), e) University of Piraeus (UNIPI), as well as the National Documentation Centre (EKT) and IDIKA S.A., both operating under the auspices of  the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance.