CV

Dimitris Papastergiou

Minister of Digital Governance

Dimitris Papastergiou was born in 1973 in Trikala. He graduated from the Polycladic Lyceum of Trikala and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of NTUA (National Technical University of Athens). At the same time, he attended journalism courses, while he maintains strong ties with technology and the internet, a relationship that was strengthened at the Multimedia Laboratory of NTUA. In 2001 he built and presented, together with a group of his colleagues, the first integrated website for the Prefecture of Trikala, 3kala.gr. Since 2002 he has been practicing the profession of Electrical and Computer Engineer in the city of Trikala. He was involved in studies and construction of private electromechanical projects and the creation of software programs. In 2007 he entered the field of renewable energy and has constructed more than 300 private renewable energy projects. His involvement in the community began in 2002, with his election to the City Council. He was re-elected in 2006, and in 2014 he was elected Mayor of Trikkaion and member of the Board of Directors of KEDE. He was re-elected Mayor in 2019 and, in the same year, he was elected President of the KEDE. He is married to the engineer Soula Brakis and is the happy father of Faye, Kostas and Nikos. From June 2023, he is Minister of Digital Governance in the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

CV

Giorgos Pitsilis

Governor, Independent Authority for Public Revenue

George Pitsilis was born in the USA in 1975. He is a Supreme Court lawyer, with scientific specialty and significant professional experience in the entire range of Tax, Greek, International and European Law. He is a graduate of Anavryta Classical High School. He graduated from the Law School of the University of Athens, from which he also received a Master's Degree in Public Law. He also holds a DEA in Tax Law from Pantheon – Sorbonne University (Paris I). He speaks English and French fluently and also speaks German. He is married with 2 children.

CV

Michalis Bletsas

Governor, National Cybersecurity Authority Greece

Michail Bletsas is a Research Scientist and the Director of Computing at MIT's Media Lab where he has been working since 1996. He is responsible for all the infrastructure that the lab uses to produce, store, transport and consume its bits. He was a member of the core technical and design team for the “One Laptop Per Child” initiative which created OLPC's pioneering, award-winning "XO" laptop. His current research interests include network security, disinformation operations, wireless networks and building efficient high performance machine learning computing infrastructures. Over the years, he has advised governments around technology policy issues and provided expert opinion in technical matters to top-level officials. He has cofounded two companies, has been a director and consulted for many others in a variety of capacities. He has been appointed as the first Governor of the National Cybersecurity Authority of Greece in April 2024. He has implemented broadband access networks using cutting-edge technologies including one of the earliest ADSL testbeds and various wireless technologies. Mr. Bletsas has been a frequent keynote speaker in international conferences and has been engaged in many civic activities. He holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and an MSc degree in Computer Engineering from Boston University.

CV

Dimosthenis Anagnostopoulos

Secretary General for Information Systems and Digital Governance

Dimosthenis Anagnostopoulos is a Professor of Information Systems and Simulation in the Department of Informatics and Telematics at Harokopio University of Athens. He served as a Rector of the same University, during 2011-2016 and as a Dean of the School of Digital Technology. He is a visiting Professor at Sussex University, UK, and an Associate Editor of Requirements Engineering (Springer). He served as National Representative of Greece for ICT in EU Horizon 2020 (2014-2015). He held the position of Secretary General for Information Systems of the Greek Ministry of Finance and Economics (2004 - 2009). During his service, he contributed to the development of the following Information systems: Real Estate Data Base and ETAK systems, ELENXIS, new TAXISnet, ICISnet and M-TAXIS (mobile TAXIS). During 2019-2023, he served as Secretary General for Information Systems of Public Administration of the Hellenic Ministry of Digital Governance, responsible - among other projects that contributed to the country’s rapid digital transformation development - for Interoperability across the Public Sector and Government Cloud.

CV

Dr. Konstantinos Karantzalos

Secretary General of Telecommunications and Post

Konstantinos Karantzalos (http://users.ntua.gr/karank) is a Professor of Remote Sensing at the National Technical University of Athens. His teaching and research interests include geoscience and earth observation, geospatial big data, hyperspectral image analysis, computer vision and machine learning with applications e.g. in environmental monitoring and precision agriculture. He has several publications in top-rank international journals & conferences and a number of awards and honors for his research contributions. He has more than 20 years of research experience, involved with more than 30 EU and national excellence/ competitive research projects. Dr. Karantzalos, IEEE Senior Member, serves as Scientific/ Program Committee and reviewer for top rank international journals/conferences and as an Evaluator/ Panel Member for the evaluation of EU and national research programmes (H2020, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Israel Science Foundation, Belgian Science Policy Office, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, etc). Dr. Karantzalos currently Chairing the ISPRS Working Group WGIII/2 ‘Spectral and Thermal Data Processing and Analytics’.

CV

Stellina Siarapi

Secretary General for Private Investments

Ms. Stellina Siarapi has served as the Secretary General for Reception of Asylum Seekers at the Ministry of Migration and Asylum since February 2024. From July 2023 until February 2024, she worked at the Secretariat General of the Prime Minister. From September 2021 to June 2023, she held the position of Special Advisor at the office of the Minister of Citizen Protection. From January 2021 to August 2021, she served as Advisor on Demographic Policy and Family Affairs at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. In 2020, she was a member of the National Council for Gender Equality. From July 2019 to January 2021, she was Special Advisor at the office of the Minister of the Interior. From February 2017 to September 2018, she worked as a Researcher at the Konstantinos Karamanlis Institute of Democracy, specializing in Research and International Communication. From September 2018 until the July 2019 elections, she worked on Strategic Planning for the New Democracy Party (ND). Between 2014 and 2016, she worked as a Researcher at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of the Peloponnese. In 2017, she graduated with distinction from the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of the Peloponnese. She completed her internship at the Center for Security Studies of the Ministry of Citizen Protection (2015-2016). She has completed the following online educational programs: Women Leadership Program (2021) at the Yale School of Management, Strategic Communication (2020) at George Washington University, and the Jean Monnet Module "Moving the EU Forward" (2016) at the University of Athens. She is fluent in English.

CV

Vassilis Karkatzounis

Special Secretary for Artificial Intelligence and Data Governance

Vassilis Karkatzounis is the Special Secretary for Artificial Intelligence and Data Governance at the Ministry of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence of Greece. He is a lawyer specializing in Information Technology Law, holding a Law degree from the University of Athens and an LL.M. in Technology, Media and Telecommunications Law from Queen Mary University of London. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of the Aegean, focusing on privacy and data protection in online advertising. Vasilis has advised the Minister of Digital Governance on Cybersecurity, AI, and Internet Governance, and has represented Greece in EU and Council of Europe negotiations on the Artificial Intelligence Act and the Convention on AI. His work centers on data governance and the ethical, legal, and societal dimensions of AI, particularly in public administration and justice, and he has published widely on the intersection of technology, law, and policy.

CV

Yannis Mastrogeorgiou

Special Secretariat of Foresight - Presidency of the Hellenic Government

From 2019 to 2022, he served as the Secretary General of Communication and Media in the Presidency of the Greek Government. He was previously the Director General of the Konstantinos Karamanlis Institute of Democracy and director of the think tank “DIKTIO for the reformation of Greece and Europe” (2013-2018). Yannis has also served as Director of Communications and Special Adviser to the Greek Minister of Education, as well as Special Advisor to the Minister of Development and to the Greek Parliament. He has worked in the field of communications and advertisement in multinational companies and was also a Marshall Memorial Fellow of the German Marshall Fund (GMF). He studied history in the National Kapodestrian University of Athens, international relations, European Political Economy and law at the University of the Aegean and the Athens University of Economics and Business. He is a PhD candidate of the Science of History and Philosophy of the University of Athens.

CV

Thomas Jensen

CEO, Milestone Systems

Thomas Jensen is the CEO of Milestone Systems. Since 2020, he has overseen a corporate strategy to expand Milestone’s data-driven, security-focused video technology software into broader applications. Under Thomas’s leadership, Milestone’s annual revenue has doubled to 2 billion DKK and the company has grown from 934 employees to 1,500. The company has completed three successful acquisitions and mergers, further broadening Milestone's industry reach and product offerings. Since 2024, Milestone’s portfolio has been notably enhanced with the additions of BriefCam, Arcules, and brighter AI. Since Thomas took on the role of CEO, Milestone has demonstrated greater commitment to responsible tech-nology and ethical AI principles by signing the G7 Code of Conduct on AI, joining the EU AI Pact and backing reg-ulatory frameworks, among other initiatives. Milestone works closely with both policymakers and business lead-ers to promote ethical innovation and clearer regulations. In 2025, he introduced Project Hafnia, an award-winning partnership between Milestone and NVIDIA, which pro-vides ethically sourced video data for developing regulation-compliant AI models. Project Hafnia has created one of the world’s first Vision Language Models (VLMs) for traffic management. These tools are already being used by cities in the US and Italy. Born in Denmark, Thomas Jensen has held several leadership positions internationally before joining Milestone, including Executive Vice President at Bechtle and Vice President and Head of Worldwide Channel Sales Strategy at HP Inc. He also had senior roles in Vestas Wind Systems and Mærsk.

CV

Konstantinos Gerardos

President of the Board, SELPE

Konstantinos Gerardos's professional career began at the age of 8, as a salesman of Design Equipment at Plaisio’s first store at Stournari St. and carried on throughout all weekends and summers until his graduation from Athens College in 1995. After completing his studies in the USA, he officially joined the company’s personnel in 2003, being responsible for the newly formed e-commerce channel, plaisio.gr, while afterwards he led the management of the Stores Network, plus the Marketing and the HR Departments. Since 2012, he holds the CEO position of the company, whilst other important milestones in his career to date include: - the recognition of Plaisio as "Retailer of the Year" and "e-Retailer of the Year" five times, - the company's promotion as “Greece’s Best Workplace” for three years (2017, 2019 & 2025) - the inclusion of Plaisio in the list of "Fortune's Most Admired Companies" nine times in the eleven-year course of the institution, and - the "Retail Manager of the Year" title for 2020 and 2022 Konstantinos’ proudest moments are beyond business accomplishments and include the creation of the robotics team "Plaisiobots", which won the gold medal at the International Robot Olympiad after a yearlong practice (2021), the creation of Atraktos initiative and a 30+ video series under the name “Atraktos Kids”, through which positive role models are promoted, as well as Plaisio’s volunteering team named “Plai sou”. To date, over 300 “Plai sou” volunteers have contributed to major actions related to education, such as the creation of the first STEM Library in a public school located in Athens, but also in the devastating floods of Thessaly (September 2023), providing necessary supplies for the new school year to the students affected. Finally, as of July 2024, he has been elected President of the Hellenic Retail Business Association (SELPE).

CV

Konstantinos Kollias

President of the Economic Chamber of Greece

Konstantinos Kollias is an Assistant Professor at the Economics Department of the Democritus University of Thrace and President of the Economic Chamber of Greece since February 2014. He is Partner and member of the BoD in a consulting firm, business development consultant in a Law Firm, member of the Renumeration and Nomination Committee and member of the Bod of the Athens International Airport, in which he has also served as Chairman of the Audit Committee. After completing his Bachelor’s Degree at the Economics Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, he obtained his Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Piraeus and his PhD from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in the same subject. In the past, he has served as Special Secretary of Privatizations at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Director General at the Educational Center for Public Servants of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Alternate Governor of the Board of Governors of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), representing the Hellenic Republic, vice-Chairman of the Bod of the Gas Supply Company Attica S.A., member of the BoD of the Athens Urban Transport Organization, financial advisor to the Minister at the Ministry of Economy & Finance and visiting Professor at the Athens University of Economics & Finance. His recent research interests focus on financial analysis of businesses, especially SME’s, financial instruments and Mergers and Acquisitions.

CV

Dimitris Christoforakis

President, P.O.F.E.E.

He is a tax accountant with 30 years of professional experience and serves as the C.E.O. and Co-founder of Accounting Advisors P.C. Throughout his extensive career, he has acted as a tax consultant for several large companies and specializes in tax audit matters. At the same time, within the framework of his union activities, he serves as the President of the Panhellenic Federation of Self-Employed Tax Advisors(P.O.F.E.E.).