speakers.js

window.speakers = [{

        name: "Nicodemos Damianou",
        photo: "biophotos/nicodemos-damianou.jpg",
        capacity: "Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy",
        role: "",
        topic: "Welcome Address",
        cv: "Dr. Damianou holds a Sc.B Degree in Computer Science from Brown University USA, a Ph.D in Computer Security & Policy-based Management of enterprise-wide Computer Networks from Imperial College UK, a Diploma of Information Security from Imperial College, and an MBA from the University of Cyprus. He is an IT and Information Security professional with many years of experience in Payment Systems and Fintech, Risk Management Methodologies and Digital Transformation Technologies.He served at managerial positions within the Bank of Cyprus Group. From November 2017 to January 2024 he was the General Manager of JCC Payment Systems Ltd."
    },
    {
        name: "Michail Bletsas",
        photo: "biophotos/michael-bletsas2.jpg",
        capacity: "Governor, National Cybersecurity Authority of Greece, Director of Computing, MIT Media Lab",
        role: "Keynote Speaker, Panelist",
        topic: "Keynote, AI in Cybersecurity",
        cv: "Michail Bletsas has served as Governor of the National Cybersecurity Authority since April 2024, actively contributing to the development of the national cybersecurity strategy. He is a Research Scientist and Director of Computing at the MIT Media Lab, where he has worked since 1996, overseeing the production, transmission, consumption, and storage of data. He was a core member of the technical and design team of the 'One Laptop per Child' (OLPC) initiative, which created the pioneering and award-winning 'XO' laptop. He is frequently invited as a keynote speaker at international conferences and public forums.  His research interests include network security, countering the systematic spread of disinformation, wireless networks, and the development of high- performance computing infrastructures for machine learning. In recent years, he has been extensively engaged in consulting on technology and technology policy.  He holds a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a master's degree in Computer Engineering from Boston University"
    },
    {
        name: "Demetris Skourides",
        photo: "biophotos/demetris-skourides.jpg",
        capacity: "Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation, and Technology",
        role: "Keynote Speaker",
        topic: "Keynote",
        cv: "Demetris Skourides is the Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation, and Technology of the Republic of Cyprus and Chairman of the National AI Taskforce. He holds a BSc in Computer Science from Arizona State University and an MBA from Henley Management College. Additionally, he has been trained in digital transformation, AI, data monetization, and sales through programs at Columbia, Stanford, MIT, and Harvard. With a career spanning Oracle and Amazon Web Services, he has held executive roles across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. At Oracle, where he worked since 2006, he played a key role in driving cloud and ISV solutions transformation. He later joined AWS as Industry Strategist for EMEA, focusing on financial services, retail, manufacturing, and energy. Demetris Skourides spearheaded the establishment of Cloud Partner Centres of Excellence in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, South Korea, Kenya, and South Africa, enabling innovation and new revenue streams. He also chairs the Board of Directors of the Research and Innovation Foundation (ex officio)."
    },

    {


        name: "Elena Xoplaki",
        photo: "biophotos/elena-xoplaki.jpg",
        capacity: "Assistant Professor, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen",
        role: "Keynote Speaker",
        topic: "Keynote",
        cv: "Dr. Xoplaki is Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography of the Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen. She is an expert in Mediterranean climate change. She has conducted analysis on weather extremes (heat waves, floods, droughts, etc.) and health impacts, paleoclimatology; climate reconstructions / model comparison, influence of circulation on European and Mediterranean climate. She has participated in and coordinated several European, Swiss and US research projects. She holds a Ph.D. in Natural Sciences from the University of Bern, Switzerland. From August 2011, she is awarded an Akademischer Rat (Assistant Professor) position at the University of Giessen, Germany. In this function, she is doing research on the Mediterranean climate, climate change and impacts and she is teaching at the BSc and MSc level at the Department of Geography."
    },
    {
        name: "Constantinos Adamides",
        photo: "biophotos/constantinos-adamides.jpg",
        capacity: "Assoc. Professor, Head of Department of Politics and Governance, University of Nicosia",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI and Challenges to Democracy",
        cv: "Dr. Constantinos Adamides is an Associate Professor of International Relations and the Head of the Department of Politics and Governance, at the University of Nicosia (UNic), where he also served as the Director of the Diplomatic Academy for the period 2014-2025. He currently also serves a member of the Executive Academic Board of the European Security and Defense College. Further to the academic activities, Dr. Adamides frequently works with the government sector, as well as with foreign diplomatic Missions in Cyprus on issues pertinent to security and geopolitics. In 2014, Dr. Adamides was appointed as a Member of the first Geostrategic Council of the Republic of Cyprus (2014-2018). Constantinos holds a PhD in Political Science and International Studies, an MA in Diplomacy and International Relations, an MBA in Finance, and a BSc in Finance and Political Science."
    },
    {
        name: "Tasos S. Anastasiou",
        photo: "biophotos/tasos-anastasiou2.jpg",
        capacity: "Chairman of the Council, University of Cyprus",
        role: "Session Chair",
        topic: "AI in Industry and Innovation",
        cv: "A Strategic Advisor working with organizations operating across diverse industries, Tasos has over 20 years of top leadership experience,  having steered both an 'old economy' group with multiple business interests, and subsequently being at the helm of a global online trading/ fintech powerhouse, developing and executing its long term strategy.  He graduated with first class honours from the London School of Economics, he is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and a qualified Corporate Director.   He also chairs the board of IXI, a Hedge Fund Management firm focused on Algorithmic Trading"
    },
    {
        name: "Spyros Armostis",
        photo: "biophotos/spyros-armostis.jpg",
        capacity: "Assist. Professor, Department of English Studies, University of Cyprus",
        role: "panelist",
        topic: "AI in Culture and Heritage",
        cv: "Spyros Armostis is an Assistant Professor in Linguistics at the Department of English Studies, University of Cyprus. He holds a PhD and an MPhil in Linguistics (Phonetics) from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Classics from the University of Cyprus. His research focuses mainly on phonetics, phonology, sociolinguistics, clinical linguistics, grapholinguistics, and documentary linguistics. Focal points of his work have been the study of Cypriot Greek and Cypriot Arabic. He is currently a board member of the Cyprus Linguistics Society (CyLing) and an appointed member of the Cyprus Permanent Committee for the Standardisation of Geographical Names (ΜΚΕΤΓΟ). Finally, he is the Coordinator of the “Cy[Φ]” (pronounced [ˈsaɪ̯ ˈfaɪ̯]) Phonetics Lab, Department of English Studies, University of Cyprus."
    },
    {
        name: "Melinos Averkiou",
        photo: "biophotos/melinos-averkiou.jpg",
        capacity: "Associate Research Professor, CYENS Centre of  Excellence",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Culture and Heritage",
        cv: "Dr. Melinos Averkiou is an Associate Research Professor and Group Leader of the Visual Computing Group at CYENS Centre of Excellence in Cyprus. He received his PhD in Computer Science from University College London, and has held research positions at Stanford University, SIAT China, and the University of Cyprus. His research focuses on developing neural methods for understanding and generating visual content, with applications spanning computer vision, urban planning and remote sensing. He also manages Prometheus, CYENS' peta-scale AI supercomputer."
    },
    {
        name: "Panayiotis Charalambous",
        photo: "biophotos/panayiotis-charalambous.jpeg",
        capacity: "Research Assistant Professor, CYENS Centre of    Excellence",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Culture and Heritage",
        cv: "Dr. Panayiotis Charalambous is a Research Assistant Professor at the CYENS Centre of Excellence, where he leads the PULSE (formerly V-EUPNEA) research group. His work focuses on computer graphics, animation, crowd simulations, extended reality (XR), digital twins, and AI-driven technologies for digital cultural heritage and creativity. He holds a PhD in Computer Graphics and Animation from the University of Cyprus.  Dr. Charalambous has coordinated and contributed to several high-impact research projects, including Horizon 2020 initiatives such as ShareSpace, ReInherit, PREMIERE and HAMLET, as well as EHEM (JPICH), 3DMotaaS (RIF), and CHARISMA (RIF). He is the principal investigator and research lead of iNicosia, CYENS' flagship immersive urban digital twin initiative. His research explores the intersections of computer animation, game technologies, AI for graphics, and virtual heritage, with publications in leading venues such as ACM SIGGRAPH, Eurographics, and Computer Graphics Forum."
    },
    {
        name: "Michael Chatzipanagiotis",
        photo: "biophotos/michael-chatzipanagiotis.jpg",
        capacity: "Assistant Professor, Department of Law, University of Cyprus ",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Critical Infrastructures",
        cv: "Michael Chatzipanagiotis is Assistant Professor in Private Law at the Department of Law of the University of Cyprus (UCY). He teaches Torts, Insurance Law, Consumer Protection, Banking Law, European Private Law and Air Law. His main research interests are Legal aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Torts, Insurance Law, Consumer protection, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Air and Space Law, Banking Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). He has also participated in various research and consulting projects of the European Commission on digitalisation of justice, air law, space law and consumer protection."
    },
    {
        name: "Sotirios Chatzis",
        photo: "biophotos/sotirios-chatzis.png",
        capacity: "Associate Professor, Chair of Department of Electrical Eng. & Computer Science and Eng., Cyprus University of Technology",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "Emerging Research in AI",
        cv: "."
    },
    {
        name: "Yiorgos L. Chrysanthou",
        photo: "biophotos/george-chrysanthou.jpg",
        capacity: "Professor, University of Cyprus and CYENS CoE",
        role: "Session Chair",
        topic: "AI in Culture and Heritage",
        cv: "Prof. Yiorgos L. Chrysanthou is the General Director of the CYENS Centre of Excellence and a Professor at the Computer Science Department of the University of Cyprus. He has been involved in the setup of the Centre since the beginning and was the Research Director for the first four years.  He has published over 90 papers in journals and international conferences on computer graphics and virtual reality and is a co-author of the book 'Computer Graphics and Virtual Environments: From Realism to Real-Time', (Addison-Wesley 2001).  He served as the local or overall coordinator of over 25 research projects, related to his research interests, that lie in the general area of 3D Computer Graphics, recently focusing more on the development of algorithms for real-time AR and VR rendering, computer animation and crowd simulation.Over the years, Yiorgos has supported several start-up companies with his technical expertise."
    },
    {
        name: "Costas P. Constantinou",
        photo: "biophotos/costas-constantinou.jpg",
        capacity: "Professor, University of Cyprus",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Education: Policy and Practice",
        cv: "C. P. Constantinou is a Professor in Science Education and Director of the Learning in Science Group at the University of Cyprus. He has published extensively on science education with particular emphasis on inquiry-based learning, research-validation of teaching-learning innovations, assessment for learning and the development of transversal competencies such as modeling, investigation, argumentation and creativity. He has a PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge and has worked at Washington State University and the University of Washington. He has been a member of the editorial boards of the International Journal of Science Education, the Educational Research Review and the journal Learning, Culture and Social Interaction. Dr. Constantinou has co-ordinated a number of projects funded by the European Commission and the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation. He has participated in the High Level Expert Groups that authored the reports Science Education for Responsible Citizenship in 2015 and Europe needs more Scientists! in 2004. He has served as President of the European Science Education Research Association and as Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction."
    },
    {
        name: "Andreas Demetriou",
        photo: "biophotos/andreas-demetriou.jpg",
        capacity: "Chief Information Officer, Alphamega Hypermarkets",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Cybersecurity",
        cv: "Andreas Demetriou is the Chief Information Officer at Alphamega Hypermarkets, where he drives the company's Technology Strategy, Digital Transformation, and AI initiatives. He leads the AI Coordination Team and serves on the AI Steering Committee, playing a key role in shaping the organization's future through intelligent systems and data-driven innovation. Under his leadership, Alphamega was recognized by IDG as one of the 100 Most Innovative Companies of 2020, thanks to its pioneering technology solutions. Andreas holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Crete and an MSc in Information Systems from the University of Surrey. He is also a certified GDPR Data Protection Officer, a Lead ISO 27001 Implementer (PECB), and a PM² Project Management certified professional."
    },
    {
        name: "Andreas Demetriou",
        photo: "biophotos/andreas_demetriou.jpg",
        capacity: "Professor Emeritus University of Cyprus and Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts",
        role: "Session Chair",
        topic: "AI in Education: Policy and Practice",
        cv: "Andreas Demetriou is Professor Emeritus of Psychology of the University of Cyprus and the University of Nicosia and a member of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts, Academia Europea, the International Academy of Education, and the Association of Psychological Science. He is an Honorary Doctor of Middlesex University London and the University of Szeged, Hungary, and an Honorary Professor of Durham University, UK, and the Northeastern Normal University, China. He was the Minister of Education and Culture of Cyprus and founding President of the Cyprus University of Technology. He published more than 250 books and articles presenting his work on cognitive development and intelligence. Several journals (e.g., Developmental Review, Developmental Science, Intelligence, Human Development) devoted special issues to his theory."
    },
    {
        name: "Dimitrios Devetzis",
        photo: "biophotos/dimitrios-devetzis.jpg",
        capacity: "Assist. Professor, Frederick University",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI and Challenges to Democracy",
        cv: "Dimitrios Devetzis is Assistant Professor at the Department of Law at Frederick University in Cyprus. He serves as Teaching Fellow at the Faculty of Law of Leibniz Universität Hannover in Germany and is a Visiting Professor at the Orthodox University of the Congo, inKinshasa., Dem. Republic of Congo."
    },
    {
        name: "Nicolas Dietis",
        photo: "biophotos/nicolas-dietis.jpg",
        capacity: "Assist. Professor, Medical School, University of Cyprus",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Higher Education, AI in Healthcare",
        cv: "Dr Nikolaos Dietis is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Cyprus Medical School. Apart from his research activities in pharmacology, he is also interested in Medical Education and technology-enhanced learning, with a particular focus on the constructive use of AI in teaching & learning. He is a member of the European Commission's 'European AI Alliance' and the Digital Education Hub. He has received a number of awards for excellence in teaching, including the 2025 Clinical Teacher 20th Anniversary Award by the Association for the Study of Medical Education."
    },
    {
        name: "Paul Doolan",
        photo: "biophotos/paul-doolan.png",
        capacity: "Director of AI, Medical Physicist, German Medical Institute",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Healthcare",
        cv: "Dr Paul Doolan is the Director of AI and Medical Physicist at the German Medical Institute in Limassol, Cyprus. He leads cutting-edge deployments of AI across the hospital - from automated radiotherapy planning and AI-accelerated MRI scans to high-speed PET imaging workflows. With a PhD from University College London and research roots at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital, he blends deep clinical expertise with bold innovation to transform patient care through intelligent technology"
    },
    {
        name: "Constantine Dovrolis",
        photo: "biophotos/constantine-dovrolis.jpg",
        capacity: "Director of the Center for Computational Science and Technology (CaSToRC), Cyprus Institute",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "Emerging Research in AI, Workshop: AI Services",
        cv: "Constantine Dovrolis is Director of the Center for Computational Science and Technology (CaSToRC) at The Cyprus Institute. He is also a Professor of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, USA. His publications have received about 16,000 citations with an h-index of 57, and his research has been sponsored by US agencies such as NSF, NIH, DOE, DARPA, and by companies such as Google, Microsoft and Cisco. At The Cyprus Institute, he is leading a group of machine learning researchers working on European and national projects in the broader area of AI research and applications. Prof. Dovrolis is an ACM Distinguished Member and a member of the national Artificial Intelligence Taskforce of Cyprus."
    },
    {
        name: "Achilles C. Emilianides",
        photo: "biophotos/achilles-emilianides.jpg",
        capacity: "Professor of Law, Founding Member and President of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts, and Dean of the School of Law of the University of Nicosia",
        role: "Session Chair",
        topic: "AI and Challenges to Democracy",
        cv: "Prof. Achilles C. Emilianides is a practicing advocate, Professor of Law and Dean of the School of Law of the University of Nicosia. He holds a PhD in Law from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is a Founding Member and President of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts. He has also been elected as an ordinary member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and is a member of ALLEA (All European Academies) representing the Cyprus Academy. He is also the President of the Royal Commonwealth Society Cyprus Branch and a member of numerous scientific societies. He has published more than 30 monographs and 100 scientific papers."
    },
    {
        name: "Petros Galides",
        photo: "biophotos/petros-galides.jpg",
        capacity: "Deputy Commissioner of Communications",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Cybersecurity",
        cv: "Petros Galides is the Deputy Commissioner of the Cyprus Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services and of the Digital Security Authority. Petros currently serves as EMERG Chair (2024 and 2025) and Board Member of the Digital Regulation Network of the ITU. He had also served as ERGP Chair in 2023 and is currently ERGP Vice Chair. He holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MBA from the London Business School. Petros has extensive experience in postal, electronic communications, and cybersecurity regulation, as well as in the services, retail and manufacturing sectors. He has served on several company boards, performed consulting work, co-authored pioneering published papers, and held key positions in private, public, and international companies before being appointed Deputy Commissioner in 2013."
    },
    {
        name: "Ioannis Georgiou",
        photo: "biophotos/ioannis-georgiou.jpg",
        capacity: "Co-founder of Lendwise",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Industry and Innovation",
        cv: "Ioannis Georgiou is a co-founder of Lendwise, a UK-based platform dedicated to making education finance more accessible. A CFA charterholder and former President of the CFA Society, he holds a BSc in Accounting and Finance and an MSc in Analysis, Design and Management of Information Systems from the London School of Economics (LSE). Yiannis likes to combine his financial expertise with technology-driven solutions to broaden access to higher education and financial products."
    },
    {
        name: "Elena Hadjikakou",
        photo: "biophotos/elena-hadjikakou.jpg",
        capacity: "Director of the Pedagogical Institute of Cyprus",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Education: Policy and Practice",
        cv: "Dr. Elena Hadjikakou is the Director of Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth. She is a graduate of Cyprus Pedagogical Academy and the University of Cyprus. She completed her postgraduate studies (M.A.) and her doctoral studies (Ph.D) at the University of Reading, UK, in the area of Information and Communication Technologies in Education. She has worked as an in-service teacher trainer for many years at Cyprus Pedagogical Institute (C.P.I.), as permanent staff and as teacher on secondment. She has taught in many in-service training programmes for teachers, of all levels (pre-primary, primary and secondary education). She has been participating in various working groups and networks in Cyprus and abroad and her main interest is the effective teachers’ learning and the role of teacher in the learning process."
    },
    {
        name: "Sorin Hermon",
        photo: "biophotos/sorin-hermon.jpg",
        capacity: "Associate Professor in Digital Cultural Heritage, Cyprus Institute",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Culture and Heritage",
        cv: "Dr. Sorin Hermon is Associate Professor in Digital Cultural Heritage at The Cyprus Institute. His research focuses on computer graphics and computer vision-based methods for the shape analysis of archaeological artefacts, heritage sites and artworks; hyper-spectral and technical imaging integration with 3D documentation; formal knowledge representation, domain ontologies, knowledge graphs and data repositories. He applies the above on addressing current grand challenges for the heritage of the region, namely the characterization of the conservation state, materiality, production techniques and manufacture technologies of heritage assets; sustainable risk management strategies for reducing the impact of Climate Change on CH; combatting the illicit trafficking of cultural goods and open-science workflows for the research-conservation-valorization of heritage. Sorin has published more than 120 peer-reviewed research papers, supervised several PhD and MSc students and is director of the MSc program in Digital Cultural Heritage at The Cyprus Institute. He is a member of the Steering Committee of ECHOES, the recently-EU funded project aimed at developing and implementing the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage, being responsible, among others, to frame the concept of Heritage Digital Twins as digital commons and to ensure their digital continuum. He currently is the Principal Investigator on competitive EU grants summing up to ca. 2 million Euro for the next 5 years."
    },
    {
        name: "Yannis Ioannidis",
        photo: "biophotos/yiannis-ioannides.jpg",
        capacity: "Professor, University of Athens",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "Emerging Research in AI",
        cv: "Yannis Ioannidis is the President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a Professor of Informatics & Telecom at the University of Athens, and an Associated Faculty at the 'Athena' Research Center. His research interests include Database and Information Systems, Data Science and Machine Learning, Data Infrastructures, Recommender Systems and Personalization, and Interactive Digital Storytelling. His work is often interdisciplinary and inspired by and applied to data management and analysis problems that arise in industrial environments or in the context of other sciences (Social Sciences and Humanities, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences) and the Arts. He has been the coordinator and legal entity head of OpenAIRE, the technology director of EBRAINS, and the coordinator of the development of the EOSC EU Node. He is an ACM and IEEE Fellow, a member of Academia Europaea, and a recipient of several research and teaching awards. He is also a co-chair of the Global Climate Hub of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN)."
    },
    {
        name: "Petros A. Ioannou",
        photo: "biophotos/petros-ioannou.jpg",
        capacity: "Professor, School of Engineering,University of Southern California",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Critical Infrastructures",
        cv: "Petros A. Ioannou is a University Professor and the A.V. 'Bal' Balakrishnan Chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He the Director of the Center for Responsible AI for Decisions Making in Finance (CREDIF) and the Associate Director for Research of METRANS. He holds courtesy appointments with the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, the Department of Industrial Systems Engineering and KIOS of the University of Cyprus. He is the founder and Director of the Master Program on Financial Engineering at USC. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, Foreign Fellow of the Academia Europaea and European Academy of Science and Life fellow of IEEE and Fellow of IFAC and AAAS. He received many awards in the areas of Control and Transportation, and he is the author/co-author of 11 textbooks and edited books and over 400 research papers in the areas of controls, intelligent transportation systems and autonomous vehicles. He is the President Elect of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Society for the year 2025 and the President of the ITS Society starting January 2026. He serves as expert witness/consultant on cases involving vehicle control, robotics, safety and human factors, accident reconstruction and patent litigation."
    },
    {
        name: "Joseph Karis",
        photo: "biophotos/joseph-karis.png",
        capacity: "ICT Standards Expert, Cyprus Organization for Standardization",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "Workshop: AI Services",
        cv: "Joseph Karis is an ICT Standards Expert at the Cyprus Organization for Standardization (CYS) with over 17 years of experience in ICT standardization. He actively engages industry stakeholders in the ICT standardization arena, promoting innovation-driven standards. Through his work, he fosters ICT standardization among industry, academia, and authorities, strengthening Cyprus's role in European and international ICT standardization. His experience in the ICT standards arena spans across various technologies, from AI governance and digital trust frameworks to blockchain, cybersecurity, quantum security, interoperability, and emerging technologies that shape Europe's digital and secure transformation"
    },
    {
        name: "Panayiota (Pani) Kendeou",
        photo: "biophotos/panayiota-kendeou.jpg",
        capacity: "Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Guy Bond Chair in Reading in the Department of Educational Psychology at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota, USA",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Education: Policy and Practice",
        cv: "Dr. Panayiota (Pani) Kendeou is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Guy Bond Chair in Reading in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Kendeou directs the Reading + Learning Lab and co-directs the CEHD Learning Informatics Lab. In her research program, Dr. Kendeou develops theoretical models that explain how students learn during reading, and uses those models to design and test innovative, AI technologies that transform instruction and improve learning. The significance of her approach is in the development of theoretically oriented work and its translation into school-based practical applications. Dr. Kendeou has published extensively and her work has received numerous awards. She has also published a book on Misinformation and Fake News in Education and works on developing tools that teach news and digital literacy skills in young students. Dr. Kendeou's work has been featured in national and local media, including The Guardian, Healthline, VICE, Voice of America, Morning Consult, Star Tribune, MplsStPaul Magazine, and KSTP Channel 5 News. Dr. Kendeou is currently the Editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology and serves on the editorial boards of Scientific Studies of Reading, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Learning and Instruction, Educational Psychologist, Educational Psychology Review, and Reading Research Quarterly. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the Society for Text and Discourse (ST&D)."
    },
    {
        name: "Artemis Kontou",
        photo: "biophotos/artemis-kontou.jpg",
        capacity: "Senior Research Associate, KIOS Center of Excellence",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Healthcare",
        cv: "Artemis Kontou is a Senior Research Associate at KIOS CoE and an entrepreneur passionate about innovation management and growth. She co-founded Malloc, a privacy and data security startup with over 1 million downloads. She holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London and has held key roles, including Research Infrastructure Manager at KIOS CoE, Research Associate at Shell University Technology Centre, and Akzo Nobel. Artemis has participated in over 10 European projects focused on ICT, energy, and climate change. She has taught Project Management, Energy Law, and Applied Mathematics at various universities. Artemis holds two international patents, has published in peer-reviewed journals, and presented at international conferences. She is a National Delegate for ISO56001 Innovation Management standard, an Associate Fellow of the Higher Academy, and serves on the Board of the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry."
    },
    {
        name: "Nikolas Markou",
        photo: "biophotos/nikolas-markou.jpg",
        capacity: "Head of AI and Managing Partner, Electi Consulting",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Industry and Innovation",
        cv: "Nikolas Markou is Head of AI and Managing Partner at Electi Consulting, specializing in intelligent systems and data-driven solutions for enterprises of all sizes."
    },
    {
        name: "Angelos K. Marnerides",
        photo: "biophotos/angelos-marnerides.jpeg",
        capacity: "Asst. Professor, University of Cyprus",
        role: "Session Chair",
        topic: "AI in Cybersecurity",
        cv: "Angelos K. Marnerides is an Asst. Professor of Cyber Physical Systems Security in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and a Faculty Member at the KIOS Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence at the University of Cyprus. He holds a BSc (Honours, 2006) from Middlesex University and an MSc with Distinction (2007) as well as a PhD (2011) in Computer Science from Lancaster University. He has also held research positions at Carnegie Mellon University, University College London, University of Porto, and Lancaster University. Before joining UCY, he was a tenured Associate Professor at University of Glasgow, where he led the Glasgow Cyber Defense group. He has published 80+ publications in top-tier IEEE/ACM conferences with research focusing on secure and resilient system design with strong theoretical underpinnings and practical, data-driven implementations. He is currently the coordinator of the €5.8M COCOON project funded by Horizon Europe — the first EU Innovation Action project coordinated by UCY KIOS — and the €6.4M EU Horizon FOCAL project. He also serves as the national representative in the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Working Group for the Cyber Resilience Act. Angelos is a Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)."
    },
    {
        name: "Socrates Metaxas",
        photo: "biophotos/socrates-metaxas.jpg",
        capacity: "General Manager at the Limassol District Local Government Organization",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Critical Infrastructures",
        cv: "Socrates Metaxas graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1987 where he studied Economics with specialization in Industry and Trade.  He got an MBA from the City of London Business School and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.  He served as a member of the Statistics and Economics Specialist Group of the International Water Association.  He was employed by the Water Board of Lemesos in 1993 as Head of Financial Services and from 2007 he has been the Water Board Manager. From 1st July 2024, following the reform of the local administration in Cyprus, he was appointed General Manager of the Limassol District Local Government Organisation."
    },
    {
        name: "Fereniki Panagopoulou-Koutnatzi",
        photo: "biophotos/fereniki-koutnatzi.jpg",
        capacity: "Assoc. Professor, Head of Department of Public Administration, Panteion University",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI and Challenges to Democracy",
        cv: "Dr. Fereniki Panagopoulou-Koutnatzi is Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at the Panteion University and a Supreme-Court Lawyer. She has worked as a Legal Auditor at the Hellenic Data Protection Authority for eight years. She studied law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (bachelor's degree and postgraduate degree in public law), as well as Law and Public Health at the University of Harvard. She holds a PhD in Constitutional Law and Bioethics from the Humboldt University in Berlin. Fereniki has taught Constitutional Law, Law and New Technologies, Law of Public Health, American Law and Bioethics at the University of Berlin, the Berlin School of Economics and Law, the Panteion University, the University of Athens, the University of Piraeus, the University of Macedonia and the University of the Peloponnese. She is the author of several books in the fields of her expertise."
    },
    {
        name: "Christos Panayiotou",
        photo: "biophotos/christos-panayiotou.jpg",
        capacity: "Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus",
        role: "Session Chair",
        topic: "AI in Critical Infrastructures, Workshop: AI Services",
        cv: "Christos Panayiotou is a Professor with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and the Director of the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence at the University of Cyprus. Christos has received a B.Sc. and a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, in 1994 and 1999 respectively. He also received an MBA from the Isenberg School of Management, at the aforementioned university in 1999. His research interests include modeling, control, optimization and performance evaluation of discrete event and hybrid systems, intelligent transportation systems, cyber-physical systems, event detection and localization, fault diagnosis, machine learning, wireless, ad hoc and sensor networks, resource allocation, and intelligent buildings."
    },
    {
        name: "Andreas Papadopoulos",
        photo: "biophotos/andreas-papadopoulos.jpg",
        capacity: "Manager, Data and Artificial Intelligence Lab, PwC Cyprus",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Industry and Innovation",
        cv: "Andreas is a Manager in the Data and Artificial Intelligence Lab (DAIL) within the Technology Consulting Unit at PwC Cyprus. Andreas has over 10 years of professional experience in both academia and the private sector in the areas of Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Andreas holds a PhD in Astrophysics from the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (Portsmouth, UK), an MSc in Astronomy from the University of Sussex (UK) and a BSc in Physics from the National Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece)."
    },
    {
        name: "Antonis C. Kakas",
        photo: "biophotos/antonis-kakas.jpg",
        capacity: "Professor (Emeritus), University of Cyprus",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "Emerging Research in AI",
        cv: "Antonis C. Kakas is a Professor (emeritus) at the Department of Computer Science of the University of Cyprus. He studied Mathematics at Imperial College, London and then obtained his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from the same college in 1984. His interest in Computing and AI started in 1989 under the group of Professor R.A. Kowalski. Since then, his research has concentrated on computational logic in AI with particular interest in argumentation, abduction and induction and their application to machine learning and cognitive systems. He has co-developed at the UCY several research AI systems, including the argumentation system of GORGIAS which has been applied to a wide range of problems in multi-agent systems and cognitive agents. With others he has proposed,Argumentation Logic, as a logic that offers a foundation for Human-centric and Explainable AI. With his students and collaborators, he is developing two new systems, LLM-COGNICA and ArgEML, to support the development of Cognitive Agentic AI and Explainable Machine Learning. He has recently co-founded a start-up company in Paris, called Argument Theory, which offers solutions to real-life application decision taking problems based on ΑΙ argumentation technology."
    },
    {
        name: "Maximos Kaliakatsos Papakostas",
        photo: "biophotos/maximos-papakostas.jpeg",
        capacity: "Associate Professor, Hellenic Mediterranean University and ATHENA Research Center",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Culture and Heritage",
        cv: "Maximos Kaliakatsos-Papakostas is an Associate Professor in AI in Music and head of the Department of Music Technology and Acoustics, Hellenic Mediterranean University. He is also a collaborating faculty member at the ATHENA Research Center and the School of Music Studies, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His research interests concern computational creativity in machine learning models in the music domain. He has experience in participating and coordinating European and National research projects, in collaboration with universities in Greece and other European countries. He has also developed commercial audio and music applications, in collaboration with companies and artists in Greece and the USA."
    },
    {
        name: "Thomas-Nectarios Papanastasiou",
        photo: "biophotos/Thomas-Nektarios-Papanastasiou.jpg",
        capacity: "Assoc. Professor, University of Neapolis",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI and Challenges to Democracy",
        cv: "Thomas-Nektarios Papanastasiou is an Associate professor of public international law. He holds a doctorate (PhD), specialized in International Investment Law and a Master's degree (MA) in International Relations (Waseda University, Graduate School of Asian Pacific Studies). He also holds a Master's degree (LL.M) in Civil Procedure (Law School, University of Athens) and a law degree (LL.B) (Kapodistrian University of Athens). Dr. Papanastasiou is an attorney licensed to practice from the Athens Bar Association (since March 2005). He has worked for international organizations, as a consultant to the World Bank (WB, Washington DC), as a trainee at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, Paris) and on a development program for the Japan International Co-operation Agency to Manila (Philippines). He has also worked as a researcher for Japanese organizations in Tokyo, the Waseda University Organization for Japan-US Studies (WOJUSS), the Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI), and as a tutor for the Waseda University Writing & Research Centre. He is also a lecturer at the Police Academy of Cyprus."
    },
    {
        name: "Andreas Petridis",
        photo: "biophotos/andreas-petrides.jpg",
        capacity: "Chief Data Scientist, XM",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Industry and Innovation",
        cv: "Dr. Andreas Petridis is an experimental Particle Physicist and a previous member of one of the largest scientific collaborations worldwide, the ATLAS experiment at CERN. Dr. Petridis made significant contributions in the searches for Dark Matter by analyzing the petabytes of data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider. Recognizing the power of data and its transformative potential beyond academia, Dr. Petridis made a successful transition to the financial industry as the Chief Data Scientist at Trading Point of Financial Instruments. Leveraging his expertise in statistical modelling, advanced analytics and the employment of ML/AI algorithms for data-driven decision making, Dr. Petridis develops innovative strategies that empower the company to gain insights in different areas of its operations."
    },
    {
        name: "Constantinos Pitris",
        photo: "biophotos/constantinos-pitris.jpg",
        capacity: "Professor, University of Cyprus",
        role: "Session Chair",
        topic: "AI in Healthcare",
        cv: "Prof. Constantinos Pitris is currently a Professor at the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus. He is heading the 'Optical Diagnostics Laboratory' which he established in 2004. Prof. Pitris has completed his studies at the University of Texas at Austin (BS Honors in Electrical Engineering, 1993, MS in Electrical Engineering, 1995), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D. in Electrical and Medical Engineering, 2000), and Harvard Medical School (MD Magna Cum Laude in Medicine, 2002). His main research interests include the areas of optical diagnostics, biomedical imaging and spectroscopy, as well as signal/image analysis, machine learning and computational intelligence"
    },
    {
        name: "Marios M. Polycarpou",
        photo: "biophotos/marios-polycarpou.jpg",
        capacity: "Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus",
        role: "Session Chair, Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Higher Education, Emerging Research in AI",
        cv: "Marios Polycarpou is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Chair of the Advisory Board of the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence at the University of Cyprus. He is also a Founding Member of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts, an Honorary Professor of Imperial College London, and a Member of Academia Europaea (The Academy of Europe).  He received the B.A degree in Computer Science and the B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, both from Rice University, USA in 1987, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, in 1989 and 1992 respectively. Prof. Polycarpou is the recipient of the 2023 IEEE Frank Rosenblatt Technical Field Award and the 2016 IEEE Neural Networks Pioneer Award. He is a Fellow of IEEE and IFAC. His research work has been funded by several agencies and industry in Europe and the United States, including the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant, the ERC Synergy Grant and the EU-Widening Teaming program."
    },
    {
        name: "Michael Sailer",
        photo: "biophotos/Michael-Sailer.jpg",
        capacity: "Chair of Learning Analytics and Educational Data Mining, University of Augsburg (Germany)",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Higher Education",
        cv: "Michael Sailer is full professor for Learning Analytics and Educational Data Mining at University of Augsburg, Germany. Further he is academic director of the center of technology-enhanced learning and teaching at the University of Augsburg, Germany, and acts as Special Issue Editor for the journal 'Learning and Individual Differences'. His research focuses on technology-enhanced learning and teaching. Specifically, the analyses of learning processes in digital learning environments and AI in education."
    },
    {
        name: "Eirini Schiza",
        photo: "biophotos/eirini-schiza.jpg",
        capacity: "Researcher, CYENS Centre of Excellence",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Healthcare",
        cv: "Dr. Eirini C. Schiza obtained a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Sussex in 2010 and MSc in Computer Science – Multimedia Applications and Virtual Environments from the University of Sussex in 2011. She is also obtained a PhD in Johan Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Groningen. Her research interests are eHealth and supporting technologies, medical diagnostic systems, computational intelligence, multimedia applications and virtual environments."
    },
    {
        name: "Major (AF) Charalampos Sergiou, PhD",
        photo: "biophotos/charalambos-sergiou2.jpg",
        capacity: "Air Force Major Engineer",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Cybersecurity",
        cv: "Air Force Major Engineer Charalampos Sergiou is Officer in the Ministry of Defence's Directorate of Armaments and Defence Capabilities. He previously headed the Electronic Security Department of the Cyprus National Security Authority, focusing on national and EU cybersecurity and information assurance. He is also a Senior Researcher in the Department of Computer Science at both the University of Cyprus and the European University Cyprus. Charalampos holds a Degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from the Hellenic Air Force Academy, an MSc and PhD in Computer Science from the University of Cyprus, and a Master's Degree in Strategic Studies from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki."
    },
    {
        name: "George Spyrou",
        photo: "biophotos/george-spyrou.png",
        capacity: "Professor, Head of the Bioinformatics Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Healthcare",
        cv: "Prof. George M. Spyrou is the ERA Chair and Head of the Bioinformatics Department at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING). He holds degrees in Physics, Medical Physics, and Bioinformatics, and a PhD in Medical Physics from the University of Patras. His research focuses on systems bioinformatics, multi-omics data integration, network analysis, and computational approaches for precision medicine."
    },
    {
        name: "Andreas Stavrou",
        photo: "biophotos/andreas-stavrou.jpg",
        capacity: "Assistant Manager, Electricity Authority of Cyprus Transmission System Owner Department",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Critical Infrastructures",
        cv: "Andreas Stavrou received his BSc in electrical engineering and MSc in power stations from Saint Peterburg State Technical University, in 1988 and 1990 respectively and his PhD from Aberdeen University in 1995. He joined the Electricity Authority of Cyprus in 1996, where now holds the position of Assistant Manager in the Transmission Substations, Construction, Protection and Maintenance department of the Transmission Network Owner's Unit. In the last nearly 30 years in his capacity as site engineer and project manager he handled a few tens of new transmission substation erection, testing and commissioning projects, upgrades, and extensions. Also, corrective maintenance activities, protection and SCADA systems testing.In the Transmission Network Owner's Unit he is now involved in New technology applications, Specifications, Project management, procurement, tenders, Transmission Grid Testing, maintenance and protection policies. Dr Stavrou participates in internally and externally funded Research Programs in collaboration with the University of Cyprus and other European partners on Power system related subjects."
    },
    {
        name: "Tatiana Eleni Synodinou",
        photo: "biophotos/tatiana-synodinou.jpg",
        capacity: "Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, University of Cyprus",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Higher Education",
        cv: "Tatiana Eleni Synodinou is the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at the University of Cyprus, where she chairs the Ad hoc Committee for Artificial Intelligence, shaping policy for AI use in education and research. She is Professor of Private and Commercial Law with expertise in copyright law, media/Internet law and law of new technologies and the holder of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence Chair DIGIU (Digital Platforms: Under the Scope of the New Era in Digital Services). She is also Chairperson of Cyprus's Union of Copyright Law (EDPI) and member of the European Copyright Society."
    },
    {
        name: "Theocharis Theocharides",
        photo: "biophotos/charis-theocharides.jpg",
        capacity: "Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus",
        role: "Session Chair",
        topic: "Emerging Research in AI",
        cv: "Prof. Theocharis Theocharides holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University. He is an Associate Professor and the Department Chair, at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, at the University of Cyprus and the Director of Research of the KIOS Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence. His research is focused on embedded, mobile and adaptive systems, tinyML, embedded computer vision and pattern recognition architectures and models, and intelligent system-level monitoring and dynamic reconfiguration for performance, energy and reliability of Systems-on-Chip. He is a senior member of the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society, a member of the ACM, a member of the HiPEAC Network of Excellence."
    },
    {
        name: "Marina Toumpouri",
        photo: "biophotos/marina-toumpouri.jpg",
        capacity: "Research Associate, CYENS CoE",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "AI in Culture and Heritage",
        cv: "Dr. Marina Toumpouri is a Research Associate and leads the 3D/SwD Team at CYENS Centre of Excellence. Her work spans digitization, digital humanities, and cultural heritage management, with a focus on documentation, preservation, and knowledge transmission. She holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Lille and an MA in Musicology from the University of Strasbourg. Her research investigates the integrative application of Mixed and Extended Reality, 3D modelling, and interactive media for cultural heritage documentation, digital storytelling, and public engagement. She has extensive experience in the curation and digital transformation of heritage collections, combining conservation expertise with storytelling and interactive technologies to enhance public interpretation and access. Dr.Toumpouri has led and contributed to several national and EU-funded research projects dedicated to the sustainable valorisation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Her publications bridge traditional humanities and emerging technologies, adopting holistic perspectives on cultural materiality and exploring digital methodologies and tools for cultural analysis and preservation"
    },
    {
        name: "Vassilios Tsakalos",
        photo: "biophotos/vassilis-tsakalos.jpg",
        capacity: "Director of Research, Cyprus Institute",
        role: "Panelist",
        topic: "Workshop: AI Services",
        cv: "Vassilis Tsakalos has been the Director of Research and Technical Support at the Cyprus Institute since February 2020. Since December 2022, he has been the Coordinator of the European Digital Innovation Hub in Cyprus (DiGiNN). From January 2011 until his appointment at the Institute, he served as the Director General of the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation. Previously, he was for 12 years the Head of PRAXI Network, a Technology Transfer, Research, and Entrepreneurship Promotion Agency belonging to FORTH, Greece, operating under the auspices of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises and the General Secretariat of Research and Technology."
    },

];