“New IoT, New Economy, New Era” - WIOTC 2023

Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the past few years, Internet of Things has been integrated into most sectors of the economy, optimizing efficiency, increasing profits and producing innovative new products. Recently, the fusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) is propelling the world into a new era of interconnected intelligence. This synergy, often referred to as AIoT (Artificial Intelligence of Things), holds the potential to revolutionize industry, enhance daily life, and enable unprecedented levels of automation and efficiency.

That been said, adopting relevant development initiatives while securing this way of interaction from potential threats is now a high priority worldwide. Greece, of course, is not an exception. In the past two years, under the Greek Government’s systematized regulatory and financing efforts, a significant economic transformation is under way.

One of the most recent -and most promising- Greek economic sectors to employ IoT is Real Estate, where companies partner with technology specialists to increase the efficiency of their businesses and to create smart and sustainable buildings. Innovative real-estate applications process sensor data to lower consumption of resources, thus improving portfolio valuation while protecting the environment.

Equally encouraging are the results of the pilot projects for IoT in Energy Management. The Chalki Energy Management Project, part of the “GR-Eco Islands” Framework, that began in 2021, has this year been completed with flying colors: 1) The carbon footprint of the island has been reduced, though IoT technology, by 2,500 tonnes. 2) The municipality provides tourist information through smart kiosks 3) The municipal electric vehicle fleet is operated by an IoT app 4) Smart home energy management has reduced household energy consumption to almost zero and business energy consumption to less than half of 2022. All this proves that “GR-Eco Islands” Framework’s use of IoT can lead to the holistic sustainable transformation of the Greek islands while ensuring the economic and social well-being of their inhabitants.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind that “Gr-Eco Islands” is modelled as public-private partnership project. Whereas the Government has secured funds from the European Regional Development Fund 2021-2027, the Just Transition Fund and the National Recovery and Resilience fund, the private sector is also encouraged to get involved. Therefore, private institutions are able to act as GR-eco Island sponsors, so as to design and implement interventions with their own resources in one or more islands -always in close collaboration with local communities and authorities-.

Meanwhile, in another Greek Island – Paros- an ambitious IoT project is underway, aiming to create “Europe’s first smart island”. The project consortium has already delivered an all-encompassing LoRaWAN (Low Range Wide Area Network). It aims to redefine the relationship between cities and its citizens through advanced technological solutions, enhancing urban mobility. The IoT infrastructure handles real-time data ranging from parking slots to home water consumption and ambient metrics like temperature and air quality. It should to be noted that the Greek company behind the project has received multiple international IoT and Smart cities awards.

Furthermore, Greece is actively promoting IoT application to modernize agriculture. The National Strategic Plan, set into force in January 1st 2023, provides a good legislative support for Digital Agriculture. To this end, use of data and software to predict and compensate for inadequate levels of precipitation and poor soil (endemic problems in almost all Southern European countries), is being explored. At the same time, new smart farming apps collect and process microclimate data, humidity data and soil nitrogen levels. They use this to provide practical advice to the farmers, assisting them in modernizing production, increasing their crops and diminishing the effect of a continuously shrinking workforce.

Moving into more “traditional” uses of IoT, Greece’s Industrial IoT market is rapidly expanding to SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), with a focus on leveraging its rich history in manufacturing and logistics. According to Statista, the revenue in the Greek Industrial IoT market is estimated to exceed 0.5 (half a) billion USD in 2023. It is also projected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 11.67%, leading to a market volume approaching 1 bn USD in 2028. Finally, IoT and AIoT uses in Maritime 4.0, (the equivalent of Industry 4.0 for the maritime sector) are also being actively explored.

To summarize, the IoT is not simply a technological trend; it’s a transformative force reshaping the economy in a new, interconnected era. The challenge for Greece, as for many other countries - that do not lead the race but hope to not fall behind in this new reality- is to balance advancements and threats, particularly in the realm of security. As we venture further into this connected future, we strive to do so with awareness, preparedness, and a vision for harnessing the full potential of the new tools.

Thank you for your attention!