1. Give us a few pieces of information about your organisation
Since 2012, Crowdpolicy has provided specialised consulting services and develops business information systems in the fields of Govtech - Civictech, Fintech and Open innovation in sectors of the economy and society. In the last years, Crowdpolicy has been active in the implementation of projects funded or co-funded by European resources, aiming to strengthen the implementation of critical actions for the country in the fields of digital transformation and entrepreneurship.
2. What inspired you to create your organisation?
Together with my partner and co-founder of the company, George Karamanolis, we envisioned establishing a company with the mission "To bridge the gap between organisations and the crowd to co-create the future". Our vision became a reality through Crowdpolicy, which specialises in the design, development and implementation of crowd-involving projects, thus bridging the gap between organisations and the crowd.
We strongly believe in the power of many, collective knowledge, openness, extroversion and inclusiveness, and we strive to create innovative services and products based on these principles.
3. What is your field of expertise?
I hold a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Patras, and I've also attended a program in Public Sector Management at the National School of Administration in France (École Nationale d'Administration, Paris) and two postgraduate courses: at the School of Engineering of the University of Patras as a PhD candidate and the International MBA of AUEB (Athens University of Economics and Business).
Over the last fifteen years, I have worked in a variety of positions and sectors, from IT Director to advisor to the Greek government, and I have participated as a member of organisations and committees related to innovation and technology. I am currently the co-founder and Managing Director of Crowdpolicy. Furthermore, I am a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Blockchain Hub and the Greek Fintech Cluster. While, I am a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, and last but not least, perhaps most significantly, a mentor to young entrepreneurs.
My main interests include the development of an entrepreneurial mindset, the involvement of the crowd in processes and decision making, and the development of innovation and its impact on traditional value chains and value-transfer technologies.
4. What is your organisation's impact on society?
Crowdpolicy has organised a significant volume of open innovation initiatives such as innovation workshops, innovation marathons, crowdhackathons, as well as business acceleration programs in the field of fintech, insurtech, energy, agri-food etc., with over 600 teams and 6000 participants, creating a large startup community. We have supported a significant set of team and startup applications at proof of concept or mature application level that are solutions to market needs for the private and public sectors and supported startups to develop and create market solutions with design thinking methodologies and full open innovation cycles.
To date, as a technology provider of e-government and digital upgrade solutions, we have cooperated with more than 75 municipalities throughout Greece and four regions and already have a presence in four foreign countries. Our main focus has been to contribute to the modernisation of local government by developing innovative digital transformation solutions for cities. To achieve this goal, we offer CrowdApps - a comprehensive suite of more than 22 cloud applications for cities, municipalities, regions and local citizen groups.
5. What are some of your most important collaborations on EU Projects?
At the level of projects funded by European funds, we are currently involved in the following projects:
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The "PROMETHEUS - Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Domains of Digital Transformation, Circular Economy, and Sustainable Development" with our partner, EIT HEI Initiative - Innovation Capacity Building for Higher Education 2021-2027. The PROMETHEUS project aims to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship in the fields of Digital Transformation, Circular Economy and Sustainable Development. In this project and among other activities, Crowdpolicy coordinates the Work Package concerning the project's dissemination activities. More: https://hei-prometheus.eu/
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The "INFINITECH - Tailored IoT & BigData Sandboxes and testbeds for Smart, Autonomous and Personalized Services in the European Finance and Insurance Services Ecosystem" project that is funded by the EU through the Horizon 2020 programme. As an EU flagship project for Fintech, is a joint effort of 48 technology companies, fintech and research institutes from all over Europe, for the exploitation of disruptive BigData / IoT / AI technologies and the implementation of innovative pilot applications in the field of fintech and insurtech. Here, Crowdpolicy's role is mainly related to supporting the technology development activities as well as the project pilots. More: https://www.infinitech-h2020.eu/
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Crowdpolicy was also actively involved in the implementation of two other important projects that were recently completed. Specifically, we participated as a crowdfunding expert partner in the project "BLUE crowdfunding - Capacity Building of BLUE Economy Stakeholders to Effectively use crowdfunding", the European Territorial Cooperation Programme of Interreg MED 2014-2020. Μore: https://blue-crowdfunding.interreg-med.eu/. We also participated in the project "InNOMSME - On the innovation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Greece and Germany", co-funded by National and European funds (EPANEK 2014-2020 and the European Regional Development Fund). The aim of the project was to promote innovation in SMEs in Greece and Germany through the collection, analysis and exploitation of business data. Μore: https://innomsme.gr/
6. What is something your organisation achieved that you are proud of?
Over the years, Crowdpolicy has implemented various open innovation initiatives like innovation labs, crowdhackathons and accelerator programs in the fields of smart cities, fintech and insurtech, energy, agrifood etc., with over 400 teams and 5000 participants, creating a large startup community. Crowdpolicy supports a significant Proof of Concept (POC) portfolio of teams, startups and innovative MVPs – ready to use apps which address emerging business needs for the private and public sector and support startups to grow and deliver solutions to market with design thinking oriented end-to-end funnels.
As part of our continuous collective effort, Crowdpolicy has created the first fintech cluster in Greece, as well as the first Innovation Center for Digital Transformation in Public Administration and Local Government. Both entities are funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and domestic funds.
We are also proud of the strategic synergies realised so far with important actors operating at a supranational level, such as the University of the Aegean, Viber, Visa International and EUROCROWD, to name a few.
We are more than grateful that Crowdpolicy has been awarded as "Smart City Supplier of the Year", for 2 years in a row, for its Smart Cities Solutions for the digital transformation of the public sector.
7. What kinds of projects do you want to work on?
In Crowdpolicy, we are interested in projects that focus on digital transformation, open innovation and entrepreneurship. We see these sectors as critical for sustainable development both at a national and European level. We continually seek new and enterprising ways, whether technology- or process-based, to meet our customer's needs and exceed their expectations.
8. What are you looking for from an EU partner?
We expect to share completing skills related to a potential project and an innovation mindset. Overall, in a collaboration, we also seek professionalism and commitment.
To collaborate with Crowd Policy, you can find them in the EU Partners section inside the EUcalls platform.
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