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The University of Cyprus and PwC Cyprus co-organised the 4th Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum

19/04/2019 14:44

“4th Industrial Revolution: Technology and Society”

Faithful to its commitment to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, PwC supported for yet another year, the annual Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum organised by the Centre for Entrepreneurship of the University of Cyprus. The 4thAnnual Forum took place on 19 April, at the University of Cyprus, under the title “4th Industrial Revolution: Technology & Society”.

The organisation of the Forum, which is part of PwC Cyprus and University of Cyprus long-standing cooperation, mainly aims to highlight and promote research results and achievements with significant social impact and the potential of utilising these as innovative products or services.

The Forum, which among others, brought together visitors from organisations, businesses of the innovation industry, investment funds and policy-making bodies, was co-organised by the following research centres and organisations: KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence, RISE | Research centre on Interactive media, Smart systems and Emerging technologies, FOSS Research Centre for Sustainable Energy, Nireas, International Water Research Center, EMPHASIS Research Centre - Enterprise Europe Network, Oceanography Centre, European Office of Cyprus, Enterprise Europe Network.

An innovation and entrepreneurship competition (The SINN – Student Innovators Competition 2019),was heldin the framework of theForum, where University of Cyprus students, presented innovativebusiness ideas, in their early stages. The best teams won 4 scholarships to attend the summer programme of the European Innovation Academy in Italy or Portugal.

The keynote speaker of the Forum was Dr Harry Α. Patrinos, member of the World Bank and an expert on matters offinancial education. In his speech in the framework of the “PwC Distinguished Lecture”, Dr Patrinos referred to the future of automation and its impact on the economy, work and society, making special reference to theneed for crucial reforms in the educational systems, so that young people are able to meet the challenges of the future labour market.

In his welcome address, Mr EvgeniosEvgeniou, CEO of PwC Cyprus, underlined the importance of making proper use of theresearch results to enhancethe competitiveness of the Cypriot economy. “We are especially proud of our long-standing cooperationwith the University of Cyprus and this initiative in particular, which opens up channels of communication between the academic world and the business world”, he added.