Cyprus on ‘very good track’ to innovation

The high scores of Cyprus in the field of innovation were stressed in the Digital Agenda Cyprus Summit 2022, which was held at Nicosia Municipal Theatre on Monday. Keynote speakers from various fields attended the conference and talked about issues pertaining to a world which is in the digitisation process.

Addressing the conference, Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age and European Commissioner for Competition, noted that ‘when it comes to innovation, Cyprus seems to be on a very good track’, as the country came out as a strong innovator in the European Innovation scoreboard of 2022.

‘You have paved the way to be more resilient and competitive with investments in connectivity in online public services and government clouds in e-health, e-justice and in smart cities’, the EU Commissioner said. She also spoke of the ambition of Cyprus to become a regional tech hub. ‘This is exactly what we need at European level’, she stressed.

In addition, Vestager said that the EU has a clear vision of where it wants to be in 2030, adding that there are four cardinal points in this journey. ‘We need more digital experts, experts, and we need everyone to be equipped with digital skills,’ including shop owners, farmers and doctors. ‘We need secure and sustainable digital infrastructure so that everyone is equally connected, and no one left behind. Europe's businesses, especially small businesses must get more digital,’ she underlined, adding that the digitisation of public services is required.

Kyriacos Kokkinos, Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, who opened the conference and spoke of the work done by his Ministry, including the launch of the gov.cy portal, the revamped Business Digital Upgrade Plan and the renewed agreement with ESA. In this context, he mentioned the modern IT systems that have been already deployed in the public sector, adding that there are more to come. ‘Human centricity is the key’, Kokkinos pointed out.

Furthermore, the Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy said that some innovative projects are underway. These projects include the radical redesign of government websites, the 1st Quantum Computing and Communication Network, Smart Cyprus, Cyprus Digital Innovation Hub (which is co-funded by the EU), the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform and the Digital Academy for Citizens.

Kokkinos also said that Cyprus has achieved high scores in the digital and innovation indices of the EU, adding that the country skyrocketed in the Strong Innovators category at the European Innovation Scoreboard 2022 and ranked 10th among Europe’s Strong Innovators in EIS 2022. Cyprus has gone up 4 places in the DESI ranking in 2 years, he concluded.

Other keynote speakers

Andreas Neocleous, CEO of CYTA, was the first speaker in the conference. Neocleous spoke of human beings living in an increasingly digital world and pointed out that it is time we considered an inspired combination between the digital and physical worlds, that maintains the feeling, depth, and balance which our humanity demands.

Neocleous was followed by Jeremy White, tech journalist, speaker and consultant, who said that we are coming to an inflection point with technology, adding that business sectors are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in radically different ways. White outlined the ways companies embrace this change, even in medicine, where accurate models are being developed to diagnose conditions, such as cancer.

On his part, Ken Segall, ad creative executive and author, talked about the essential elements of simplicity based on his 12 years’ experience as Steve Jobs’ ad agency creative director. He showed how the late founder of Apple turned simplicity into a competitive weapon, and how any organisation can do the same.

Segall also participated in a discussion with Jeremy White and Yiannis Olympios, founder of V+O Group and member of think tanks. Their conversation focused on simplicity and human touch against AI. They also spoke of digital democracy in the UK and the USA.

Elena Meli, Manager Business Development & Operations, Jinius by Bank of Cyprus, shared her experience of transforming and adapting Bank of Cyprus in the field of digital economy and said that imagination is power but comes with many challenges. ‘’We don't just live in the world as we find it — we use our creativity to mould and reimagine our world with art, scientific theories, and technology,” she pointed out.