AI4IA at BEYOND 2026
BEYOND 2026 took place from 17 to 19 June 2026 at the Metropolitan Expo in Athens. The exhibition was organized by BeBest, HELEXPO, and Industry Disruptors – Game Changers, co-organized by the Ministry of Digital Governance, the Ministry of Development, the Region of Attica, the Region of Central Macedonia, the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE), the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE), and the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE).
BEYOND is one of the most influential technology and innovation platforms in Southeast Europe, bringing together tech industry leaders, startups and scaleups, research centers and universities, and policy stakeholders. AI4IA's presence at BEYOND 2026 spanned two of its four pillars — Strategy & Policy and Skills & Collaborations — through PHAROS–IT4LIA twinning session and the ENA Institute panel.
Twinning session: PHAROS AI Factory and IT4LIA AI Factory Ιn the context of BEYOND Expo, PHAROS AI Factory and IT4LIA AI Factory held a twinning and collaboration session. On the Greek side, the session brought together Artemis Psarianou and Nikolaos Bakas (GRNET), along with Stelios Karozis and Maria Venianaki (AI4IA), representing PHAROS AI Factory and EuroCC Greece. They met with Eleonora Barelli who represented IT4LIA AI Factory and EuroCC Italy.
The meeting was constructive, giving both teams the chance to exchange ideas on future joint training activities, explore collaboration opportunities, and identify potential synergies. The discussion highlighted the importance of cross-border cooperation in strengthening the European AI and HPC ecosystem and fostering knowledge sharing across national initiatives. This productive exchange is expected to foster future joint initiatives that will support innovation, skills development, and the broader adoption of AI technologies across Europe.
Panel discussion: A new social contract for digital democracy. A set of policy proposals AI4IA’s Konstantinos Nikolopoulos was invited by ENA Institute on a panel discussion under the title “A new social contract for digital democracy. A set of policy proposals”. His speech underlined that Artificial Intelligence (AI) Factories can become a foundational pillar of the European welfare state by transforming advanced computing infrastructure into a public good that enhances healthcare, education, social protection, and public administration.
By providing sovereign access to high-performance computing, trusted data spaces, and state-of-the-art AI models, AI Factories enable governments, research institutions, hospitals, universities, and SMEs to develop citizen-centered AI applications that improve the quality, accessibility, and efficiency of public services. In healthcare, they support earlier diagnosis, personalized medicine, and more efficient resource allocation; in education, they facilitate adaptive learning and lifelong reskilling; in social protection, they strengthen evidence-based policymaking, fraud detection, and the targeted delivery of benefits to vulnerable populations. Participants welcomed the policy proposal for an AI-based welfare state and called for a coordinated action on advancing social services during this new digital era.
Read more: BEYOND 2026 PHAROS AI Factory