Dr . Panagiotis Kikiras
Head of Unit Technology and Innovation European Defence Agency
Dr . Panagiotis Kikiras has more than 20 years of experience in computer and network engineering with strong emphasis in IoT , wireless sensors architectures and analytics , embedded systems , wearables , cyber defence , security and privacy and in mission critical C4ISR systems . Prior to EDA , Panagiotis hold a number of leading positons in industry , governmental agencies and in academia . From his tenure in governmental agencies he gained significant expertise in managing complex European and National projects in the areas of homeland security and defense and in the design , development and management of large scale sensor based mission critical IT Systems . In Academia he is Adj . Assoc . Professor at the department of Computer Science of the Univ . of Thessaly in Greece , where he created , and was the Technical Director , of the Wireless Sensor Sensing Laboratory . In industry he hold a leading management position at a research center of a leading innovative multinational company with track record of creating value both to customers , by delivering turnkey innovative solutions , and to research excellence by managing a research team which created new intellectual property and scientific knowledge in terms of patents and scientific publications . Panagiotis has published more than 50 papers in scientific peer-reviewed journals and conferences in the areas of IoT architectures and analytics , cyber defence , security and privacy and is a Senior Member of the IEEE . He is a graduate of the Hellenic Army Military Academy and holds an MSc in Management and Economics of Communication Networks from the Univ . of Athens and an MSc and PHD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens .
" A deep dive on EDA activities in AI "
Artificial intelligence is not a newcomer in the spotlight of potential technologies to attract the attention of defence applications . However , the advances during the last years in dealing with huge data sets , both in terms of software and its supporting computing , and the recent development of algorithms that maximize these advances have made AI an obvious reality . Given the transformative character of AI , there is no doubt that , from an EU defence perspective , there is a need to study the impact that AI might have as a strategic enabler for the EU ’ s Common Security and Defence Policy ( CSDP ), especially with regard to military and civilian missions and operations and EU capability .
The presentation focused on presenting the activities of EDA on the field and on providing key challenges and gaps but also the opportunities for technological innovation and collaborative development of AI enable applications .
Finally , it was presented the EDA Action plan on Artificial Intelligence including upcoming activities and opportunities for participation for the Cypriot SMEs and research and technology organisations .