Denia

Denia Kanellopoulou

Researcher - Digital Innovation and Exploitation of Emerging Technologies


National Representative for the AI Innovation Ecosystem at the EU AI Board

Summary


Dr. Denia Kanellopoulou is a tenured researcher at the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications of NCSR "Demokritos", where she leads the digital innovation activities that exploit emerging technologies to bring business and societal impact. She is also a co-founder of ahedd Digital Innovation Hub, a spin-off of "Demokritos" that aims to act as a “one-stop shop” for cutting-edge digital transformation solutions.

Her contributions have been instrumental in the establishment of key initiatives, including the European AI Factory of Greece “Pharos”, the European AI-on-Demand platform, the Smart Attica European Digital Innovation Hub, the Giga Campus by Vodafone & Demokritos, the Demokritos-Qualco Fellowship Program (Gold Award at the Hellenic Responsible Business Awards 2022), ahedd’s AI Training Programs for Business Executives, 1000 Pioneers for AI in Greece (Unesco’s Global Top 100 International list of AI solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals), in getting the Platinum Data i-Space label (top award) for ahedd from the BDVA and in fostering numerous industrial partnerships with both national and international businesses and organisations.

She further participates in European and national policymaking activities for AI and Innovation.
European-level: She is the national representative of Greece at the EU AI board - AI Innovation Ecosystem subgroup and is active in policymaking and ecosystem-building activities of the Big Data Value Association (BDVA).
National-level: She has been involved in the publication of the “Blueprint for Greece's AI Transformation”, a national policy for the Greek Government, as an external expert in Greece’s High-Level Advisory Committee for Artificial Intelligence and the “Generative AI Greece 2030: The potential futures of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Greece”, a foresight study for the Special Secretariat of Foresight, as a co-author. She is also a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Innovation group.
Her research and innovation interests lie in the fields of: Artificial Intelligence: applications, strategy, business impact, sustainability Digital Innovation and Transformation with AI and Emerging ICT: methodology, use cases

Recent Achievements

AI-on-Demand Platform
BDVA Platinum
ahedd
Smart Attica
Giga Campus
Qualco
AI Trainings
work

Education

PhD in Wireless Telecommunications

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

MSc in Management & Economics of Telecommunication Networks

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Languages


  • Greek - Mother tongue
  • English - Proficient
  • French - Proficient
  • German - Advanced
  • Spanish - Elementary
  • Italian - Basic

Experience

NCSR "Demokritos"

Researcher - Digital Innovation and Exploitation of Emerging Technologies [Jul 2024-]
Head of Digital Innovation [Oct 2023-]
AI Innovation expert [Oct 2019-Sept 2023]
R&D Project Manager (ICT/AI) [Apr 2014-Mar 2016]

Freelancer

Innovation Consultant (ICT/AI) [Apr 2019-Sep 2019]
Electrical & Computer Engineer [Jul 2009-Dec 2015]

Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO)

Electrical & Computer Engineer [Dec 2015-Mar 2019]

European Space Agency (ESA)

Telecommunications Engineer [Jun 2012-May 2013]

SnT, Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust, University of Luxembourg

Research Assistant [Oct 2011-Mar 2012]

Publications

Research Publications

Denia Kanellopoulou, George Giannakopoulos, Vangelis Karkaletsis, "Accelerating AI-powered digital innovation through "APSS": A novel methodology for sustainable business AI transformation", in Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, Volume 11, Issue 1, 2025, 100495.

Denia Kanellopoulou; George Giannakopoulos, Periklis Terlixidis, Vangelis Karkaletsis, “Smart Attica EDIH: A Paradigm for DIH Governance and a Novel Methodology for AI-Powered One-Stop-Shop Projects Design” , in In: Zimmermann, R., Rodrigues, J.C., Simoes, A., Dalmarco, G. (eds) Human-Centred Technology Management for a Sustainable Future. IAMOT 2024. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham, 2025.

K. Denia Kanellopoulou ; Kostas P. Peppas; P. Takis Mathiopoulos, “Effective Capacity of Lp-norm Diversity Reception over Generalized Fading Channels under Adaptive Transmission Schemes” , in IEEE Transactions of Communications, vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 1240-1253, Feb. 2020.

K. Denia Kanellopoulou ; Kostas P. Peppas; P. Takis Mathiopoulos, “On the SINR statistics of a VFDM cognitive spectrum sharing system" , Elsevier Physical Communication, vol. 24, p. 195-200, Sept. 2017.

K. Denia Kanellopoulou ; Kostas P. Peppas; P. Takis Mathiopoulos, “Effective Capacity Analysis of Equal Gain Diversity Combiners over Generalized Fading Channels" , 2018 IEEE 87th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC Spring), Porto, June 2018.

K. Denia Kanellopoulou ; Kostas P. Peppas; P. Takis Mathiopoulos, “On the SINR statistics of a VFDM cognitive spectrum sharing system”, Invited Talk, IEICE Technical Report, vol 119, no 30, 2019.

G. Thanos; C. Karafylli; M. Karafylli; D. Zacharakis; A. Papadimitriou; K. Dimitros; K. Kanellopoulou; D. Kyriazanos; S. Thomopoulos; “SYNAISTHISI: an IoT-powered smart visitor management and cognitive recommendations system” , SPIE Defense + Security Proc., vol. 9842, Baltimore, May 2016.


Policy Publications & White Papers

Hellenic Republic, Presidency of the Government, Special Secretariat of Foresight, "A Blueprint for Greece's AI Transformation", November 2024.

Data Spaces Support Centre (DSSC), “Generative AI and Data Spaces” , November 2024.

National Centre for Social Research (EKKE) & National Centre of Scientific Research (NCSR) “Demokritos”, “Generative AI Greece 2030: The potential futures of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Greece ” , December 2023.


Other Publications

Denia Kanellopoulou, "Digital Innovation and Artificial Intelligence", netweek special issue on "Entrepreneurship in the Digital Era", Apr 21, 2024, "TO BHMA" Greek national newspaper

Denia Kanellopoulou, "Digital Innovation Hubs and Artificial Intelligence as catalysts in the acceleration of digital tranformation of enterprises and organisations", Digital Literacy feature story, Epsilon 7 magazine, no 7-8, 2022, Epsilon NET

Invited Talks & Interviews

Digital Innovation with Artificial Intelligence - @ AI and Digital Transformation Conference – -Link- (October 2024)

Work, competitive advantage, decision making in the digital enterprise @ 35th Leadership Conference of the Association of Chief Executive Officers – -Link- (June 2024).

Strategic and operational adoption of Innovation Marathons @ Innovation Lab for the design of innovation proposals for the National Action Plan for Innovation in Public Sector, Ministry of Internal Affairs – -Link- (April 2024).

Artificial Intelligence in Business @ Artificial Intelligence and Engineers event hosted by Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE) - Western Macedonia – -Link- (April 2024).

A brief introduction to the definition and applications of Artificial Intelligence @ Artificial Intelligence: legal and ethical issues by ICC Hellas – -Link- (April 2024).

Engaging SMEs and Start-ups in Data Spaces @ Data Spaces Symposium 2024 – -Link- (March 2024).

Beyond data sharing: Realizing Value through Applications in Data Spaces @ Data Spaces Symposium 2024 – -Link- (March 2024).

AI and the promise of productivity @ Fortune Greece CEO Initiative Forum 2023 – -Link- (November 2023)

The AI-on-demand platform @ European Big Data Value Forum-EBDVF – -Link- (October 2023)

Digital Transformation Solutions from the European Digital Innovation Hubs @ INNOHEALTH FORUM – -Link- (September 2023)

ahedd DIH, a pioneer in AI @ Now for the Future TV show, ANT1 channel – -Link- (July 2023)

Digital innovation and exploitation of Artificial Intelligence @ SciFY Academy “AI powering your SME – Tools, Strategies & Opportunities” – -Link- (May 2023)

ahedd DIH and the opportunities for startups @ Demo Common Days, Demokritos (April 2023)

Data Sovereignty in the Digital Decade Workshop – @ EC-DG Connect-Futurium – -Link- (October 2022)

Women in Technology: their success is breaking stereotypes – Experts Talk @ ImpacTalk -Link- (September 2022)

AI applications in Retail @ Future of Retail 2022 -Link- (May 2022)

Data Act: How DIHs can help SMEs? EUH4D SME Roadshow & Digital SME FG AI -Link- (April 2022)

Collaboration to increase the impact: technical challenges and generated value from European federated data-driven initiatives @ BDV Forum -Link- (November 2021)

Improving SMEs' data services through federated Digital Innovation Hubs - ahedd DIH - EUH4D SME Roadshow -Link- (October 2021)

Commercial exploitation of research - ahedd DIH @ SciTech Talk 6 of MITOS program - University of Crete -Link- (October 2021)

Giga Campus: The design and implementation of a model smart city at "Demokritos" campus @ 85th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF/ ΔΕΘ) -Link- (September 2021)

CONTACT

denia αt iit.demokritos.gr

NCSR "Demokritos", Patr. Grigoriou & Neapoleos Str., GR-15341, Ag. Paraskevi (Attn: Denia Kanellopoulou)