The Cyprus Pedagogical Institute (PI) in collaboration with the Directorate of Secondary General and Secondary Technical and Professional Education and Training, the CEDAR Entrepreneurship Centre with the support of UCLan Cyprus, and the sponsorships of KPMG, the Telecommunications Authority CYTA , the SYNTHESIS organisation and the GRAVITY company, organised for the third consecutive year the Final Conference and Award Ceremony of Ideodromio which addressed students from the Secondary Education (gymnasiums, high schools and technical schools) of Cyprus. The event was held on Thursday, April 18th of 2019, at UCLan Cyprus in Larnaca.
In the opening welcome speech, which was addressed by Professor Panikos Poutziouris, Rector of UCLan Cyprus and Chair of CEDAR, it was highlighted the importance of such entrepreneurial activities. As Professor Poutziouris mentioned: “as a founder who has handed over these initiatives, I am pleased that Ideodromio grows year by year but also I am pleased with the fact that more schools are participating and new partnerships are established”.
On behalf of the Minister of Education Mr Champiaouri, Mr Konstantinos Georgiou, General Coordinator of the Entrepreneurship Unit of the Ministry, stressed that:
“Support for innovation and entrepreneurship are vital to exploit the skills of young people and to provide development. The “IDEODROMIO Program shows excellent results and it is now a link between education and the business world, giving to the students the opportunity to develop and present innovative ideas, reinforce their collaborative skills, entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation and eyewitness their self-confidence”.
A brief review of the Creativity Program actions, Innovation and Business Idea “IDEODROMIO” was then conducted by Mrs Kalypso Apergi, Officer of the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute (PI).
During the day, the participating student groups presented their posters and promoted their business ideas to the public. The students had the opportunity to interact with 26 other student groups, in a celebration of creativity and innovation, dedicated to innovation, social and green entrepreneurship.
In addition, they had the chance to participate in a roundtable discussion with three award-winning young and enthusiastic entrepreneurs who have a substantial experience and expertise in entrepreneurship in Cyprus: Ms. Anita Kanaouridou, president and founder of the committee “Protagwnistes Zois”, Mr. Andreas Charalambous, founder of the start-up “Skateboards” and Mr Chrysanthos Prodromou co-founder of the Cypriot price comparison engine “ppissis.com.cy”.
The conference ended with the commencement of the Creativity, Innovation and Business Idea competition “IDEODROMIO” awards in the categories of the Best Innovative Business Idea and the Best Social and Green Idea, after evaluation by the Jury.
The winning teams in the category of the Best Innovative Business Idea were: the “No Cameras, No Lenses, 3D Creations» of the Gymnasium of Livadia, the «ROC- Revolutionary Oil Cleaner” of the 2nd Technical, Professional and Training School of Limassol Limassol “Grigoris Afxentiou”. The winning teams in the category of the Best Social and Green Business Idea were the “Kalamaki” of the Gymnasium Athienou and the “Paper Active” of the 3rd Professional School of Limassol.
