Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Greece represent 99,9% of the total private sector of the country which is slightly higher than the EU27 average in 2012 (99,8%, Source: Eurostat). More specifically, micro enterprises (1-5 employees and below €1mil. revenues) represent 96,6% of the private sector and 56% of the total employment of the Greek economy. In those terms, SMEs are the most significant part of the Greek and European economy, affecting directly both the financial and the social aspects of …

Development aid and expertise have assumed special significance for many countries worldwide vis-a-vis their resource constraints and lack of capacity to plan, develop and implement projects and programmes. International donors and development organizations assist the developing and the under-developed world to overcome their obstacles to socio-economic progress, providing financial support, together with a wide range of technical and administrative facilities.
The European Union is the world’s leading donor working with partner countries across the globe. While the member states themselves are beneficiaries of the EU …

Innovation refers to the creation of new or significantly improved products, processes, marketing methods and organization structures that add value to markets, governments and the society. Investments in Research and Innovation (R&I) are driving long-term growth, and it is widely accepted that countries that invest in R&I are recovering faster from the current economic crisis.
Across Europe, Research and Innovation is identified as one of the key drivers that will enable the European economy to get back on track. Europe is facing …

The backbone of an economy consists of sectors adding value through industrial and manufacturing activity; processing of materials or other inputs into goods deploying a hard asset infrastructure base contributes to the economy with a multiplier effect.
Due to its low mobility, the advantage of this hard asset infrastructure base turns into a challenge, resulting from either changes in the competitive landscape or reduced capacity of the economy in a given period to absorb all output from such sectors.
Actors in the …

Regional Administration plays an important role in improving the living standards of citizens, which is reflected in the wide range of its jurisdiction and responsibilities, and includes the development of infrastructure and provision of services such as water, sanitation, transport infrastructure, public spaces, healthcare services, educational services, etc. Additionally, it plays a key role in issues related to spatial planning, environmental protection, employment, and disaster prevention. Good local governance is crucial to democratic participation, political dialogue, social cohesion and achieving …

On a global scale, technology is probably the most influential factor contributing to the economic and social context of our present and future. As such, technology driven sectors such as Telecoms, Information Technology, and Media and Electronics are at the forefront of importance facing at the same time very significant challenges.
The migration from the physical to the digital world has caused major disruption across a large number of economic and social activities, and has fostered the emergence of new business …

Especially under the current recession conditions, urban and spatial planning, as well as land development, are critical and essential prerequisites towards the national effort of a country like Greece to exit the crisis and return to a track of growth.
The challenges and needs in these sectors are many and complicated, and mainly consist of:

The integrated and complex spatial planning process, which should include all the individual plans and ensure alignment among the National Spatial Planning Framework, the Special Spatial Planning …

It is well established that education is an important prerequisite for sustainable development and effective participation of citizens in socio-economic progress. This is highlighted by the fact that specific educational goals concerning reduction of early school leaving rates, below 10%, and achieving at least 40% of 30-34–year-olds completing third level education, are included in the “Europe 2020” agenda.
The long-term strategic objectives of EU education and training policies are:

Making lifelong learning and mobility a reality.
Improving the quality and efficiency of education …

Due to their direct relation to development, as expressed through growth and employment rates, transport systems and civil infrastructure exhibit dynamic trends and, therefore, complex challenges. Presently, the limited resources available in most areas requires focused management to serve increasing demand, whereas the pronounced lack of public funding leads to an exploitation trend of PPP/Concession schemes for major civil infrastructure components. At the same time, persistent urbanisation in most of the developing world leads to pressing needs for efficient urban space management and …

A significant part of an economy is driven by the tourism and leisure service sectors, each with its own challenges and characteristics.
Tourism, a national industry for countries like Greece, as well as others that compete in the global tourism market, is a multi-sectoral, stakeholder intensive, capital demanding and people driven industry.
As such, the challenges faced by the tourism sector typically involve:

Increase in demand for existing tourist services.
Development of new products and services.
Improvement of the operational and financial performance of sector …