Three Greek Universities (the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Democritus University of Thrace and the University of Thessaly) will work together with the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) to build the first ever “made in Greece” drone.

The project is named “Archytas” (by Archytas of Tarentum, the ancient Greek mathematician, political leader and philosopher) and will be financed by the Greek ministry of Finances.

The memorandum of cooperation between the five parties was signed on Friday, 27.

Signing the Cooperation Memorandum, ministry of Finances, 27/8/2021

The “Archytas” project will start being implemented in September, 2021.

It is expected to bring “multiple benefits to the stakeholders, the Greek economy and the country as a whole” the statement by the Finance ministry said.

In Greece, universities, though active in various Research and development programs, seldomly cooperate with the private sector to create innovative, market appreciated products.

The Greek government hopes projects such as Archytas will shift the Greek academic research closer to industries for demand- driven research and modern technology products.

Synergy between academia and industries is becoming reality, thanks to this program. So far, only random moves had been made in this area” CEO of HAI, Dimitrios Papakostas, said during the signing ceremony.