EWORX S.A. at the “ICT and Tourism” Conference
As part of the ongoing active commitment of EWORX S.A. in the field of accessible tourism, Managing Director Mr. Spyros Michailidis gave a presentation at the “Information & Communications Technologies (ICT) and Tourism” Conference. This conference, organized by the Federation of Hellenic Information Technology & Communication Enterprises (SEPE at www.sete.gr), in cooperation with the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE at www.sete.gr), was held on Thursday, November 8, 2007 at the Expo 2007 Congress Center in Anthoussa as part of the dte-Digital Technology Expo 2007 event (November 8-11, 2007).
The primary objective of the conference, which was financed by the EU, was to identify current needs and essential changes to enable SMEs operating in the field of tourism to capitalize on the opportunities made available to them by the Information & Communications Technologies (ICT). To achieve this goal, ICT and the Greek tourism industry have agreed upon a framework of cooperation between the two sectors. Representatives from various ICT and tourism businesses as well as research organizations and institutions attended the conference. Presentations revolved, on the one hand, around the outcomes of research designed to help Greek tourism businesses adopt ICTs and take advantage of their benefits (“Observatory for the Greek Information Society”) and, on the other hand, around the action plan established by SETE in order to increase the quality component of Greek tourism services and to give them a quality-edge within an ever-changing and extremely competitive international environment.
The keynote speakers at the conference were Mr. Her. Valvis, General Secretary of the Greek National Tourism Organization (EOT), Mr. I. Syrros, General Director of SEPE, and Mr. Drakopoulos, General Director of SETE. Invited speakers included representatives from the Observatory for the Greek Information Society, software and webpage development companies, destination management corporations, hotel businesses, tourist websites and universities. Within the context of the main session of this conference, which explored the topic of “Best Practices of ICT Exploitation for Tourism Industry SMEs”, Mr. Spyros Michailidis, Managing Director of EWORX S.A., presented “EuropeforAll.com: a One-Stop-Shop Service for accessible tourism”. His presentation introduced the www.europeforall.com web portal, developed by EWORX S.A. in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and nine other European partners as part of the eContent OSSATE (One-Stop-Shop for Accessible Tourism in Europe) project. The main objective of the portal is to provide valid, consistent and reliable information on the accessibility of tourist destinations. The portal was created to address the needs of elderly people with disabilities as well as those of the general population, who demands high quality and accessibility in their travels. During his presentation, Mr. Michailidis outlined the numerous business opportunities offered by this segment of the tourist industry and elaborated on the identity, features and conceptualization process of www.europeforall.com. He especially emphasized on how such a project can function as a vehicle to effectively promote in Europe accessible tourist destinations all around Greece.
A detailed program of the conference as well as speakers’ presentations can be found at www.ict-etourism.gr.
About EWORX
Incorporated in April 2001, EWORX S.A is an Information and Communications Technologies Company located in Athens, Greece. The company has highly trained and experienced employees and is already active in Greece, Ireland, Belgium, and Luxemburg.
EWORX is a leader in identifying customers’ needs, in designing and offering integrated solutions on network and wireless technologies, with emphasis on innovation and optimal exploitation of technology conversion within the modern global economic environment.
We create insightful and incisive solutions and pursue a Design for All approach in all our activities focusing on usability and accessibility, thereby ensuring that information is delivered in formats and media appropriate to all users, whatever their requirements.
EWORX's customer base consists of public and private sector organisations, including the European Commission, other European Institutions, Greek Ministries, Industries and NGOs. EWORX is a member of the European Network of Centres of Excellence in Design for All (www.e-accessibility.org).