SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises and Eurobank EFG Group organized in May 2010 a Panhellenic Competition for Applied Research and Innovation entitled "Greece Innovates!". The competition aims to promote and reward people working in research and innovation, who are driven by hard work, courage and faith in their abilities.

The competition aims to promote applied research products, products or services that contribute to improving daily life, sustainable development and to enhance extroversion of the economy. Moreover, the goal is to develop partnerships among the business, academic and research communities.

The competition includes two categories of awards: On for applied research and one for innovation. A total of four prizes will be awarded, first and second for each category. The prizes are financial and accompanied by an honorary award.

The written and oral assessment procedure is supervised by a Scientific Board, consisting of eleven (11) prominent Greek scientists. The selection criteria are international originality, possibility of commercial use and the project’s contribution to the country’s competitiveness and extroversion.

300 proposals were submitted by the end of September 2010, all coming from Greek researchers who collaborate with domestic research institutions as well as commercial and/or research companies in Greece. All projects are related to an impressive wide spectrum of applications; Renewable Energy Systems (RES), environmental technologies, medicine and pharmaceutical research, IT and e-applications, constructions and construction materials as well as cutting-edge technologies stand out.  

For the wider promotion and dissemination of the proposals, SEV and Eurobank-EFG Group are planning a series of events, including the publication of an album to be distributed widely as well as the organization of regional events. The regional events will kick-start regional exhibitions that will aim to both present the finalists and to bring the Greek business and research communities closer. In all events the twenty-one (21) projects that excelled, will be exhibited to the public. Τhe first exhibition took place  in Thessaloniki (11 April 2011), the other two will be held in Patras (9 May 2011) and Heraklion-Crete (1 June 2011).

The competition will be completed with the oral presentation of the prizes, in a special ceremony at the Cultural Centre “Hellenic Cosmos” of the Foundation of the Hellenic World.