AGORA forum: Politics must listen more to science and the market

Greek politics and the country’s government do listen to the market and to science, but need to do more in order to satisfy the corporate and scientific requirements, concluded the second “AGORA, the Corporate Affairs Forum” on Thursday in Athens.

The event, that featured corporate affairs professionals and a number of special guests, was full of interesting and topical panel discussions and presentations, dealing with critical issues related to everyday life and the present and future challenges for their profession.

Distinguished corporate affairs and communication executives from major companies operating in Greece, as well as political officials, journalists and experts, heard Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, Thanassis Kontogeorgis refer to the increasing cooperation of the government with the scientific world along with the admission that much more can be done.

Kontogeorgis cited the example of the Recovery and Resilience Program (“Greece 2.0”) that the government is implementing following the recommendations from the scientific team led by Nobel laureate Christofer Pissarides. He also stressed the government’s cooperation with companies as advice for the convergence of university education with market requirements, also in the context of the introduction of non-state universities.

Participants further heard Athens University professor of Political Science Dimitris Sotiropoulos explain that out of the 20 ministries only a handful truly cooperate with scientists on their field, and that while there are panels of scientists advising the government on short- and long-term matters, there is a gap regarding medium-term issues.

Drawing on the experience from the use of science during the pandemic by politicians in order to save lives, The Newtons Laboratory chairman Stelios Zontos touched on the issue of the part of society that will not listen to what the science, the companies, the government and the informed media will tell them.

“There is some 25-30% of the society that does not communicate with us,” he stressed: “They will believe what they want to believe, they are prone to conspiracy theories and this is an everyday battle for us. With these people, rational conversation has no point, it is only the emotional approach that works.”

Summarizing the forum organized by Public Affairs and Networks, founder and CEO Andreas Yannopoulos said: “Today, we all put another stone together in our joint effort to create a dynamic and outgoing community of Corporate Affairs professionals in Greece. In addition to meeting professionals, networking and exchanging views on matters of interest in the exercise of the Corporate Affairs function, we had the opportunity to listen and discuss with important experts issues that have not yet been discussed in our country, as well as upcoming political and technological developments.”

“All this gives us feelings of satisfaction, but also increased expectations for AGORA – 3rd Corporate Affairs Forum 2025,” he added.