PwC has announced the opening of the PwC x Microsoft Excellence Center, a new center of excellence in Thessaly, based in Volos.
Its purpose is to operate as a center of excellence for the promotion of innovation, technology and education, as well as to support the local society and economy of Thessaly by utilizing the highly qualified human resources of the region for the implementation of complex digital projects with new generation technologies and their diffusion.
The region has a dynamic academic community as well as a tradition of business activity.
This is the 4th satellite office of PwC in Greece after Patras, Ioannina, Rhodes in the context of the satellite offices strategy that the company launched in 2022. Already, 40 PwC executives from the wider region have started working in the new offices, participating in national and international projects, which are implemented by PwC’s technology team.
According to Kyriakos Andreou, Territory Strategy, Clients & Markets Leader of PwC Greece, PwC has entered the battle to find talent and for this purpose is expanding to the Greek region, successfully, as shown by the recognition of the positive results of this strategy that has become a model at an international level. “It is our deep desire to promote the formation of an innovation ecosystem that will interconnect us with universities, research centers and the businesses of Thessaly and will bring collective benefits to the society and economy of the region, applying the successful model of offices.”
Collaboration with the University of Thessaly
In addition, PwC Greece promotes its collaboration with the University of Thessaly to implement actions that will promote technology, utilize the talent of the university community and contribute to its interconnection with the specialties of the future, both through research programs and collaboration with startups and through the provision of innovative services to businesses in Thessaly. The company’s long-term goal is to create two more similar centers in the Greek region. As the company emphasized, PwC’s strategy is to work closely with local universities, with the aim of attracting and utilizing talent and shaping the consultants of the future.
The new Excellence Center in Volos aims to develop solutions in the areas of Data Analytics & AI, Security & Cloud Engineering, which PwC designs and implements, utilizing Microsoft’s technological tools and digital platforms. PwC plans to add an additional 40 people to the center’s workforce by 2025.
The center is already working on developing plans for the utilization of technological solutions aimed at addressing natural disasters in collaboration with local bodies and specific proposals will be made in this regard by 2025. It will provide integrated new generation technological solutions in topical fields, such as environmental protection and rural development, aspiring to contribute to addressing the challenges faced by Thessaly to enhance the resilience and sustainable development of the region. As pointed out by Yanna Andronopoulou, General Manager of Microsoft Greece, Cyprus & Malta, “this center of excellence is an important step towards promoting innovation and technological development in the Thessaly region.
We are proud to contribute to the creation of an ecosystem that will connect universities, research centers and businesses, promoting knowledge and education in the technologies of the future and that our global effort – which began through the AI For Good lab – to use technology to address humanity’s greatest challenges such as climate change, reaches Thessaly. It is important to support regions like Thessaly, not only because of the recent challenges it has faced, but mainly to create opportunities for people who live far from large urban centers.”
