AI a Strategic Asset for Greece’s Defence and Civil Protection

The strategic role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Greece’s National Defence and Civil Protection systems was the focus of a presentation by Christos Tarantilis, professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business and partner at EY (Ernst & Young), during the GenAI Summit held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.

Tarantilis emphasized that AI is not merely a technological tool but a strategic driver of innovation, enabling Greece to transform the way it predicts, manages, and responds to both natural and man-made risks. “Without replacing human decision-makers, AI contributes decisively to Defence and Civil Protection by significantly enhancing the ability to make evidence-based decisions in critical moments,” he said.

Tarantilis explained that AI algorithms can process all types of data — including audio, images, and text — from diverse sources such as satellites, weather stations, drones, fixed sensors, CCTV systems, and even social media. This large-scale data processing supports the identification of patterns and the generation of reliable predictions.

In Defence, he cited applications such as forecasting hostile offensive actions, autonomous navigation of unmanned systems, maintenance of military equipment and critical infrastructure, supply-chain resilience, and real-time force allocation.
In Civil Protection, he noted AI’s potential to identify high-risk fire or flood zones, issue timely citizen alerts, support safe area evacuations, and deploy unmanned robotic systems in search-and-rescue missions.

He also highlighted that integrating data from multiple sources into a unified platform allows AI to generate a real-time, consolidated operational picture, supporting commanders in decision-making during complex operations.

Key Requirements for Effective AI Deployment

Tarantilis concluded by outlining the prerequisites necessary for Greece to fully leverage AI in Defence and Civil Protection:

• Reducing bureaucracy and accelerating procurement while ensuring transparency across Defence and Civil Protection processes.

• Strengthening collaboration between the public and private sectors, established companies, startups, universities, and research centres to ensure rapid, ethical, and reliable AI development.

• Attracting, developing, and retaining talent specialised in emerging technologies, particularly AI, to fill skills gaps in the workforce.

• Investing in essential infrastructure, including secure data centres, high-speed networks, and edge-computing capabilities.

• Ensuring effective data governance, with robust data quality and quantity to properly train AI algorithms.