6th Regional Stakeholder Group Meeting of Interreg Europe PROACTsme in Thessaloniki

On Friday, 20 February 2026, the sixth meeting of the Regional Stakeholder Group (RSG) was held in Thessaloniki, at the premises of Ypsilon, within the framework of the European project Interreg Europe PROACTsme, Applied Data-Science and AI for proactive SME service.

The PROACTsme project aims to improve policy instruments that strengthen e-governance capacities and support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by leveraging Data Science and Artificial Intelligence tools. Through the development of proactive and personalised services, the project seeks to enhance business competitiveness and upgrade the administrative capacity of public authorities.

The meeting opened with a welcome address by Ms Vaso Papadopoulou, General Director of ANATOLIKI S.A., who highlighted the importance of cross-sectoral cooperation and the active involvement of local stakeholders for the successful integration and sustainability of the new SME support model. Dr Naya Tselepi, Project Manager at ANATOLIKI S.A., then presented an overview of the PROACTsme project, the innovative “HelpEmpresa” support model from Catalonia, and the progress made towards the development of a corresponding mechanism in the Region of Central Macedonia. This was followed by a presentation by Ms Evdokia Magou, representative of the Directorate for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support of the Region of Central Macedonia, who outlined the progress achieved in integrating the new mechanism and highlighted the significant opportunities it offers to the local business community.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Regional Governor for Digital Governance, Mr Nikolaos Tzollas, as well as representatives of the Region of Central Macedonia, who underlined the necessity of digital transition and identified key institutional and operational challenges in the process of integrating the tool. Moreover, Mr Panagiotis Metaxas, representative of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stressed the importance of the tool in addressing the needs of SMEs.

The meeting concluded with a joint commitment by all parties to continue their cooperation and promote a more “intelligent” and proactive public administration for the benefit of SMEs in the region, with a particular focus on: