Thank you for checking out my blog – a few words on my background:

I was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1977 and grew up in Halkidiki and later in Kilkis, a small town with wonderful people in North Greece. I got my first Amstrad 6128 in 1987 which got me the tech virus, so I went on to study Electrical and Computer Engineering at Democritus University. 

Then, I moved to Athens to work full-time at Microsoft and completed an MBA and a Ph.D. at the Electrical and Computer Engineering School of the National Technical University of Athens

On a professional level, I have been working in Microsoft Greece since 2000 in different roles (marketing, technology evangelism, sales, partner development, startups and leading the Microsoft Innovation center), either as a team leader or as an individual contributor.

I am passionate about technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, and education in Greece and have a full belief in the talent and brainpower we have in the country.  Thus, I have been trying to contribute as a mentor and supporter in several startup initiatives in Greece and Europe, including Startupbootcamp, theEgg, SEV, iT4Gov, Microsoft Innovation Center Greece, Startup Tel Aviv, Founders Institute, Innovation Farm and several others. I also serve as an advisory member in the strategic committee of the MSM MSc of Athens University of Economics and Business and have been on the National Competitiveness advisory board of the Greek Ministry of Development and a reviewer in EU Commission’s RnD projects in the Grid infrastructure for e-science.

I also love coaching; I got my certification in executive coaching some years ago and have found coaching to be an excellent way for all of us to learn, develop and support each other.

You can friend me at www.twitter.com/draganidis and contact me via LinkedIn.

Fotis