The Minister of Education, Religion and Sports, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, is going to the OECD in order to preside over the two-day Global Strategy Summit, which will be held at the Organization’s headquarters, in Paris, on October 15 and 16. This is the second Synod he is presiding over after 2021, when he participated in the capacity of Minister of Digital Governance.

The theme of this year’s Summit is “The Future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Global Governance” and its proceedings will focus on the rapid changes that AI technologies bring to economies and societies, seeking strategic convergences in global AI governance, as well as on the OECD’s role in this multilateral ecosystem.

The OECD Global Strategy Summit – “Global Strategy Group” as it is known in the OECD, to distinguish it from official ministerial meetings – is the Organization’s annual central event, in which its 38 member states (and the European Union), at the level of ambassadors and high government officials, with all its leadership, discuss in an informal context (Chatham House rule), for two days, the global challenges and strategic dilemmas of the OECD.

This year’s Greek presidency, for the second consecutive year, is the work of the active ambassador of Greece to the OECD, Professor Giorgos Pagoulatos. The organization of last year’s Global Strategy Summit, under the Greek presidency, in December 2023, introduced important innovations, the main one being the adoption, for the first time, of a Long-Term Planning (Foresight) methodology based on four scenarios. The extremely successful holding of the 2023 Summit led the 38 OECD member states to unanimously renew the mandate to Greece to also organize the 2024 Global Strategy Summit.

For this year’s Summit, Greece invited Canada to participate as an equal co-chair country, given its important role in AI technologies, a founding member of the Global Partnership on AI.

In addition, this year’s Summit will be attended by a record number of 50 countries, including Organization members, 8 OECD candidate countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Indonesia, Thailand), as well as all member countries of the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), i.e. additionally India, Serbia, Singapore, Senegal.

This year’s Summit is characterized by those involved of “historic importance” for the OECD, and not only because of the 50 participating countries. Last July, the OECD’s “comprehensive partnership” with the GPAI was ratified, making the OECD a “central player” in global AI governance. This Summit also coincides with a period of great extroversion of the Organization, with 8 candidate members for membership, 3 of which (Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania) are expected to join in 2026. It is noted that as of March 2024, Greece now holds and the chairmanship of the Group of Friends of Southeast Europe of the OECD, following the election of Ambassador Pagoulatos to this post.

This year’s Summit seals a period of great dynamism of the OECD in the international arena, but also of great dynamism of Greece in it, with two simultaneous important presidencies.

Mr. Pierrakakis, as president of the Synod, is expected to highlight the importance of adopting international rules for the development of IT, based on OECD principles. In addition, as Minister of Education, he will focus on the type and content of education that prepares new generations for a demanding world of advanced productive Artificial Intelligence technologies.

Also, some pioneering Greek companies will be present at the work of the Synod, and at the business day that will precede it on Monday 14/10.

In addition to Mr. Pierrakakis, the Greek delegation to the OECD also includes the Secretary General of Information Systems and Digital Governance, Dimosthenis Anagnostopoulos, and the Special Secretary for Long-Term Planning of the Government, Yannis Mastrogeorgiou.