Summer School 2025: Innovation, Tech, & Culture

Onassis ONX, the international new media and digital culture program of the Onassis Foundation, and the ACE (Athens Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation) of the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) co-organize the Summer School: Innovation, Tech, & Culture for the second consecutive year. This program is designed to equip students, emerging professionals, and established experts with skills that integrate art thinking, contemporary business methodologies, and emerging technologies into their practices.

The Summer School: Innovation, Tech, & Culture is an intensive ten-day program that seeks to bridge the worlds of Culture and Digital Arts with Technology, Product Design, Artificial Intelligence, and Entrepreneurship. Its purpose is to harness artistic and creative thinking to highlight and address social, environmental, and business challenges.

The program aims to foster the generation of groundbreaking ideas—spanning artistic projects, products, applications, and services—while advancing radical business models driven by innovation, ethics, and sustainability. It aspires to merge aesthetic excellence with entrepreneurial ingenuity.

Organized in collaboration with the Tandon School of Engineering of New York University, this initiative is part of the Smart Attica EDIH program.

Upon completion, participants will have the opportunity to compete for funding and incubation support to bring their projects to life.

Worldbuilding, Going beyond Product, Narratives, Visual Storytelling, and Creative Branding

Can a story shape the way we interact with our products? And, conversely, can our interplay with our products formulate a story of its own? How can art attain a sustainable status while becoming a launching pad for creative dialogue?

This year’s program explores the concept of worldbuilding and its following integration into creative practice and design through storytelling and digital technologies. By harnessing worldbuilding methodologies, it invites creators and trailblazing entrepreneurs to develop innovative ideas that not only succeed commercially but also spark meaningful conversations, demonstrating the uncontainable potential of imagination and innovation.

Through the use of digital media and contemporary creative branding practices, participants will gain insights into how to construct worlds and imbue their products with narrative depth. Visual storytelling and other interactive elements lend these stories form and vibrancy, transforming products into participatory experiences that engage audiences.

The Summer School: Innovation, Tech, & Culture is designed for students, early-career professionals, and established experts. It includes lectures, hands-on workshops, and mentoring sessions with seasoned industry leaders—artists, entrepreneurs, and creative technologists—from Athens and New York. Through exposure to diverse professional perspectives, participants will develop business skills, gain insight into art thinking methodologies and artistic creativity, and draw inspiration from radical applications of emerging technologies in art and industry.

Participants will form interdisciplinary teams to co-design innovative, impactful proposals and develop prototypes, benefiting from access to technical equipment, cutting-edge AI tools, and expert mentorship.

The Summer School is organized by Onassis ONX, the Onassis Foundation’s international new media and digital culture program. Onassis ONX, an Onassis Culture initiative, is dedicated to advancing digital arts through education, incubation, acceleration services, funding opportunities, networking, and presentation platforms for artists. Actively collaborating with industry leaders, institutions, and global networks, Onassis ONX supports immersive storytelling experiences across XR/VR/AR, AI, Spatial Computing, and more.

Initially known as ONX Studio, Onassis ONX was founded in 2020 by the Onassis Foundation and NEW INC. It has since evolved into a global program supporting creators from concept to distribution. Operating between Athens and New York, Onassis ONX connects these vibrant cultural hubs, enriching both the local and international new media landscapes. Its members span continents, with projects showcased at major events and festivals worldwide, including the Venice International Film Festival, Ars Electronica, and the “Plásmata” exhibitions in Athens and Ioannina.

The Athens Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACE) is the Incubator and Technology Transfer Office of the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). ACE supports entrepreneurial teams and research groups in developing and implementing innovative business ideas. Among others, it provides hosting, training, support, and networking services, facilitating various entrepreneurship support initiatives such as the student competition “ennovation” and the open innovation program “idea,” among others. ACE helps entrepreneurial teams transition from ideation to business implementation, enhancing their chances of success through continuous market engagement. Over the past decade, ACE has supported over 5,000 beneficiaries and numerous startup teams, contributing to the creation of more than 40 new companies. It has organized over 50 specialized entrepreneurship support programs and plays a pivotal role in the commercialization of research outcomes.