Yiannis Laouris
Yiannis Laouris is a social-, science-, and business entrepreneur. He is a trained medical doctor, a neurophysiologist, and a systems engineer. He was trained in Germany and the US. Laouris interrupted his academic career in the mid-90s and dedicated his life to working for a better world. Most of his social contributions were conducted through CYBER KIDS and Future Worlds Center. He is mostly known for his socially responsible work and scientific contributions in the fields of peace and development through the application of modern technology and the science of Structured dialogic design. One of the 12 authors of the ONLIFE Manifesto, and key author of Reinventing Democracy in the Digital Era Manifesto. Leads internationally the theory and application of the science of structured dialogic design and conducts research towards developing systems to enable scaling up participatory dialogic processes to engage asynchronously thousands of people in meaningful authentic dialogues, thus accelerating institutional and societal change. Promotes the application of broadband technologies and structured democratic dialogue as tools to bridge the digital-, economic-, educational- and inter-personal divides in our planet.
| Dr. Yiannis Laouris | |
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| Social-, Science and Business Entrepreneur | |
| Γενικές Πληροφορίες | |
| Επιστημονικό Πεδίο Απασχόλησης | {{{field_of_employment}}} |
| Σημαντική Συνεισφορά | {{{important_contributions}}} |
| Σημαντικές Δημοσιεύσεις | {{{important_publications}}} |
| Βραβεύσεις | 12 International Awards |
| Προσωπικά Στοιχεία | |
| Γεννήθηκε | {{{born}}} |
| Πέθανε | {{{died}}} |
| Τόπος Γέννησης | {{{place_of_birth}}} |
| Εθνικότητα | {{{nationality}}} |
| Υπηκοότητα | {{{citizenship}}} |
| Σύζυγος | {{{spouse}}} |
| Παιδιά | {{{children}}} |
| Σπουδές | {{{studies}}} |
| Ιστοσελίδα | |
| Yiannis Laouris in Future Worlds Pedia | |
Education
Laouris graduated the medical school of the University of Leipzig in Germany. His studies were supported by three parallel scholarships; one given to him by the Government of Cyprus; a second for top grades, and a third for being among the top 5 of his school year. He was awarded a PhD in Neurophysiology with summa cum laude by the Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology a few weeks before graduating the medical school. This achievement was publicized in many district and national German and Greek newspapers as he was the first student to be awarded a PhD before graduation[1]. He continued his research in neurophysiology at the Georg-August University Göttingen with cyberneticists and systems physiologists Professors Hans Diedrich Henatsch and Uwe Windhorst. He then joined the Robotics, Prosthetics, Motor Control Group at the University of Arizona, where he collaborated with Douglas G. Stuart. In the US, he also completed a Master's in Systems and Industrial Engineering.
Childhood and early life
Son of teacher Christodoulos Laouris, he lived attended schools in various districts of Cyprus including The English School, Nicosia, the Pancyprian Gymnasium and the Acropolis Gymnasium. He served in the Cypriot National Guard as the first Cypriot senior cryptographer in the Headquarters after the Military coup in Cyprus of the Greek military junta and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.
Current and Previous Notable Posts
Laouris was one of the Founding Members of Future Worlds Center, where he now serves as CEO and Lead Scientist. He is also the Founder and CEO of two startup companies, GNOUS Labs Ltd. and Concertina Enterprises. He has previously founded CYBER KIDS and Ekkotek Ltd.. Laouris is also founding member of the Cyprus Society for Systemic Studies; member of Board of Institute for 21st Century Agoras; national representative in several COST Actions, Insafe, Inhope, EU Kids online, ECSO, Cybercrime Centre of Excellence, ECTEG – Europol, and member of Boards and/or partner in several high-tech companies.
Contributions in Peace and Conflict Resolution
In the nineties, Laouris was a founding member of the Cyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers Group and the Technology for peace project[2] [3] [4]initiative. His team envisioned, designed and implemented almost a dozen of peace projects in Cyprus with the most recent civil society dialogue project aiming to re-engage peace builders from both communities following the negative outcome of the Annan Plan[5] [6].Students from universities across the world conduct internships and complete Masters and PhD theses with his group in order to learn about the combined application of conflict resolution, structured dialogic design, and information technologies in the service of peace and positive social transformation. The work has been recognized in 2008 with the awarding of the first prize for social cohesion of the Cyprus civil society awards.
Notable Awards
| Year | Description |
| 1979-1984 | Leistungstippendien, Leipzig, Germany Parallel scholarship given to students with high GPA (50% of a regular scholarship). |
| 1985 | Salvator Allende Stippendium, Leipzig, Germany Scholarship awarded to the top foreign student (equal to 200% of an ordinary scholarship) |
| 1984 & 1985 | Leistungshau 1984 & 1985, Leipzig, GDR Selected to present science achievements in of his PhD in "1984 Leistungsshau" and “1985 Leistungsshau". Selection of best PhD research across all Universities in Germany |
| 1985 | Summa cum laude, for PhD Highest score for a PhD that receives 5 A’s (from the 3 evaluators, from the defense process, and having achieved excellent score in basic studies) |
| 1986 | Παγκύπρια Πορεία Αγάπης Αρχιεπισκόπου Μακαρίου Γ, Λευκωσία, Κύπρος Special scholarship awarded by the Makarios Foundation. |
| 1990 | Provost's Teaching Award, Arizona, USA Teachnig Award for innovations in Medical teaching. |
| 1992 | Medical Innovation Award, Arizona, USA For the development of Multimedia to teach neurophysiology to students of different disciplines. |
| 1992 | International Program Development Fund Award, Arizona Distinction for significant contribution in International collaborations (with Estern bloc). |
| 1996 | ISO 9001/2 for CYBER KIDS, London, UK Top company to achieve UK ISO registration. |
| 1995 | Silver Award, INPEX 95, Pittsburgh, USA Innovation Competition Fair with thousands of participants from all over the world. |
| 1996 | The Elected of the Year '96, Jerusalem, Israel Award for CYBER KIDS in Israel. |
| 1996 | Qualidat, Geneva, Switzerland Award for CYBER KIDS. |
| 2008 | First Award for innovation"' Nicosia, Cyprus. |
| 2008 | Civil Society Award, Cyprus First Award for Future Worlds Center for social innovation. |
| 2011 | Hellenic Society for Systems Studies Award Dinstinguised Greek Scientist with international caliber. |
| 2017 | Euro-Med Award for the Dialogue between Cultures Second place Anna Lindh Foundation. |
| 2017 | Global Education Innovation Award 2017 One of 12 awarded by GENE – Global Education Network Europe to Future Worlds Center for its innovative Map Your Meal project. |
| 2017 | Digital Champion Cyprus Award Awarded to GNOUS Labs Ltd. |
| 2018 | Disrupt Cyprus Award Awarded to GNOUS Labs Ltd. |
| 2018 | Get in the Ring Award Awarded GNOUS Labs Ltd. |
Citations
- ↑ Media coverage of PhD award
- ↑ Laouris, Y. (2004). Information technology in the service of peace building. The case of Cyprus. World Futures, 60, 67–79.
- ↑ Laouris, Y. and Laouri, R. (2008). Can Information and mobile technologies serve close the economic, educational, digital and social gaps and accelerate development? World Futures, 64(4), 254-275.
- ↑ Laouris, Y., Laouri, R. and Christakis, A. (2008). Communication praxis for ethical accountability; The ethics of the tree of action. Syst Res Behav Sci 25(2), 331–348.
- ↑ Laouris, Y., Michaelides, M. Damdelen, M., Laouri, R., Beyatli, D., and Christakis, A. (2009). A systemic evaluation of the state of affairs following the negative outcome of the referendum in Cyprus using a structured design process. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 22, 45-75.
- ↑ Laouris, Y., Erel, A., Michaelides, M,. Damdelen, M., Taraszow, T., Dagli, I., Laouri, R. and Christakis, A. (2009). Exploring options for enhancement of social dialogue between the Turkish and Greek communities in Cyprus using the Structured Dialogic Design Process. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 22, 361–381.