Polemi Despina

Polemi Despina serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Informatics at the University of Piraeus' School of Information and Communication Technologies. Elected to the university in 2003 and promoted to tenured Associate Professor in 2013, she specializes in Cybersecurity and Information Security Systems. She founded the UNIPI Security Lab in 2002 and directed it until 2017 while overseeing the 'Technologies for Security Management' track in the department's Master's program.

Education

• Ph.D. from Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York

Research Focus

Her work centers on Cybersecurity infrastructure, Electronic Business security frameworks, and Information Security management systems. With over 150 publications, her research bridges academic theory and practical EU policy implementation, particularly in privacy frameworks and threat mitigation strategies for member states.

Scientific Recognition

• Award from Dr. Nuala McGann Drescher Foundation
• Award from Danish Research Foundation
• Award from MSI Army Research Office/Cornell University
• Award from NSA
• Award from IEEE
• Award from State University of New York (SUNY)
• Award from The Graduate School of CUNY

Research Leadership

She served as Scientific Director for Greek national projects (ΚτΠ, ΓΕΓΕΤ), EU Framework Programs (FP4-FP8), NATO, and NSA initiatives. Her 2017-2020 tenure as Programme Manager-Policy Officer at the European Commission's DG CONNECT involved shaping cybersecurity policy across EU member states. She has organized major scientific conferences and served on international organizing committees since 1998.

Laboratory & Institutional Roles

Founder and director of UNIPI Security Lab (2002-2017), she also held visiting positions at Solvay Brussels School (2015-2016) and served as Technical Director for EXPERTNET S.A. Her expertise established her as a continuous evaluator for EU and ENISA in security, entrepreneurship, and innovation domains.