Cyprus – the birthplace of Aphrodite and the most easterly stand post of the EU – is offering its “unique” services to international startups and SMEs looking to get a foot in the virtual door.

With an eye on becoming a regional hub of research and innovation, the island is already punching above its weight, given a relatively small annual budget, coming in at Number 10 on this year’s European innovation scoreboard.

Now the country is aiming even higher with a try-before-you-buy style offer open to innovative start-ups and SMEs looking to take their ideas and businesses to the next digital level.

Yiorgos Chrysanthou, the hugely enthusiastic Research Director of the Centre on Interactive Media, Smart Systems and Emerging Technologies (CYENS) said: “We absolutely want to attract companies from abroad, and we have much to offer SMEs and startups. We have a unique set-up here.

“As well as lower taxes, Cyprus is a very pleasant place to work with a good standard of living and we have the talent and the expertise to help launch projects, whether they be in virtual production, virtual animation, or interactive technologies, as well as the infrastructure to do it.

“But we understand that we have to work harder than some to show what we can do, which is why we have the Test Before You Invest scheme.

“Come to us, and we will conduct a digital assessment to understand what it is the SME needs. We will then create a prototype for €5,000 or €10,000 so they can understand how it might work and, of course, get them interested in us. They can then decide if they want to get a full version.”

Though Yiorgos understands that Cyprus will have to fight for its place on the world stage of virtual and augmented reality, the country is increasingly prepared for the battle.

Partly-funded by the EU, CYENS is a Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence that focuses on interactive media, smart systems and emerging technologies to empower knowledge and technology transfer in the region – on a budget of €7 million a year.

It is also a joint venture between the island’s three public universities – the University of Cyprus, Cyprus University of Technology, and the Open University of Cyprus – the Municipality of Nicosia, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Germany, and University College London.

From humble beginnings in 2018, when CYENS was pretty much a one-man show starring Yiorgos, the department now employs 145 of the sharpest minds in Cyprus working in 17 different areas of research involving interactive media in areas such as visual sciences, human factors and design, communication, and artificial intelligence.

“We are very much focused on helping the economy and creating an ecosystem of innovation of new technologies,” admits Yiorgos. “But, of course, you ask, why should SMEs come to Cyprus?

“Well, if they want to develop technology that they want to sell to Europe, maybe they will develop it elsewhere in Europe, but we are looking at certain niche areas that would make them specifically want to come and work with us, for example ‘digital twins.’

“While it’s true that anyone can build a 3D model of an area, it’s one thing to build a 3D model and it’s another to have the municipality on board with you, which is the reality in our case. This means we are connected to smart city infrastructure that is only available to the municipality.

“We have the municipality feeding information through us, we have developed a platform, we have the 3D model, and we are in the process of creating our own 5.5G network within the Old City, which will be faster than what they can get elsewhere. We also have the experts, the AI experts, 3D graphics and vision experts, all the right people, some of whom hold PhDs from Cambridge and worked at Stanford. 

“I don’t think it’s easy to find such a set-up anywhere else. Even if you go to the most advanced countries, it would be difficult to convince the local municipality to provide you with all the information you might need to get your project off the ground.”

CYENS’ digital twin project – also known as iNicosia – is an accurate 3D model of the city that includes commercial buildings and monuments, the road network, parking places, and various metadata of the environment, such as the state of traffic lights, street lights, the power grid and vegetation.

However, it’s the inclusion of real-world data that excites Yiorgos – the rich time-series data collected by various sensors – such as camera feeds, and thermal, humidity, and motion sensors that are placed around the city of Nicosia, as well as any other open data available, such as land registry and cultural information.

It is this kind of fertile digital ground that Yiorgos hopes will appeal to international startups and SMEs.

“CYEN’s Test Before Investing helps SMEs gain valuable insights about a new product or service, before making significant investments,” he says. “It allows them to test and evaluate their products or services in realistic conditions, and identify areas for improvement.

“Cyprus can now provide access to digital transformation expertise, know-how and services, including testing and experimentation facilities.

“We have all the technology new start-ups need. And we also have nice weather. When people start out in Cyprus, they tend not to want to leave.”

In a concerted move to lure tech talent to the island, the government also introduced a new Startup Visa Scheme this month (Dec) that allows talented entrepreneurs from countries outside the EU and the European Economic Area to be granted working permission to establish startups in the country.

Demetris Skourides, Chief Scientist for Research Innovation and Technology, says the move is just one example of the government’s commitment to the island’s “vibrant startup ecosystem” so far made up of 400 startups and scaleups, as well as 140-plus tech companies and 4,000 entrepreneurs.

“The increasing number of startups, created by local innovators and entrepreneurs from the wider region, is shaping Cyprus into a research, innovation and technology hub fostering economic growth.

“This dynamic environment fosters not only innovation, but also a culture of risk-taking that drives the nation forward.

“The appeal of the country as a destination for foreign companies is a testament to its unique location; offering global operational scope and access to the single market, as well as the advantages that come with having a world-class working culture.”

Invest Cyprus, the government department responsible for promoting the country as a place to do business, has unveiled a raft of new incentives aimed at third country nationals, which now includes British citizens following Brexit. The strategy offers streamlined procedures covering residency, taxation, and employment.