Award to an innovative software for mobile devices designed the research groups ELTRUN (Department of Management Science and Technology) and STEcon (Department of Informatics)

Aiming at tackling the internationally recognized issue of the global environmental crisis, by means of alleviating energy overconsumption, researchers from the ELTRUN E-Business Research Center at the Department of Management Science and Technology, in cooperation with researchers from the Services Technologies and Economics STEcon research group of the Theory, Economics and Systems Laboratory at the Department of Informatics, of Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), have designed an innovative gamified application for mobile devices in the context of EU Project ChArGED.

The design of the ChArGED app received an award by the Games and Learning Alliance, in the context of the European Serious Games Competition in November 2019, which aims «to celebrate the best digital games for learning in Europe». The award ceremony took place during the GALA Exhibition 2019 that was hosted at InnovAthens in the municipality of Athens Technopolis where the app was presented in a specially positioned stand. In particular, the ChArGED app received the special “jury award”, by a jury composed of established Serious Game designers and researchers, in recognition of the strong impact it may bear on people’s lives, society in general, and the environment.

Drs. Dimosthenis Kotsopoulos (second from the right in the picture), Athanasios G. Papaioannou (third from the right in the picture), Cleopatra Bardaki (fourth from the right in the picture), Stavros Lounis, and Professors Katerina Pramatari and George D. Stamoulis, in recently published research in the IADIS International Journal on WWW/Internet, as well as the international conferences e-Society 2018 and the Games and Learning Alliance conference 2019, presented the new software for mobile devices, which has already been successfully tested in action, in three pilot cases conducted in public buildings internationally (Greece, Spain, Luxembourg). Dr. Dimosthenis Kotsopoulos notes that «The innovative ChArGED mobile app presents an alternative solution for energy conservation in public buildings, that positively affects human behavior by providing feedback and encouraging its users in real-time, taking into advantage the capabilities provided by modern Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, as well as gamified information systems». Dr. Athanasios G. Papaioannou also notes that «in public buildings, providing motives to the users for conserving energy is not a simple matter, and choosing the right game as well as the best parameters for its implementation, like for example whether to utilize competition among individual participants or groups with a specific number of members, can lead to significantly higher energy conservation».

«ChArGED provides practical proof of the social impact that the application of information systems in pressing and critical issues may feature, especially when their design is based on scientifically sound methodology» as Associate Professor Katerina Pramatari, in charge of the SCORE research team at the ELTRUN research laboratory, notes. «In Athens University of Economics and Business, the production of knowledge goes hand in hand with its promotion, while the application of research results has the capability to lead to the solution of challenging social issues, especially through the cooperation between universities and the local, as well as international business scene». Professor George D. Stamoulis, in charge of the STEcon research group, also notes that «it is important that energy conservation is effected by means of the provision of appropriate incentives, that have been designed accordingly in order to motivate each one of the consumers towards conservation behaviors that help the achievement of the global goal of conservation – such incentives can be both monetary and non-monetary rewards provided through games, or a combination of both».

For more information about project ChArGED: http://www.charged-project.eu/. Additionally, for information regarding the design of the application, you may contact Dr. Dimosthenis Kotsopoulos (dkotsopoulos@aueb.gr) and Dr. Athanasios G. Papaioannou (pathan@aueb.gr).