A Data-Driven Reopening

Researchers from USC Marshall and Wharton team up with the Greek Government to safely reopen to tourism.

A multi-disciplinary team of researchers and policy makers have announced an AI-based project, nicknamed “Eva,” that uses data to support decision-making by the Greek government as it reopens the tourist industry vital to its economy amid the ongoing pandemic.

Kimon Drakopoulos, and Vishal Gupta, assistant professors of data sciences and operations at the Marshall School; Hamsa Bastani, an assistant professor of operations, information and decisions from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania; Jon Vlachogiannis, founder of AgentRisk; and the Greek government came together earlier this summer to build the machine-learning platform.

How to Reopen—Safely

Greece is home to approximately 11 million people, but has welcomed more than 33 million visitors annually in recent years. Tourism accounts for close to 20 percent of the country’s employment.

That ground to a stop with the novel coronavirus pandemic. In February, Greece saw the dire situation in Italy and quickly took action. A full lockdown was mandated on March 26.