Kostas Nikou, executive director of the University of Western Macedonia in Greece, delivered a keynote speech at the Forum on Digital Preservation and Transmission of Cultural Heritage during the 2025 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, presenting the university's holistic model for digitally preserving and creatively inheriting industrial heritage in the energy transition era.

Nikou highlighted that the highest power of digital protection lies in creative inheritance, underscoring the critical link between strategic policy, economic development, and cultural memory.

Nikou shared the university's vision to create a "digital twin" of the entire region and its industrial heritage, turning socio-economic challenges into cultural and technological opportunities. He also called for international exchange and cooperation to advance this digital transformation.