Paper Title
INNOVATION IN THE GREEK WEAVING SECTOR

Abstract
The weaving sector is not traditionally considered a high tech or highly innovative sector, something which is certainly true in the case of Greece. It seems, however, that in the last decades things have been getting worse, with some exceptions for the largest companies in the sector. Recent evidence, from data collected from more than 70 businesses and artisans/craftsmen in 7 Regions in Greece, for a study commissioned by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture in order to revitalise Greek handicrafts, shows that there are specific reasons for this and that there might be enough motivation to reverse this trend if some of the barriers to innovation are lifted. Mentality and perception towards innovation in the handicrafts sector were found to be critical issues. In this paper, we attempt to identify the reasons for this low innovation performance, as well as possible strategies to increase that performance. Keywords - Weaving, Handicrafts, Greece, Innovation, Technology.