HERMeS (HERitage Management e System) is a Digital Heritage Collection of Historic Buildings. In 2015 HERMeS won the prestigious European Union CH – EUROPA NOSTRA Award. After that, HERMeS represented Greece in European Quality Conference(EIPA), was part of “Best in Heritage” event in Dubrovnik, was invited by European Commission in "Culture Forum" (2016), and finally it was presented as 'best practice' by the Council of Europe. HERMeS developer is Pavlos Chatzigrigoriou (www.iampavlos.com).

The recognition that European Heritage Prize – Europa Nostra Award gave to HERMeS, helped to 'open its wings and fly' to other Historic Cities even outside  Greece: Corfu, Samos, Gjirokaster, Ohrid, Tinos, Lesvos and more are applying HERMeS as a digital heritage tool. In these new applications we are researching on connecting Tangible and Intangible Heritage. In HERMeS case, this could be done connecting the Historic Buildings with stories, traditions, dances, soundscape, events, books, plays and more. The idea is to exploit HERMeS software in order to involve more citizens, educate them on their cultural heritage and link their stories with other cities that use HERMeS. Based on that idea, we are transforming the digital aspect of HERMeS to something 'haptic' that people can see and interact with. This is why we are using also signs on the most important historic buildings. With a sign, the owner feels that the value of the historic building is recognized by the community and at the same time the community sees and interacts with a number of historic buildings. In September 2018, aligned with the European Year of Cultural Heritage, an impressive event will take place in Hermoupolis based on HERMeS: The "Digital Heritage Days". During the event people will see, learn and interact with historic buildings, experiencing innovation on saving and promoting Cultural Heritage.

HERMeS aims on using innovative techniques to link tangible and intangible heritage. It starts with historic buildings and tells the stories of people and places. We found that place’s heritage stories are not that different around Europe.This is why we are applying now HERMeS in Gjirokaster (Albania) and Ohrid (FYROM), showing how buildings can ‘talk’ and communicate outside ‘borders’ and countries. At a long end, we are aiming to the development of sustainable cultural tourism, combining satisfaction of visitor experience and the preservation of local heritage. This way we are improving inhabitants’ quality of life, especially in the less well-known areas where there are authentic cultural experiences. Digital Cultural Heritage can be the precious catalyst to engage local community, but it needs to preserve the integrity of the provided information. Therefore HERMeS is first of all a scientific heritage tool, and then it is reused for digital applications to help inhabitants, schools, activists and visitors to understand the common values of European heritage and the links between different places, without loosing local identity. HERMeS is used on education (teachers use it's rich database), in youth applications (HERMeS 'talks' the common youth language of 'technology') and community engagement. In Greece, where economic crisis had a huge impact in European links, tools like HERMeS can play an essential role, emphasizing the common values and heritage that connects us all.