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Nominees Announced For The CYDIA Awards® 2026

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

The Cyprus Diaspora Forum is proud to announce the nominees for the CYDIA Awards® 2026, the annual celebration recognising the outstanding achievements and contributions of Cypriots abroad and friends of Cyprus.

The CYDIA Awards® form part of the Cyprus Diaspora Forum®, which will take place in Limassol from 6–9 May 2026, bringing together leading members of the global Cypriot community from across business, government, academia, science, culture and philanthropy.

The awards honour exceptional individuals across a wide range of categories, including the highly anticipated Lifetime Achievement Award.

We are delighted to announce that the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Theo Paphitis, the renowned British Cypriot retail entrepreneur, television Dragon and philanthropist.

Among the other distinguished honours, the Diaspora Ambassador Award will be presented to Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, Joint CEO of Tototheo Global and President of the Board of the Association of Cypriot Professionals in Greece.

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry Diaspora Entrepreneur Award will be presented to Christos A. Poullaides, a prominent Bahrain-based construction industry leader with operations across the Middle East and Europe.

The Diaspora Ambassador Legacy Award will be awarded to Panos A. Panay, President of The Recording Academy and presenter of the Grammy Awards.

The Diaspora Honorary Award, which recognises an exceptional individual whose achievements, leadership and enduring contribution have brought distinction to the global diaspora, will be awarded to Demetrios Mallioros.

In the remaining 15 categories, the public is invited to vote for their favourite nominee. Public voting will close on Sunday, 19 April 2026, allowing the global Cypriot community to recognise individuals who have made a significant impact in their respective fields.

Voting is now open at: https://www.cyprusdiasporaforum.com/nominees-2026

CYDIA Awards 2026 Nominees and Categories

Advocating Cyprus

  • Effie Athanassiou
  • Irene Matys
  • Martin Zarian
  • Sergey Polivar

‘Artemis Pouroulis’ Culture and Arts

  • Andreani Panayides
  • Andreas Charalambous
  • Avgi Pourgoura
  • Elly Symons

Contribution to Society

  • Christos Charalambous
  • Kelly Christodoulou
  • Lucy Loizou
  • Niklas Wilhelm

Education

  • Androulla Poutziouris
  • Georgia Solomou
  • Professor Katerina Kaouri
  • Sean Alimov

Finance and Commerce

  • Carissa Louca
  • Dr. Demetrios Zamboglou
  • George S. Georgiades
  • James Demetriades

‘George Michael’ Entertainment Award

  • Chryso Makariou
  • Daphne Alexander
  • Dimitri Leonidas
  • Dr. Marios Joannou Elia

Health

  • Dr. Eleni Toumarides
  • Maria Hadjidemetriou
  • Professor Natasha Kyprianou
  • SOZO Brain Center

Impact

  • Andreas Farmakalidis
  • Eleni Savva
  • Dr. Maria Krambia-Kapardis
  • Maria Petrides

Literature

  • Alex Christofi
  • Christy Lefteri
  • Eva Asprakis
  • Soulla Christodoulou

Marketing and Media

  • Matthew Zorpas
  • Rafaella Mehmet
  • Savvas Agathangelou
  • Tom Toumazis

Movement for Change

  • Charalambos Toumazis
  • Marianna Konina
  • Michalis Pantelidis
  • Panos Englezos

Real Estate

  • Anastasia Yianni
  • Artemis Ansell
  • Nick Salatas
  • Omar Awartani

Social and Philanthropy

  • Chris Christofi
  • The Cyprus Environment Foundation
  • Filli Kaoullas
  • Sophia For Children

Sports

  • Evagoras Papasavvas
  • George Panagiotakis
  • Kyrenia Nautical Club
  • Michael Georgiou

Startups and Innovation

  • Connie Christofi
  • Stavros Therapontos
  • Stelios Alexandrou
  • William Demetriou

The CYDIA Awards® 2026 ceremony and Gala Dinner will take place at the Parklane Resort in Limassol, Cyprus, on Saturday, 9 May 2026, as the closing event of the Cyprus Diaspora Forum®.

The evening will feature a spectacular entertainment programme with performances by Alexandros Tsangarides, The Amalgamation Choir, Sofia Patsalides, Savvas Mouskos, Chryso Makariou, Stavros Konstantinou and Antri Karantoni, with a special guest performance by Evangelia.

The event will also include a specially choreographed performance by Antigoni Tasouri and will be hosted by Emilia Papadopoulos and Yanna Darilis.

This landmark occasion will celebrate the achievements of the global Cypriot community and international friends of Cyprus, highlighting the extraordinary impact Cypriots continue to have around the world.
More information: www.cyprusdiasporaforum.com

Copyright Law Struggles To Keep Up With AI Training

by News Editor

Courts Are Still Applying Old Copyright Rules To AI

AI companies train models on enormous amounts of published material, including books, articles and academic research. Whether using that content without authors’ permission violates copyright law remains unresolved.

Much of the debate centres on fair use, which allows copyrighted material to be used without permission in certain circumstances. Courts consider factors such as the purpose of the use, how much material was involved and its impact on the original market.

Anthropic Case Sets An Important Precedent

A major case involving Anthropic and a group of authors provided one of the clearest rulings so far. Judge William Alsup found that using copyrighted books to train AI models was lawful, comparing the process to people reading and studying literature before creating something new.

Anthropic was nevertheless ordered to pay $1.5 billion in a settlement. The penalty concerned books the company had obtained from illegal online libraries rather than the AI training itself.

For AI companies, that distinction could prove significant because it separates studying copyrighted material from directly copying it.

Competition Could Be The Key Issue

A case involving Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence offers a different perspective. A court ruled that Ross could not claim fair use after using Reuters’ copyrighted material to develop a competing AI-powered legal research platform.

The decision suggests courts may be less willing to consider AI training fair use when copyrighted content is used to build a product that directly competes with the original.

For authors, an unresolved question is whether AI-generated content should be considered competition for the works used to train these models.

The Law Has Yet To Catch Up

US copyright law predates generative AI by decades, leaving courts to apply old principles to new technology. Questions also remain over copyright protection for AI-generated works. In Thaler v. Perlmutter, a court ruled that material created entirely by AI cannot receive copyright protection.

Major AI companies remain involved in copyright litigation, and different courts could reach different conclusions. For now, there is no universal rule: the legality of AI training will depend on the circumstances of each case and how courts ultimately interpret copyright and fair use.

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