Every festival is characterized by the soul that moves it and in the European panorama, one of the most open to the themes of social inclusion and innovation is the WeMakeFuture festival, which this year will be held in Bologna on 13-15 June.
Italy is certainly not the first country that springs to mind if we talk about digital transformation. But, although countries like Singapore, the USA and many European countries such as small Estonia, are at the forefront, the country has performed very well for millennia in the task of aggregation. This ‘boot’ that extends into the Mediterranean is a gigantic pier where we all can walk and meet. The key countries in this collaboration are, in addition to Central Europe, the Balkan countries, Spain, Greece, Egypt, Morocco, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Poland presents itself this year with great fanfare at its 64 m2 stand and its 16 innovative startups, accelerators, universities – all under the patronage of the Polish Consulate General in Milan. Among the Polish startups that we will present in Italy are Saventic Health, Sportvision Tech, Teacode, QRQS, Knocksy, Louder and Higher, Semep Lab, Astyroteq.ai and many others represented by the main Polish Accelerators.
The Polish delegation’s stand is curated directly by “Poland Weekly” thanks to the contribution of Italdesk – the Italian Business Agency – and Tessa McIver’s “StartUP with Poland” program, as well as our numerous friends in the Polish ecosystem.
In Bologna, we will participate in an overview of the current situation and analysis and discussion of numerous issues of technological, digital and social innovation, thanks to the voices of personalities, guests and experts.
A fundamental focus is GovTech – a truly European meeting point to explore the intersections between technology, governance and innovation. This Bologna Summit offers a unique arena to address crucial topics such as artificial intelligence and its regulation, cybersecurity and the protection of personal data, digital citizenship, smart cities and sustainable mobility, as well as Green Tech and Edutech.
Among the most interesting guests: Emma Redmond, Associate General Counsel and Head of EU Data Protection at Open AI, and Peter Fleischer Senior Privacy Counsel at Google, as well as Lama Nachman, about Fortifying Trust in the age of GenAI.
“In the era of rapid AI advancement, the promise of technological innovation coexists with profound ethical dilemmas. Deepfakes hold immense potential for artistic expression and entertainment, yet their misuse threatens to corrode societal trust and manipulate public discourse. As a result of the exponential growth of generative AI, urgent questions arise regarding privacy, consent, and the integrity of truth in the digital age. We need to focus on Responsible Human AI systems, ensuring that technology serves to augment human potential and foster trust rather than undermine it,” says Nachman.
The incredible acceleration of AI – with the most diverse applications – means the program is dominated by themes related to it.
Nestor Maslej a Research Manager at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) will talk about the “AI Index,” a project led by a diverse team of some of the world’s leading AI thought leaders, a comprehensive initiative that tracks and measures the progress of Artificial Intelligence technologies.
The talk will cover AI from a wide range of perspectives, including trends in technical performance, the economy, policy, ethics and public opinion. Learn about AI from the same report that has informed some of the world’s leading policymakers, researchers and CEOs.
Simone Bianco (Altos Labs Bay Area Institute of Science) will speak about his project at Altos Labs. The mission is to reverse diseases, injuries and the disabilities that occur throughout life by restoring cell health and resilience through cell rejuvenation.
In this talk, he will explore the groundbreaking intersection of artificial intelligence and partial cellular reprogramming, a promising avenue for extending human health-span. We will delve into how AI, with its predictive modelling and data analysis capabilities, is revolutionizing our approach to understanding and implementing cellular reprogramming techniques.
We will meet Joe Zadeh (AirBnB), who needs no introduction, Pinar Demirdag CEO and founder at Cuebric, an AI-powered creative production studio that provides filmmakers and other content creators with powerful and easy-to-use tools to generate and edit photorealistic, fully segmented, textured, virtual environments in seconds, and Luis Ureta, Executive Vice President Europe of Globant – one of the main global players in the field of Digital Experience and AI Transformation.
The festival program combines these themes that are so important for our social coexistence with a lot of music, shows in a typically Italian style… a digital Dolce Vita, indeed.
