Panels

Panel 1: Smart Cities

When: September 17^th, Tuesday, h 11:30-12.30

Where: Auditorium

Abstract: How ICT Technologies will change our lives in Smarter Cities

This panel will provide the space for discussing some of the emerging use of ICT innovations to improve our lives in the context of smart cities. Researchers and innovator will present in short visionary talks challenges and opportunities associated to the introduction in smart cities of novel technologies such as autonomous driving, 5G, electric cars, Internet of Things, and will foster brainstorming on how ICT technologies can support safety, sustainability and the implementation of circular economy strategies. The floor will then be open to discussion with the audience. Attendees will be able to ask questions both on technical aspects and on the methodology and experience of innovating in the area. The panel and the interaction with the speakers will be coordinated by Marco Merola, science journalist.

Panel Coordinator: Marco Merola, journalist

Panelists:

Carla Fabiana Chiasserini, Politecnico di Torino
Annalisa Sabatelli, Pininfarina
Chiara Petrioli, University of Rome La Sapienza and WSense Director
Angela Wei, Accenture
Paola Castellacci, VarGroup Digital

Short bio:

Marco Merola, journalist (Panel Moderator)

Marco Merola, journalist was born in Naples in 1974 and became a professional journalist in 1998. Since then, he has been extensively working on science and science communication, with a particular focus on repercussions of new technologies in the global economy. He has been author of reportages for several international magazines (GEO, National Geographic, Focus, BBC Science, Sciences et Avenir, Muy Interesante, Illustreret Videnskab and italian weekly magazines SETTE of Il Corriere della sera and Venerdì of La Repubblica). As a freelance journalist Merola has had the opportunity to extensively travel in Europe, Middle East, South America and Africa describing how technology can support growth of poor countries and ease the life of the modern man. He has served as Communication manager for successful European projects such as FP7 SUNRISE (2013-2016) and EASME ArcheoSub (2017-2018), led by University of Rome La Sapienza and WSense srl, respectively. In 2016 he has also been hired by the Italian Government to lead the Communication office of the prestigious National Committee for Biosafety, Biotechnologies and Life Sciences. Since 2017 Marco Merola has launched a science journalism project related to climate change topics in collaboration with the Venice Centre for Climate Studies. Such project, titled “Adaptation”, aims at describing the way humans are already adapting to climate change, either from a social or technological perspective.

Carla Fabiana Chiasserini, Professor at Politecnico di Torino (Panelist) – “Connected cars”

Carla Fabiana Chiasserini received her Laurea Degree (110/110 summa cum laude) in Electronic Engineering from the University of Florence in 1996, and her Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering and Telecommunications from Politecnico di Torino in 2000.Since 2000, she has been with the Electronics and Telecommunications Department at Politecnico di Torino, where she is currently Full Professor. Before her current appointment, she worked at the Politecnico di Torino under a Cselt (now TELECOM ITALIA) grant on wireless ATM networks (1996), as an Assistant Professor (2000-2006), and as an Associate Professor (2006-2018). From 1998 till 2003, she did research work at the Center for Wireless Communications and at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology,University of California at San Diego. In 2012 and 2016, she was a visiting professor at Monash University (Australia). She is an IEEE Fellow (class of 2018) and she is in the list of top Italian scientists kept by VIAAcademy. Her teaching duties at Politecnico di Torino include graduate-level courses on wireless communications and advanced topics on wireless networks. From 2012 till 2018, she has been the Coordinator of the Master Program in Communications and Computer Engineering at Politecnico di Torino. Since March 2018, she is the Rector’s Delegate for Alumni and Career Orientation.

Annalisa Sabatelli, Lead Trim Engineer, Pininfarina (Panelist) – “Womencourage”

Annalisa Sabatelli is Lead of ghe E/E Department at Pininfarina Engineering. She achieved the Master degree in Industrial Engineering at Politecnico di Milano and then joined FCA where she started working in the automotive field as junior Integrations specialist. In the ten years she has spent in the FCA Integrations Department her role grew from specialist to Project Integration Leader maturing a strong and wide experience in several areas of the vehicle. She had the opportunity to give her contribution to the development of all FCA models working both in Turin and in Detroit. In 2017 she got the Project Management Professional Certification from the Project Management Institute, one of the most important certification in project management. In 2018 she has joined Pininfarina E/E Department. Currently she manages projects regarding connected cars, HMI, autonomous driving, electric mobility and shared mobility through concept studies and running prototypes of BEV. To follow her strong passion in technologies, in 2017 she has started a new study course and she is now close to get the bachelor degree in Computer Science at the Università degli studi di Torino.

Chiara Petrioli, Professor at University of Rome La Sapienza (Panelist) – “IOT 4 smarter cities. When women creativity meets technology”

Chiara Petrioli is professor of Computer Science, director of the Sensor Networks and Embedded Systems laboratory (SENSES lab) in the department of Computer Science of the University of Rome “La Sapienza.” She also leads the Cyber Physical System lab of “La Sapienza” center for Cyber Intelligence and Information Security, and is a founding partner of “La Sapienza” spinoff WSENSE S.r.l. a fast scaling up start up in the area of IoT. She has been member of the academic senate and chair of the PhD program in Computer Science at La Sapienza. Professor Petrioli research interests concern the design and optimization of future wireless, embedded, IoT and cyber physical systems. Prof. Petrioli is chair of the steering committee of IEEE SECON and general chair of ACM MobiHoc 2019, was program co-chair of IEEE INFOCOM 2016 and general chair of ACM SenSys 2013. She has been member of the steering committee and associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, member of the steering committee of ACM SenSys, associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, member of the executive committee of ACM SIGMOBILE, associate editor of Elsevier Computer Communications, guest editor of special issues for IEEE Access, Elsevier Ad Hoc Networks, Elsevier Physical Communications, and has been program co-chair of leading conferences in the field, such as ACM MobiCom and IEEE SECON. She is currently an elected member of the ACM Europe Council. Prof. Petrioli has published over a hundred and fifty papers in prominent international journals and conferences (over 6000 citations; h-index 42). She has been the PI of over twenty national and international research projects, serving as coordinator of three EC projects (FP7 projects GENESI and SUNRISE, EASME ArcheoSub) highlighted as success stories on the Digital Agenda of Europe and featured by international mass media including RAI SuperQuark and Presa Diretta, Wired USA, the Guardian, Bild magazine, and National Geographics. Her research has resulted in international patents and in award-winning innovative technologies. She is a pioneer of the Internet of Underwater Things, an area on which she has led the development of breakthrough technologies listed in the NT100 Top “Social Global Techs changing our lives 2016.” Prof. Petrioli was a Fulbright scholar and is one of the Inspiring 50 2018, top women in technology.

Angela Wei, Sustainability Manager Accenture Strategy (Panelist) – “Circular cities. How to apply circular economy in the urban context”

Angela Wei is a Manager at Accenture Strategy Sustainability Services in Italy. With a Master of Science in Economics & Management of Public Administrations & International Organizations, and 5+ years of professional experience across Europe and the Middle East, Angela has been working on Sustainability and Circular Economy topics with a focus on the Utility and Banking sectors. Within Accenture Strategy, she also co-authored the article “Smart cities and urban competitiveness: opportunities generated by the Internet of Things” published by Harvard Business Review in 2016 and supported Expo Milano 2015 achieve its ambition of becoming the most sustainable mega-event while boosting the transition towards Smart Cities.

Paola Castellacci, Head of Customer Experience Division of Var Group (Panelist) – “Inspiring innovation”

Paola Castellacci is Responsible of the Customer Experience Division of Var Group that develops strategies and projects based on new communication channels and digital media belonging to Var Group, leader in the information technology sector in Italy with over 343 million euros and 1,900 employees. After graduating in electronic engineering, she continued her training acquiring various technical certifications, and entered the software design laboratory of the SeSa Group as a programmer analyst and then as an analyst and project manager. In September 2011 she founded and is Chief Executive Officer of VAR Group Digital, a company that promotes the digital transformation of companies with an integrated offer of Digital Strategy, Data & Technology, E-Commerce, Agency Services and Media & Advertising. She deals with the institutional relations of the Group, holding various roles both at national level in Assinform, the Italian Association for Information Technology, and territorial in Confindustria Florence, where she was also vice president with powers of innovation, research, training and technology transfer.Since June 2014 he has been a member of the Florence Chamber of Commerce Council with responsibility for industry. Since July 2015 she has been a member of the UniCredit Territorial Council in the Center-North region. Since 2018 she has expanded the strategic offer of VAR Group Digital by creating a team dedicated to services on the Alibaba ecosystem platforms, with the aim of supporting the internationalization of businesses through online channels. She is a volunteer in the ValoreD “Inspiring Girls” project, as a testimonial in the project against stereotypes about women and to encourage girls towards the Stem subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Panel 2: Internet of Underwater Things

When: September 18^th, Wednesday, h 15:00-16.00

Where: Auditorium

Abstract: The Internet of Underwater Things: A whole New World

Oceans and the seas have always fascinated humankind. From Jules Vernes to Jaques Custeau the imagination of forward-looking innovators, writers and explorers have been often attracted by the undersea world, those two third of our planet covered by water that we know less than far away planets such as Mars. These environments are so linked to our future that we can no longer cope with the little available information on their status, as marine and ocean environments are providing food for a growing human kind, the natural resources for our economy, and keep serving a crucial role in the planet equilibrium. Motivated by this vision a group of passionate researchers have started developing what we call the Internet of Underwater Things: how to bring sensing and robotic technologies to the underwater world in order to allow to monitor and sustainably exploit these environments. In this panel, we will dig into the fascinating underwater world and discuss the current challenges and the opportunity brought by the introduction of novel technologies. The panel will feature Chiara Petrioli, WSense Director, one of the innovators in the field of Internet of Underwater Things, Andrea Caiti, ISME, one of the premier European experts on underwater robotics, Beatrice Ioannilli, Eni Progetti, who will provide the vision of one of the leading stakeholder companies in the field, as well as experts in the field of oceanology. The panel will be coordinated by Marco Merola, science journalist, and will have the form of TED-style talks, interviews, followed by Q&A with the audience.

Panel Coordinator: Marco Merola, journalist

Panelists:

Chiara Petrioli, University of Rome La Sapienza and WSense Director
Andrea Caiti, ISME and University of Pisa
Beatrice Ioannilli, EniProgetti
Chiara Lombardi, ENEA – Marine Environment Research Centre of Santa Teresa

Short bio:

Marco Merola, journalist (Panel moderator)

Marco Merola was born in Naples in 1974 and became a professional journalist in 1998. Since then, he has been extensively working on science and science communication, with a particular focus on repercussions of new technologies in the global economy. He has been author of reportages for several international magazines (GEO, National Geographic, Focus, BBC Science, Sciences et Avenir, Muy Interesante, Illustreret Videnskab and italian weekly magazines SETTE of Il Corriere della sera and Venerdì of La Repubblica). As a freelance journalist Merola has had the opportunity to extensively travel in Europe, Middle East, South America and Africa describing how technology can support growth of poor countries and ease the life of the modern man. He has served as Communication manager for successful European projects such as FP7 SUNRISE (2013-2016) and EASME ArcheoSub (2017-2018), led by University of Rome La Sapienza and WSense srl, respectively. In 2016 he has also been hired by the Italian Government to lead the Communication office of the prestigious National Committee for Biosafety, Biotechnologies and Life Sciences. Since 2017 Marco Merola has launched a science journalism project related to climate change topics in collaboration with the Venice Centre for Climate Studies. Such project, titled “Adaptation”, aims at describing the way humans are already adapting to climate change, either from a social or technological perspective.

Chiara Petrioli, Professor at University of Rome La Sapienza (Panelist)

Andrea Caiti, ISME and University of Pisa (Panelist)

Andrea Caiti was born in Naples in 1963. He obtained the Master Degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Genova in 1988. Since 2007 he is Full Professor of Automatica (Systems and Control) at the University of Pisa, Italy. Before, he has been a staff Scientist at the NATO SACLANT Undersea Res. Ctr. (currently CMRE), La Spezia, Italy (1989-94), Adjunct Professor at the University of Genova (1995-96), Assistant Professor at the University of Pisa (1996-98) and Associate professor at the Universities of Siena (1998-01) and Pisa (2001-07). He is coordinator of the Master Degree course in Robotics and Automation Engineering at the University of Pisa since 2015. Since 2018 he is coordinator of the Ph.D. course in Smart Industry, jointly held by the Universities of Pisa, Florence and Siena. He has been the coordinator of the Ph.D. Programme in Automation Robotics and Bioengineering of the University of Pisa from 2008 until 2015. In the period 2001-08 he has been Director of the Italian Interuniversity Research Centre on Integrated Systems for the Marine Environment (ISME). Since November 1, 2015 to January 2017 he has been Director of Centro “E.Piaggio”, University of Pisa. Andrea Caiti scientific interests are in the field of marine robotics and underwater acoustics, identification and estimation of nonlinear systems, system theory. He is/has been responsible of several research projects funded by the European Union or by National Agencies. He has edited 5 research books, and he has published more than 100 refereed papers in international journals or as book chapters, and more than 200 papers in conference proceedings. He is Fellow of IEEE, participating in the Control System, Oceanic Engineering and Robotics&Automation Societies.

Beatrice Ioannilli, EniProgetti (Panelist)

Beatrice Ioannilli (MEng) is a mechanical engineer in the Subsea Technologies Department of EniProgetti. Since joining EniProgetti, Beatrice has worked on a variety of onshore and offshore projects around the world as part of the engineering team. She is leading the digitalisation process to introduce the digital approach to engineering project development in EniProgetti. The role involved assessing areas of improvement in the current way of working and identifying a digital solution that met the Eni requirements. The digital solution is now to be customised and integrated to the Eni systems to make full use of it. She strongly believes that digital technologies will help to deliver safer, more efficient and cost effective solutions for the energy industry.

Chiara Lombardi, ENEA – Marine Environment Research Centre of Santa Teresa (Panelist)

Chiara Lombardi, researcher working at the Marine Environment Research Centre of Santa Teresa (La Spezia-I) of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energies and Sustainable Development ENEA. I took my PhD in Experimental Ecology in 2008 at the University of Pavia but developing parts of my research in cooperation with few international institutes such as The Natural History Museum of London (palaeo and biomineralization studies), the Marine Biological Association of UK (marine ecology) and the University of Aberystwyth (Wales)(molecular ecology). My main research focus are plastic and adaptive responses of marine organisms, worldwide distributed, able to form 3D underwater architectures (i.e. bioconstructional organisms) threaten by Climate Change. These organisms, marine invertebrates and coralline algae, provide Ecosystem Services but their role and function are still poorly known. As experimental Marine Ecologist, I apply experimental approaches in natural and controlled conditions to study physiological responses of these peculiar ecosystems, under current and future conditions. I do my research activities in the Mediterranean Sea and the South Pole (Ross Sea) where these organisms are abundant, quite adapted but seriously at risk due to the fast climate change occurring in these areas. Currently involved in two and leading one Antarctic projects, funded by PNRA (Italian National Program for Antarctic Research), we are studying the importance of these organisms as proxies of climate change also for palaeo-reconstructions. In the Mediterranean Sea, we are doing long term monitoring linking species responses to environmental conditions (temperature, pH, oxygen, carbonate chemistry,…) on small scales. I authored and co-authored more than 50 publications, I regularly act as reviewer for international Scientific Journals and as Expert Reviewer for the I PCC. Part of my work is also dedicated to University trainings, I supervise students, Erasmus, and coordinate different training programs such as Summer Schools, Annual in Field Expert Trainings and Lectures in cooperation with Marine Protected Areas (i.e. Isole Pelagie, Cinque Terre), Universities (i.e. University of Pavia, University of Portsmouth, University of Ghent) and International Organizations (i.e. Ocean Acidification- International Coordination Centre (OA- ICC), MARES- Doctoral School in Ecosystem Health and Conservation). Also, dissemination is a key part of my work, thus I take part to outreach events for citizens such as Seminar, Conferences, TV and Radio Show as well as practical activities such as Diving or Snorkeling Events for data collection, in cooperation with national and international organizations.