Report on the second day of RomeCup 2025
The second day of the 18th edition of RomeCup, the event promoted by Fondazione Mondo Digitale ETS dedicated to the encounter between artificial intelligence, robotics and young talents, continues with robotics competitions and hackathons between students. Today, in the meeting ‘Fast Forward AI: from vision to action’, moderated by Riccardo Luna, one year after the launch of the ‘Manifesto for collective action on AI and robotics’, the signatories produced keynotes for the future of technology with ethical and social insights. In the evening, the 11 finalists of the ‘Most Promising Researcher in Robotics & AI’ will present their research projects at a special event in the Sala Esedra of the Capitoline Museums, moderated by journalist Paolo Ottolina (9 p.m.). The event continues tomorrow morning at the Campidoglio with the robotics competition finals and awards ceremony with Mayor Roberto Gualtieri (9 May from 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.). With over 4,000 participants, more than 100 teams competing in robotics competitions, 27 teams involved in creative contests with 10 Italian universities, 31 university orientation talks, 300 applications for the Research Award dedicated to young researchers and 35 organisations with innovative prototypes, RomeCup 2025 confirms its status as the largest Italian event dedicated to young people on these crucial issues for the future and growth of our country.
RomeCup 2025 is also a challenge between young talents: the day just ended was a great stimulus for the students who participated with prototypes, applications and projects, developed throughout the school year, in competitions on the themes of robotics and AI. In particular, schools from all over Italy presented robotic applications in the various categories of the creative contests, a well-established format that encourages interaction between secondary schools and universities, promoting collaborative work between students and academic teams [see the news item The winners of the creative contests].
In addition, at the ‘Fast Forward AI: from vision to action’ event, experts, academics, companies, policy makers and young talents got involved in transforming a shared vision of artificial intelligence and robotics into concrete solutions for the future. The participants, divided into thematic working groups, explored crucial issues, ranging from solutions for inclusive education to the creation of opportunities for economic and social growth. Each group presented a strategic pitch and contributed to the creation of the AI Strategy Wall, a roadmap created in real time using artificial intelligence, which summarises the main proposals that emerged. The feedback from the working groups shed light on the development objectives and actions needed to turn the Manifesto for Collective Action on AI and Robotics into reality [see the news item RomeCup 2025, ‘Fast Forward AI: from vision to action’].
Several final hackathons, planned as part of the projects promoted by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale ETS throughout the year, are held during the RomeCup. For ‘Job Digital Lab’, in collaboration with ING Italia, over 120 students from eight secondary schools, divided into 33 teams, competed in the morning in the final ‘ethical hacking’ competition ‘Digital Superheroes’. For two hours, participants immersed themselves in cybersecurity puzzles, putting the skills they had acquired during the training course to the test. The challenge was won by Team Pachito from the IIS Pacinotti school in Fondi (LT) [read the news item Digital Superheroes].
The winner of the HealthBot challenge, part of the ‘Fattore J’ project in collaboration with Johnson&Johnson, was the team from IIS Don Milani Da Vinci in Bari with the AICare 4 You project, an innovative artificial intelligence designed to support people with dementia and caregivers, offering smart reminders, cognitive stimulation, personalised clinical reports and continuous monitoring through NLP, machine learning and IoT devices [read the news item HealthBot 2025, young innovators for health].
We would like to remind students of the event with illustrator and visual storyteller Fernando Cobelo, discovering how to use creativity and artificial intelligence with awareness, an initiative carried out as part of the ‘Roll Cloud. Working on the cloud’ project, in collaboration with Opening Future, a joint project by Google Cloud, Intesa Sanpaolo and TIM Enterprise.
There was also a preview of Pathway Companion, the learning platform equipped with intelligent tutoring to support caregivers (teachers, parents and other support figures) and children and young people with special educational needs, in collaboration with Google.org, Fondazione Don Gnocchi, IT Logix and Roma Tre University [watch the interview with Furio Gramatica, Fondazione Don Gnocchi].
Everything is ready for the special evening dedicated to the ‘Most Promising Researcher in Robotics and AI’ award: now in its third edition, the award grants €20,000 to the best emerging talent (researchers, PhD students) in the field of robotics and AI. With almost 300 applications from over 50 national institutions, the award ceremony will take place today in the evocative Sala Esedra of the Capitoline Museums (moderated by Paolo Ottolina, 9 p.m.).
In the round table discussion ‘Industry 5.0 as an opportunity for human development’, organised by the Department of Civil Engineering, Computer Science and Aeronautical Technologies of the Roma Tre University, different perspectives from the humanities and the hard sciences will be compared in order to develop new models of continuous training and the conscious use of technologies and resources to address the challenges posed by the geopolitical situation and climate change.
