RomeCup 2024: Day one at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”
RomeCup 2024, which opened today with an institutional conference moderated by Journalist Riccardo Luna, is developed by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale and organised with the GEDI Publishing Group and Italian Tech and promoted in collaboration with the University of Rome “Tor Vergata.” Today and tomorrow activities will be held at the Engineering Macro Area (Edificio della didattica) and at the Rome Campidoglio (Sala Esedra, Musei Capitolini), and on Friday, March 22 at the Campidoglio (Laudato Sii and Protomoteca Halls) for the event on technological innovation, based on AI and robotic solutions, to promote holistic sustainability and address the environmental, social, and economic challenges in an integrated manner, whilst focusing on individuals.
Speakers included Alessio Butti, Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers for Innovation; Giorgio Metta, Scientific Director, Italian Technology Institute; Roberto Cingolani, CEO and Director General, Leonardo Spa; Vincenzo Esposito, CEO, Microsoft Italia; Mario Sturion, Managing Director, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine Italia; Carla Masperi, CEO, SAP Italia; Alessandra Poggiani, Director General, CINECA, and Riccardo Luna, conductor and Director, Italian Tech.
Alessio Butti, Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers for Innovation: “The Italian pursuit of artificial intelligence is based on research centres and universities. The Government's attention is very strong, so much so that an ad hoc bill has been announced, with a significant debate in Parliament. In fact, we believe that artificial intelligence has no political colour and must be at the service of mankind, a big sister who works to improve the quality of our lives.”
Roberto Cingolani, CEO and Director General, Leonardo Spa: “Over the next five years, we intend to hire about 26,000 people, most of whom have a background in STEM disciplines. However, we have trouble finding these profiles, which is why we believe that human capital remains the true irreplaceable resource, while security, including digital, is a fundamental aspect. We must educate the new generations to the conscious use of technology.”
Vincenzo Esposito, CEO, Microsoft Italia: “We are very happy to participate in RomeCup 2024 with a hackathon – ChatSPOT: AI in social advertising – that will allow 100 young men and women to experiment with generative AI. This new technology provides great advantages and can help people to be more productive and creative, especially the new generations. As with any epochal transformation, skills and awareness play a fundamental role. We have been working with Fondazione Mondo Digitale on this for years. Through Ital.IA Lab, of which this initiative is part, we want to promote a conscious and responsible use of generative AI so that everyone can leverage the opportunities it is able to generate.”
Mirta Michilli, Director General, Fondazione Mondo Digitale: “RomeCup, a unique formula worldwide, provides an intense and immersive experience that allows young people of all ages to explore the frontiers of technological development, reflect on the challenges at stake, and participate, alongside experts, in a debate that, in a democratic knowledge society, must always be open and shared. This event, which the Fondazione Mondo Digitale has been promoting for seventeen years in partnership with universities, research centres, companies, and institutions, is also a great orientation laboratory for different age groups: young men and women collaborate, share knowledge and skills, and prepare themselves to be actors of change with conscious personal and professional choices for their future. They learn to collaborate well together.
Alfonso Molina, Scientific Director, Fondazione Mondo Digitale: “For 17 years, RomeCup has been an event supporting our youth’s talent and skills to enable their professional future. Without collective action, a countrywide alliance, we run the risk of not putting young people, work ,and responsible innovation at the centre of technological progress. This is why we have launched a "Manifesto for Collective Action on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics" as a call to action, to join forces, work together, and generate a positive innovative force that will leave no one behind.”
Carla Masperi, CEO, SAP Italia: “For a business, working with its ecosystem, being open and transparent, is key to solving its biggest challenges. It's not just about using innovative technology, but about creating real connections. As AI evolves, Sap's commitment to a responsible and inclusive future shows the power of teamwork to make a difference. And the Fondazione Mondo Digitale Manifesto we signed today is proof of this. The new frontier is called Generative AI and there is one key area in which its positive impact has yet to be fully developed. If we apply generative AI to the way we run a business – as a tool to transform organizations, supply chains, and entire industries – while helping new generations develop the right skills, we will accelerate the evolution of the Italian economy towards a more sustainable, resilient, and fair economy.”
Mario Sturion, Managing Director, J&J Innovative Medicine Italia emphasised the value of health and progress in life sciences: “Innovation is the value that guides our everyday actions. At Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, we work to pave the way for the medicine of tomorrow, developing revolutionary treatments that will transform the future of health, and with which we tackle some of the most complex diseases in various therapeutic areas. In 2023, we invested US$15 billion worldwide in the research and development of new treatments. For us, innovating means continuing to improve people's life prospects and ensuring that advances in science and medicine reach everyone.”
Giorgio Metta, Scientific Director, Italian Technology Institute: “Artificial intelligence is a transversal technology, not only because it will change human activities in this century, but alos because we can use it in every production sector. It must be put at the service of experimental sciences as a great accelerator for scientific research.”
Nathan Levialdi Ghiron, Rector, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”: “It is very interesting that since 2017 Rome Cup has been hosted by universities, while previously it took place in schools. Roma Tor Vergata was the first university to host it. A truly stimulating initiative that allows students to be at the centre of activities concerning robotics and sustainability, in general terms. A way for youth to see a cross-section of this world, but also to discover their own inclinations and inspirations, understanding that the skills that are truly useful for problem solving are often found at the boundaries of disciplines, and are not completely identifiable within of a specific area. Above all, today is dedicated to universities, a CRUI project to open universities to the community and that Roma Tor Vergata has joined by hosting the most significant event that unites students, robotics, and artificial intelligence.”
Alessandra Poggiani, Director General, Cineca: “Italy is a leader in terms of infrastructure. It has an important supercomputing network, which is sixth worldwide. AI is not intelligent; it appears so because it is trained by humans. An infrastructure of this type poses many challenges, foremost that of skills and sustainability.”
Moreover, there was the presentation of the Manifesto for Collective Action on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, an invitation to form a strategic alliance and work together on 10 concrete actions that will allow our country to advance towards a form of development based on skills and youth, so not to create further inequality, exclusion, and poverty. You can undersign the manifesto by sending an e-mail to manifesto@mondodigitale.org.
The day continues with the meeting on “The Challenges of Holistic Sustainability” with Ross D. King, Professor of Machine Intelligence at the Chalmers University of Technology, and one of the most important experts of machine learning; Marco Faimali, CNR, and Loredana Zollo, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome. Moreover, there will be university orientation sessions, and competitions for the 17th International “City of Rome” Robotics Trophy, the Robotic Arm Challenge, and SuperTeam (for the first time).
The three floors of the Engineering Macro Area will host a showcase area with prototypes and applications developed by schools of all levels from all over Italy, universities, research institutions, and start-ups. And there will also be various creative contests with schools and universities, as well as educational robotics labs for students and teachers.
