BRAINS MEET DIGITAL ENTERPRISES is an event promoted in the schedule of the tenth edition of DIGITAL MEET 2022 by the University of Padua, through its Human Inspired Technologies Research Center, in partnership this year with the National Technology Cluster SMILE and the European Digital Innovation Hub DANTE. During the event, sponsored by the Departments of Psychology and the ICT4SSL Regional Innovation Network, PhD students from the university will present the research projects they are working on. Up for grabs are five scholarships funded by as many leading companies in the “digital” sector. They will be judged by a committee composed of academics, entrepreneurs, public administration stakeholders, and civil society representatives.

The theme is digital transition and its impact on people’s lives and the sustainability of living environments. The ability of “digital” to revolutionize all areas of knowledge, research, and socio-economic development has reached impressive levels. No discipline has escaped the technical transformations and the effects they generate. This is a chain reaction that deeply and radically involves people, organizations, and entire societies with their material and immaterial infrastructures. It is a revolution that transforms our living and working spaces, cities, and nature as a whole. Scientific research must govern and shape these processes in every possible field, ensuring that every project and future product places people and the environment, both natural and built, at its core. Digital technology can enhance and ensure inclusion, culture, social development, and environmental sustainability, but it must be designed and conceived to do so. The sustainability of our future depends on this, and therefore every technological innovation can no longer be considered as such if it does not include these considerations from the initial idea and throughout the entire design and development process. To achieve this, it is necessary to grow, invent new methods and approaches, and above all develop interdisciplinary skills that bring together seemingly distant themes and approaches. For this reason, we have invited our youngest researchers in training, the PhD students from all the university’s schools, to present their ideas as long as they broadly encompass the theme of digital, without imposing disciplinary constraints.

The evening will feature showcases and live demos of many prototypes, from virtual or augmented environments to next-generation robots, 3D cinema, cutting-edge interfaces, AI solutions, and many other interesting “inventions” that participants can interact with. The Award Ceremony for the five winners will take place around 9:30 PM, after the refreshments and night-time guided tours offered to all participants.

Entrance is free upon registration until all available seats are filled.