The focus of the prestigious international conference that promotes innovation will be on people and territories. UniTrento was selected to host the event for its reputation as a place where research, education and relations with the business world are guided by innovation. Nine of the University's departments and centres are involved in the interdisciplinary conference. From the food of the future to sustainable mobility: innovation is crucial to make responsible choices
Replacing obsolete systems, introducing new ways of doing things, thinking outside the box, changing things to improve everyone's life: that is "innovation". The strategic plans and development programs of private companies and public institutions continuously mention innovation. But what does innovation actually mean? And how can we put theory into practice, beyond the slogans?
The R&D Management Conference, the most important European conference on innovation that, for the first time, is taking place in Trento, will try to answer these questions. More than 450 participants will attend this edition, that will be held until 13 July at Palazzo Prodi in Trento. The conference is organized by the University of Trento in collaboration with Radma, the British foundation that manages the Conference's format and promotes one of the most important scientific journals of the sector, R&D Management. Every year, this international event brings together those who have an interest in innovation in a cross sector perspective. "Yes, because innovation is cross-sectoral, just like this conference.
Innovation is not only about economics and business management, information technology, engineering and biotechnology. The humanities, law and sociology also have research areas that can have a profound impact on our lives where innovation plays a key role", explains Alberto Nucciarelli, professor of the Department of Economics and Management of UniTrento and director of the conference.
The decision to hold the conference on innovation in Trento is not accidental: "Trento and its territory, with the University as a driving force, have built a reputation as a state-of-the-art community that is able to benefit from the opportunities offered by technological development, while maintaining sustainability and the improvement of the quality of life at the centre of attention. This is the approach that we have followed for the R&D conference that, in this UniTrento edition, will focus on innovation for people and territories".
This outline will provide the framework for the major issues that will be discussed on a global and a regional dimension: global warming, inequality in access to resources and rights; the recovery from the pandemic; the management of an increasingly pervasive technological development.
The focus of the conference will be on how innovation can be part of every aspect of people's lives: "Innovating for the people means innovation must improve everyone's life. But there’s more than this. It also means creating the conditions so that everyone can choose to be sustainable without having to give up on anything, without spending more - continues Nucciarelli. To achieve this goal, the scientific community, together with institutions and businesses, must guarantee security, promote information, support the affordability of sustainable choices, anticipate and manage the implications of the technological transition, keep in mind the objective of a significant improvement of the quality life and for all, protect the environment from the impact of economic and social choices. In other words, we must collaborate to give the next generations a healthier planet and a better society".
Three plenary sessions
While the activities for doctoral students from all over the world were concentrated in the weekend, the main events of the conference started on Monday, 11 July, with the start of plenary sessions at Palazzo Prodi in Trento.
The first plenary session focused on innovation for people and in particular on the biomedical sector, with speakers talking about vaccines and drugs. Among the other topics discussed were the future of food, and in particular the problem of how to ensure equitable access to food resources, how to reduce the impact of food production on the environment and how to find new food products, for example through substitute foods such as lab-grown meat.
The focus of the second session, on 12 July, will be innovation for the territories. The main topics here are territorial development, the impact of economic investments on the environment and the benefits for communities. But the speakers will also discuss digitization, local leadership, the impact of the technological transition on the territories, the development of innovation clusters, education, the importance of inclusion and diversity for innovation processes. Leading international experts in entrepreneurship and regional economics will participate in this session as guest speakers.
To conclude, sustainable mobility will be the main theme of Wednesday's plenary session, on 13 July, that will put the relationship between people and territories at the centre stage. Of all the sessions, this one is where the business world is more involved, where the academic and scientific community will discuss with the representatives of some important companies that will present case studies and provide topics for discussion. Alperia, Autostrada del Brennero Spa, Gruppo Dolomiti Energia and Cassa centrale Raiffaisen will attend.
A number of parallel sessions will complete the programme of the R&D Conference, to explore some topics in more depth with projects and round tables. The 420 research papers received have been organized in 38 lines of discussion grouped in these four macro-areas are: Platforms and ecosystems; Innovation and digital transformation; People and territories; Entrepreneurship and SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises).