2021 | 6th INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGIES FOR SOCIETY & INDUSTRY (RTSI)

2021 | 6th INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGIES FOR SOCIETY & INDUSTRY (RTSI)

2021 September 06 – 09
Location: Virtual

The theme of RTSI 2021 is innovation for a smart world.

Without question, innovation in electrical, electronic, and information science and engineering has strongly transformed society in recent decades, which relates to the main goal of RTSI, which is to address these challenges and to foster excellence in technological innovation.

RTSI includes panels, technical sessions, tutorials, special events, and exhibitions, as reported in detail in the technical program. In particular, the technical sessions are organized into three main tracks of great interest and relevance: Smart Energy, Smart Industry, and Smart Communities. Read More about all of the tracks.

Call for Best Entrepreneurship Activity Pitch Presentation

This call is devoted to young Startups (TRL 1-3) and entrepreneurs to showcase successful entrepreneurship ideas in the field of interest of IEEE.

The competitors shall prepare a  5 minutes video: “My entrepreneurship idea in 5 minutes” in which will present their entrepreneurship idea and activity using slides, pictures, photos, graphics, lab demo, etc., to describe in the most convincing and attractive way their innovative idea, achievements, and field of application.

The participants at the IEEE RTSI START-UP AND ENTREPRENEUR VIDEO EVENT will be able to vote for their favorite video using a special application (i.e., Mentimeter) on their smartphones.

The competition will take place during IEEE RTSI 2021 “electronic virtual conference” (on September 6, 2021) and the participation is free of charge. See the program schedule on the web page of the conference to know the exact time. More details about: the platform to be used for the “live streaming event” and how to access, will be available on the conference web and sent to the video authors.

All competitors will receive a participation certificate and the best video will be awarded a customized IEEE certificate.

Entrepreneurs willing to participate in this competition shall send an e-mail to this address: rtsi2021@ieeesezioneitalia.it no later than 25 July 2021.

In the subject of the e-mail, the participant in this competition should write: Best Entrepreneurship Activity Pitch Presentation – name surname

In the text of the e-mail the participant shall include the following info:

• title of the video
• name and affiliation of the author
• e-mail of the author.

Details about uploading procedures will be sent to participants by e-mail.  The deadline for the submission of the video is 10 August 2021. All videos shall have MP4 format, dimensions not larger than 100 MB and they shall not be longer than 5 minutes. A special commission will select the best videos (maximum 16 videos) that will be presented and voted by participants to the event.

All videos will be uploaded on the IEEE Italy Section web and media (depending on author permission.) Read More.

Special Meeting on Innovative Startups and Entrepreneurs
6 September 2021 – live video streaming

Objective

This special meeting is structured in two panels dedicated to:

– entrepreneurship financial and institutional supports, the importance of ethics in technology

– some examples of successful startups.

The first panel will focus on entrepreneurship supports for success. Funding, organization, management, business strategies and planning, incubators, guidance, mentorship, and institutional supports will be discussed. A presentation of the recent advancement in the P7000 standard will describe the process for addressing ethical concerns during system design.

The second panel will present some examples of successful and innovative startups with an accent on challenges during a time of pandemic and with illustrations of best practices, problems encountered, and solutions.

Program

14:20 – 14:30 – Welcome to participants – Tiziana Tambosso – IEEE Italy Section Entrepreneurship Committee & Vincenzo Piuri – IEEE R8 Director-Elect

Panel 1: Entrepreneurship Supports

Moderators: Vincenzo Piuri and Tiziana Tambosso

14:30 – 14:45 – Joanne Wong – IEEE Entrepreneurship
IEEE programs to support entrepreneurship

• The mission of IEEE Entrepreneurship is to foster entrepreneurial engineering and technological innovation for the benefit of humanity. This presentation will cover IEEE Entrepreneurship programs that support engineer entrepreneurs from Ideation to Commercialization. These programs include – Powered by IEEE, Founder Office Hours, Demystifying Series, etc. In 2022, IEEE Entrepreneurship will be adding new programs to support deep tech startups and women entrepreneurs.

14:45 – 15:00 – Giulia Zanotti – Invitalia
Government funding and support services for startups in Italy

• Invitalia’s, the National Development Agency, mission is to boost the country’s economic growth, focusing on strategic sectors for development and employment. It is committed to supporting entrepreneurship and innovation as key drivers for economic growth. There is a wide range of funding schemes to address the different needs of entrepreneurs. Invitalia offers free support, advice, and guidance to access funds, strengthen entrepreneurship skills and networking. The presentation will cover:
  • Smart&Start Italia: the financial scheme for innovative and technological startups
  • Smart Money: grants for pre-seed and seed startups
  • ON- Oltre Nuove Imprese a Tasso Zero: loans and grants for new businesses founded by young / women entrepreneurs

15:00 – 15:15 – Angelo Giuliana – Meditech Competence Center
How Competence Centers can sustain SMES and startups

• The presentation will address how a Competence Center can support the digital growth of the Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and startups through specific business support programs helping them in their digital maturity path; providing digital instruments, enabling technologies, and fab-lab facilities, without forgetting the most appropriate financial support to sustain their digitalization progress.

15:15 – 15:30 – Filippo Ammirati, ENEA Direzione Innovazione e Sviluppo – Divisione Sviluppo Tecnologico
European Programs to support sustainable transition of SMEs

• The presentation will illustrate the opportunities to foster innovation and sustainable transition of European Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups present in the European Green Deal and the new “HEU” research and development program to promote the sustainable transition of SMEs.           

15:30 – 15:45 – Roberto Della Marina – Venture Factory
Startup and Venture Capital: fostering innovation

• The presentation will address the financing of the initial stages of a company with strong innovation content: equity-based financing vs. debit will be addressed in the proper context and market, features and “behind the scene” suggestions be given. A glance at the venture capital market in the EU and US will wrap up the presentation.

15:45 – 16:00 – Ali Hessami, Vega Systems – Ethical Considerations in System Design
Ethical Considerations in System Design

• This presentation will cover the latest advances on technology ethics and the IEEE SA P7000 standard under development as a basis for raising awareness and providing a systematic framework for the innovators, researchers, and technologists as well as small and large enterprises involved in technology innovation and development. The main focus is on Autonomous and Algorithmic Decision Making Systems.

16:00 – 16:15 – John Matogo & Mohammad Zaidan – IEEE R8 Action for Industry & IEEE R8 Entrepreneurship Initiative
R8 Programs for entrepreneurship

• The presentation will give an overview of the Action for Industry Committee and its objectives, including activities that support entrepreneurship.
  • Summary of the IEEE Action for Industry (AfI) Objectives.
  • What AfI is doing to support entrepreneurship & innovation.
  • Opportunities for collaboration

• The presentation will cover an overview of the IEEE R8 Entrepreneurship Initiative including, our goals and flagship projects for entrepreneurs in the region. 

  • Who we are and our goals.

  • Flagship projects & initiatives.
    • Talkspreneur: series of talks by successful entrepreneurs and founders in the region. As entrepreneurs, you can benefit by accessing the expertise of others or sharing yours with a wider audience.
    • IEEE Entrepreneurship Week: successful editions in 2019 and 2020, the focus being on sparking innovation and entrepreneurship in the region. The 2021 edition offers participation via acting as an ambassador and or organizing local entrepreneurship events.
    • IEEE Pitch Competition: the highest-scoring participants throughout Entrepreneurship Week compete for the regional title, and the victors will receive support to attend any major entrepreneurship pitch event like WebSummit. The first edition took place in 2020 and the 2021 edition is coming up. 
    • Mentorship: IEEE Entrepreneurship started the Founder Office Hours and it is an amazing opportunity to get that extra boost for your startup.

• • Summary and future objectives.

16:15 – 16:35 – Q&A time

Ten-minute break

Panel 2: Successful Startups

Moderator: Roberta Albanese – Business / Startup Consultant

16:50 – 17:00 – Flavio Farroni, CEO – Megaride

17:00 – 17:10 – Antonio Caraviello, CEO – Sophia High Tech

17:10 – 17:20 – Domenico De Luca, CEO – Tolemaica

17:20 – 17:30 – David Cezon, CEO –  Imok

17:30 – 17:40 – Ernest Vlacic, Founder – Danieli Systec

17:40 – 18:00 – Q&A