Following the success of the mission led by Lazio’s President, Nicola Zingaretti at the beginning of March, the Region’s activities at Expo 2020 Dubai will continue up to the close of the Emirati Expo. More specifically, three thematic forums aim to transfer to the UAE some of Lazio’s areas of specialization and innovation for an international debate.
Yesterday afternoon, at the Amphitheater of the Italy Pavilion, Lazio’s Universities and Technological District for Cultural Heritage (TDC) Center of Excellence presented the Region’s knowledge ecosystem in an overview that included international higher education and applied research in strategic sectors of excellence.
The event was attended by representatives of the Lazio Region’s universities and world of research; Paolo Orneli, Lazio Regional Minister for Economic Development, Commerce and Crafts, University, Research, Innovation and Start-ups; Quirino Briganti, Responsible for Lazio Region activities at “Expo 2020 Dubai”; Paolo Glisenti, Italian Commissioner General for EXPO 2020 Dubai; Giuseppe Finocchiaro, Italian Consul General in Dubai; Maria Antonella Polimeni, Rector of Rome’s Sapienza University; Maria Sabrina Sarto, Prorector for Research and president of the Associazione Centro di Eccellenza (Centre of Excellence) – DTC Lazio.
The event offered the opportunity to present the Region of Rome at Expo2020Dubai as a cross-fertilization laboratory between fields of knowledge and innovation with a history of more than 2,000 years in which art, science and research, cultural heritage and technology express themselves concertedly as in no other place in the world.
“Our region – said the president of the Lazio Region, Nicola Zingaretti – with its 19 universities, 17,000 professors and more than 241,000 students coming from all over the world, is leader in Italy in the field of higher education and research. Our constant aim is to support this extraordinary academic heritage in order to consolidate the ecosystem and to network it with the world of research, production, and innovation, to the advantage of the economy and of society.”
The presentation of the ecosystem also illustrated the TDC – Technological District of Culture which, with its 275 laboratories and more than 700 researchers, constitutes the largest technology district dedicated to cultural heritage in Europe.
“We want to support the internationalization process – Zingaretti added – starting from our Emirati partners, to favor international connections, the exchange of researchers and students, and to participate in joint projects.”
This goal will materialize through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Conference of Rectors of Universities of the Lazio Region – C.R.U.L – and the international intergovernmental organization I.R.E.N.A. – International Renewable Energy Agency – which is headquartered in Abu Dhabi and represents 167 Countries.This agreement will form the framework for future collaborations and exchanges in the strategic field of sustainable energy.
“Expo2020 has represented an important opportunity to disseminate the Region’s huge heritage of knowledge. The MoU between Lazio’s University System and I.R.E.N.A. will enable our universities to join the Agency’s network for the exchange of best practices and academic and training curricula; an initiative that will make it possible to take a further step towards the internationalization of our University System, which already vaunts levels of excellence at global level,” said Paolo Orneli, Lazio Regional Minister for Economic Development, Commerce and Crafts, University, Research, Innovation and Start-ups.
On the 29th of March, the forum titled “Lazio, Smart & Green Health. From the Smart Management of Healthcare to the Virtualization of Care. The New Frontiers of Health and the Digital Models of Industry 4.0 and of the Digital Twin”, again hosted at the Italy Pavilion’s Amphitheater, will present Lazio as the Region in which the development of Smart & Green Health is strong in terms of the virtualization of care, emergency management, energy efficiency and environmental impact reduction, technological innovation and process optimization, automation, and digitalization.
Nonetheless, Lazio is also a tourism-oriented region (medical and wellness tourism) capable of offering an integrated package of healthcare and tourist services. It is a region that can play an even more important role in view of the excellence of its healthcare ecosystem that adds on to the wealth of artistic and cultural heritage and landscapes which makes this offer unique and distinctive.
The speakers will include academicians, researchers, healthcare workers, and representatives of the production sector in the field of life sciences, in addition to Alessio D’Amato, Lazio Regional Councilor for Healthcare.
On the 30th of March, the Amphitheater will again host the forum “BLUE ECONOMY. From Subsistence to Innovation District – Focus on the Pontine Islands”.
Italy’s minor islands are a natural, cultural, and social heritage and an extraordinary plus for Brand Italy around the world. They are also a microcosm obliged to tackle great criticalities such as, for example, schooling, healthcare, and maritime connections that affect the quality of the everyday life of the residents.
More specifically, the forum will represent the first step toward the creation of a package of Blue Growth projects, to be developed in Lazio’s two island municipalities and repeatable in other minor islands, to be implemented through proposals forthcoming from research organizations, start-ups, and Italian and foreign players.
The aim is to showcase at the Expo a sustainable development and valorization model in line with the regional Blue Economy strategy which has been incorporated into the Region’s new S3 (Smart Specialization Strategy) Plan and into several other regional, national, and community instruments, already in place or being developed.
Lastly, in the evening of 30th of March, an artistic event will close Lazio’s activities at Expo 2020 Dubai through the live streaming, on the screens of the Italy Pavilion, of the piece of music composed by Maestro Nicola Piovani and performed by the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia conducted by Maestro Antonio Pappano.
The event will be attended by the president of the Lazio Region, Nicola Zingaretti, Maestro Nicola Piovani, Maestro Antonio Pappano and the president of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Michele Dell’Ongaro.
“The presence of the Lazio Region at the close of Expo Dubai confirms our leading role in promoting the centers of excellence of Lazio in the field of scientific research and of the best practices that we acquired in the Expo’s priority sectors, which are correlated with the big future challenges in social, economic, and environmental sectors,” commented Responsible for Lazio Region activities at “Expo 2020 Dubai”, Quirino Briganti. He explained: “The three Forums on the potential of Lazio’s university system and of the Technological District for Cultural Heritage, the new frontiers of medicine and the opportunities offered by the Blue Economy, will engage representatives of the Region’s innovation- and sustainability-oriented knowledge and business ecosystems. We will close with an extraordinary cultural event that will see the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia perform a piece of music specifically composed for the occasion by maestro Nicola Piovani.”
