Made-in-Italy technology in the limelight of Shanghai Fair

Shanghai - The China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair, in which Italy is guest of honour and the AGI news agency is a media partner, is closing on Saturday. The Fair has been visited by many Italian and Chinese dignitaries, including Stefania Giannini, the Italian Minister of Education, University and Reseach, who attended the opening event last Thursday, together with Stefano Beltrame, the Italian Consul General in Shanghai, Riccardo Monti, the President of the Italian Trade Agency ICE and Wan Gang, the Chinese Minister of Science and Technology. Visitors to the Shanghai Fair included a large number of representatives of companies, universities and research centres, who brought their projects for smart cities and the latest generation of high-tech applied to everyday life. In addition to the projects of major Italian industrial brands, many of the projects presented were by research consortia, including SEAL, the acronym for Smart Domotics for Safe and Energy-aware Assisted Living, presented by the universitiess of Perugia, Padova and Roma Tor Vergata in partnership with six companies (Tecnowatt, Elica, Bit, Videotec, Ecamricert and Vimar).

Loredana Santo, Associate Professor of Technology and Processing Systems at the Roma Tor Vergata University, explained to AGI: "It is a domotics project that arises from the study of innovative materials with applications spanning from industrial components to the installation of these systems in public administration offices. My experience at the Technology Fair was very positive because it got us better acquainted with the Chinese market and its local institutions." SEAL is a "smart automation project, customised to the location in order to make a more efficient use of energy and make the environment more liveable," said Thomas A. Ciarfuglia, PhD in Robotics, Computer Vision and Data Science at the University of Perugia. He added: "We have created a system in which different devices can dialogue." Prof Ciarfuglia said that the experience at the Fair was positive: "We understood that we need to present Italy with a single face, also highlighting its potential in technology. We export food and art but if we are only seen from this perspective, we won't be able to show that we are also capable of producing and exporting technology. This Fair enabled us to make a little step forward in this direction." (AGI)