Digitalmeet 2026
from 19 to 24 October 2026
Opening ceremony at 17:00 on 19 October 2026
Opening: Aula Magna di Palazzo del Bo
via VIII Febbraio, 2 - Padua
Padua, various venues
Fondazione Comunica
From 19 to 24 October 2026, the new edition of DIGITALmeet gets under way, the major festival dedicated to spreading digital knowledge, with many events, meetings and opportunities to discover how technology is transforming our present and shaping the future.
Artificial intelligence, businesses, public administration, medicine, innovation, sport and much more: one week to discuss digital issues from different perspectives, with experts, professionals, institutions and leading figures in innovation.
The opening event of this 14th edition takes place on 19 October at 5 pm at Palazzo del Bo of the University of Padua: the theme "AI in businesses: what strategy?" is at the centre of the meeting, opened with remarks by Daniela Mapelli, Rector University of Padua, Gianni Potti, President of Fondazione Comunica and Founder of DIGITALmeet, Filippo Giacinti, Regional Minister for Budget, Assets, Legal Affairs, Personnel, Programme Implementation and Digital Agenda of the Veneto Region, and Antonio Santocono, President of the Camera di Commercio di Padova.
The programme includes contributions from Ferruccio Resta, President of Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Francesco Ubertini, President of CINECA, Alessandro Aresu, writer and essayist, Donatella Proto (Directorate-General for New Enabling Technologies, MIMIT) and Lucilla Sioli, Director for Artificial Intelligence and the Digital Industry at the European Commission.
During the event, there will also be the round table "Datacentres and technology for business competitiveness".
To take part in the opening event, online registration is required.
DIGITALmeet features 100 events across Italy with the participation of 150 ambassadors, focusing on public administration, health, sport and data centres. The festival then closes with a very special extra event on 28 October: the 64k Stunning Running, an online coding competition on what is still today the computer that holds the Guinness World Record as the best-selling in the world: the Commodore 64.
The University of Padua is collaborating with Digitalmeet in the organisation and hosting of several meetings in Padua.
Registration is required for some events.
The DIGITALmeet events in collaboration with Unipd
19 October, 5 pm
Aula Magna of Palazzo del Bo, Padua
AI in Business: which strategy?
Presentation event
Programme
21 October
3 pm
Sala Paladin of Palazzo Moroni, Padua
More data, more health? - Opportunities and responsibilities of digital prevention
Chaired by: Annalisa Angelini and Francesco Paolo Russo, lecturers at the University of Padua
Poster
5 pm
Sala Paladin of Palazzo Moroni, Padua
Ethics and Artificial Intelligence”: working on technology or on people?
Silvia Crafa, lecturer in mathematical logic at the University of Padua
Poster
22 October
9 am
Aula Nievo of Palazzo del Bo, Padua
Artificial Intelligence: instructions for use
Emanuele Menegatti, lecturer in Intelligent Robotics, University of Padua
Laura Cesaro, PhD student, EduRobotics group, University of Padua
Poster
10:30 am
Aula Nievo of Palazzo del Bo, Padua
The Vertical City: How drones will reshape our everyday future
Federico Corò, researcher, University of Padua
Poster
11:15 am
Aula Nievo of Palazzo del Bo, Padua
Augmented Care: Artificial Intelligence, robotics and personalised medicine against cancer
Speakers: Francesco Celotto, Azienda Ospedale Università di Padova; Gaya Spolverato, University of Padua; Marco Castellaro, University of Padua; Alessandra Pulvirenti, Azienda Ospedale Università di Padova; Marco Broccardo, Università di Trento; H-Farm
Poster
12.15 pm
Aula Nievo of Palazzo del Bo, Padua
Data, rights and freedoms in the age of AI
Daniela Mapelli, Rector, University of Padua
Gianni Potti, President of Fondazione Comunica and Founder of DIGITALmeet
Ginevra Cerrina Feroni, Vice-President of the Data Protection Authority
talk with Manlio D'Agostino Panebianco
Poster
2.45 pm
Aula Nievo of Palazzo del Bo, Padua
The health of digital natives: the evolution of paediatrics in the age of algorithms and awareness
Chair: Raffaella Colombatti, Department of Women's and Children's Health
Poster
4.30 pm
Aula Nievo of Palazzo del Bo, Padua
AI in business: the problem is not technology. It is us.
Andrea Furlan, full professor of economics and business management, University of Padua
Nicola Bruno, President of Say spa
Matteo Cocco, Partner, Sharazad
Flavia Fabris, President, R&D and Operation Director, Amajor
Poster
5.45 pm
Aula Nievo of Palazzo del Bo, Padua
The illusion of intelligence
What we see, the mirror, what we discover
Antonello Ceravola, Honda Research Institute Europe GmbH
Poster