The ITS Made in FVG project used creativity to highlight the excellence of the manufacturing capabilities of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in Italy. Bianca Chong, former ITS finalist, was challenged to conceive futuristic jewelry capable of measuring data like time, vital signs and more from the wearer's surroundings. An artistic speculation based on the idea of wearable technology.
This conceptual project was developed working side by side with Eurotech a company from the region working internationally on Artificial Intelligence at the highest level. Present-day available technology will represent the jumpstart to imagine an open future where these technological barriers will have disappeared. Eurotech supported Bianca Chong offering its immense scientific and technological know-how as well as its visions. Prototypes were developed with the support of Eurotech and displayed in a dedicated corner at ITS 2016 with a thorough description of the development process
"Creativity becomes innovation in a fertile environment."
The idea to carry out a shared project between the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and ITS was first conceived in 2014 within the development of reforms relating to industrial politics started with the Piano di sviluppo del settore industriale (industrial sector development plan) and later with the RilancimpresaFVG law in 2015, when the regional government committed itself to supporting the manufacturing sector in particular. "The Region-ITS initiative – commented Sergio Bolzonello, Vice President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and regional minister for industrial policies, tourism and cooperation is consistent with the regional strategy that aims at favoring with concrete initiatives a technologically advanced and innovative manufacturing sector, capable of creating added value. The conversation between art and enterprise is a remarkably fecund terrain for the creation of the “innovation” we need: the interaction between diverse production lines is where the spark of genius/innovation is started, and not by chance. Offering services, infrastructures and support to creativity: this is our task in Friuli Venezia Giulia and in this direction we are channeling our energies. Successfully combining aesthetic values and profitable production requires new interpretations and a new fast approach on the LTC and eco-compatible economy scenario. The ITS project in this sense is a case in point: looking to the future and anticipating the un-seen and even the un-imagined is a challenge, and we cannot be caught unprepared".
Sergio Bolzonello
Vice President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and Regional Minister for Industrial Policies, Tourism and Cooperation
Computers today are sophisticated elements that give human beings the means to augment exter nal reality and their comprehensive presence on the inter net. Progress will be such that we will no longer see computers as computers, but as an integral part of our world, as an extension of ourselves. Existing technologies can really change the man/computer relationship, making their co-existence increasingly symbiotic and enabling a new era of sustainable living on planet Earth. In order to fully exploit such potential, we need to close the gap between our human body and the computers. Making computers wearable is a way to achieve that, which requires a focus on esthetics, ergonomics and user experience rather than on computing and communication power. This is why we established this collaboration with ITS: to explore the merging of digital technologies with both emotions and a sense of usefulness.
Roberto Siagri
President & CEO