Home Forums Silicon Valley Study Tour – August 2020 UniPV Silicon Valley 2020

181 replies, 41 voices Last updated by Paolo Marenco 3 years, 6 months ago
  • Giorgia
    Member
    @giorgiaamatemaggio
    #11830

    Good afternoon everybody!

    In response to Ms. @robertarabellotti question, yesterday’s conference was to me enlightening: both Ms. Bonomo and Ms. Falautano explained with extreme precision but at the same time really easily some subjects that, at least for me, were new and unknown. They were both prepared and great orators.

    It was, to me, the first time hearing about Angels business partners in general, and more precisely about Angels 4 Women. This kind of capitals for new start-ups could make a real difference for those with great ideas but few founds by themselves. Yesterday we heard about the Orange Fiber Start-up for example and I remembered I had studied they case in a Marketing lesson, as an example of thinking outside the box to have success. For those who not know Orange Fiber, it was founded by two incredible women who has the idea of using the fibre contained in oranges’ peels to create cloth, that could be used to produce clothes. It is just a simple example of how from plain ideas, financed by the right people, whom, as yesterday was well-explained, walk and support you every step of the way, it is possible to reach a goal.

    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaZ9J2hRgg8)

    Unfortunately, I must agree with @botten because I also have the feeling that in our Country innovative Ideas are often underrated, while in other counties start-ups have a better chance to be sustained and developed. For this reason, I was glad to participate to last conference, because it gave me the chance to learn this possibility, that maybe, who knows, I will hop-on in the future.

    Maybe this forced lockdown time will motivate people to think outside of the box, to find new ways of enhancing technologies and find new solutions. One silly example could be the idea that the ex-head physician of the hospital of Gardone Val Trompia had to resolve lack of masks. Supported by a team of engineers he created a new respiratory mask, just by modifying a Decathlon subaqueous mask! As him, maybe nearby us others are making discoveries of the century, and thanks to supporters as Business Angels they could spread their ideas among the market, helping others.

    (https://www.agi.it/cronaca/news/2020-03-21/coronavirus-mascherine-maschera-sub-decathlon-7744124/)

    To continue the debate about online learning I think that yesterday’s conference confirmed to us that live courses are a real possibility both to learn and debate. In fact, as @gabriellalocati pointed out we were able to stimulate a debate even if we were not in the same room.  Even though I must acknowledge that, as many of you said, as @saretta, @botten and @niccolopuppo, e-learning and smart working could not be a substitute of human interaction, but they could work perfectly as support for that.

    Do you know any other innovative start-up? Or, better, do you see yourselves owning an innovative start-up in the future? Are you creative people?

    Wish you all the best,

    Giorgia

     

    Linkedin Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/giorgia-amatemaggio

    • This reply was modified 4 years ago by Giorgia.
    Andrea
    Member
    @andreastroppa
    #11832

    Hi, good afternoon everybody.

    First of all I would like to share my gratitude for the opportunity to participate to these conferences.

    I want to be honest, before yesterday I didn’t know a lot about Business Angels and linked topics. Anyway, I found very fascinating learning something new. I am that kind of guy that always want to increase his knowledge and learning something new. That’s probably why yesterday it was very inspirational for me. Actually, I always thought that this world, in particular Business Angels and investors in general, was something really far from me, something I or maybe we, cannot “touch” and see daily. But <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Dr. Paola Bonomo</span> surprised me. She presented and explained everything in a really clear and easy way. Furthermore, showing me that this environment is closer to me than what I expected, she also kind of involved me in this topic.

    Regarding the gender gap speech, I would like to give more my personal point of view instead of comment the presentation of<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”> Dr. Isabella Falutano</span>. I think the starting point must be work hard in what we believe. I know, probably is easier to say than to realize but I truly think that you do what you love and you show passion, love, competencies and vision in your work, in your project or idea people no longer care if you’re a man or a woman. I mean, if you are the best, you are the best. Period. It doesn’t matter your gender.

    Finally, answering Giorgia’s question, I have a really funny experience I would like to share with you. In my last experience in Taipei I visited many start-up centers and the most creative or unusual start-up for me was about trash bins. You need to know that in Taiwan there are very few trash bins scattered throughout the city. So, two guys realized an app that allow you to see and find out the nearest trash cans to you. Additionally they realized a device, mounted underneath the bin, to check the amount of garbage into that specific bin and, eventually, inform the staff once full. And guys believe me, I’ve seen few cities in the world as clean as Taipei.

    Hope to read many other interesting stories from you guys.

    Have a nice day,

    Andrea

    • This reply was modified 4 years ago by Andrea.
    Lorenzo
    Participant
    @lorenzolacchini
    #11834

    Hello everyone,

     

    Personally, I found very involving the conference yesterday and I got really captured. nowadays, to find fund in order to finance your ideas is not easy even if there are many crowdfunding platforms, but have the opportunity to receive also the supervision of experts it’s a very huge boost for a new start-up. Unfortunately, I have never heard about Italian Angels before, I’m honest, but wow that’s incredible. In Italy, we haven’t the culture of technology start-ups as the US has, but this kind of ideas give pure fuel to our development.

    Regarding A4W, I agree with @andreastroppa because if you want hard to reach your objectives and if you are the best, nothing it’s important even the gender. at the same time, all we know that the gender gap still exists, even if we are in 2020 and to hear of this kind of initiative makes me, and I think all of us, hope that something is changing during the years.

    I share this article about the gender gap in 2020 it very enlightening. (https://www.weforum.org/reports/gender-gap-2020-report-100-years-pay-equality)

    Going back to online learning, I wanna share my experience with it. Actually, I’m in Italy but I’m currently Erasmus then I should follow the classes of my University in Lisbon. Unfortunately, the university doesn’t use this means (I wanna remember that we are in 2020) but the professors just upload slides and I must study everything as a non-attendant student and then, you know… I’m a “bit angry” with them but in order to resolve this problem, the student’s movement rose a collecting signature but until now nobody gave us an answer.

    My only experiences are those conferences and I’m finding them very effective but as already said just as a tool.

    have a good evening.

    Lorenzo

    • This reply was modified 4 years ago by Lorenzo.
    Gabriella
    Member
    @gabriellalocati
    #11837

    Hello guys,

    the COVID-19 outbreak is demonstrating that, as mentioned in the article from the “Internazionale” shared by @elvira-dimascio, rapidly cutting CO emissions is a feasible deed, although predictions suggest that, in the near post-crisis future, carbon dioxide emissions will increase swiftly bringing us back to the starting point if not even farther than ever from our goal.

    During the last conference, I was particularly struck by a comment made by Ms. Bonomo: she said something along the lines of “investors will not put money or time into green energy innovation as far as it will not be convenient”. Our real issue stands in the willingness to commit to these kinds of policies and technologies, that at the moment and in the short run, are not as advantageous.

    Furthermore, entities such as our government are attempting to minimize the climate change afterward impact, investing in technologies such as the dams in Venice, instead of fixing the problem to the root. (If you wish to further discuss this topic I will share with you this link, let me know what is your opinion) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/10/venice-floods-sea-level-rise-mose-project

    Have you ever heard of CCUS? It encompasses various methods and technologies that aim to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Canadian-based clean-energy company Carbon Engineering,for instance, is using direct air capturing processors, installations comparable to “synthetic forests”. The company is now “working to build industrial-scale Direct Air Capture facilities that will each capture one million tons of CO per year” quite an impressive goal considered that it amounts to the CO: absorbing ability of 40 million trees. (Here’s one of their facilities and the TED Talk of Chemical engineer Jennifer Wilcox further explain its usage and purpose) https://www.ted.com/talks/jennifer_wilcox_a_new_way_to_remove_co2_from_the_atmosphere

    How can we make sure people will invest in such technologies and startups then? We surely cannot guilt trip every human being into making such investments in order to save the planet (as we did with Jeff Bezos. However, there might be a way to turn to opportunity and profit our need to remain within 1.5° C, by capturing CO each year. We already know that carbon dioxide has a range of various potential applications across a number of industries. We can take as an example CarbonCure for instance, a Canadian company that recycles CO into fresh concrete (concrete is responsible for up to 7% of carbon dioxide emission each year). Another company worthy of notice is Opus 12, a Silicon Valley based startup, which implements water and electricity in order to recycle carbon dioxide into chemical products and fuels such as synthetic gas, methane, and ethylene. The co-founders (whom two out of three are women) have managed to partner up with impressive leaders in the industry their products aim to.   https://www.opus-12.com/

    Although “carbon conversion is one piece of a much larger puzzle for dealing with the ongoing climate crisis as pointed out by Opus 12 co-funders, I believe it represents a huge step toward securing a better future for our next generations. Such companies fully impersonate the old saying “necessity is the mother of invention” don’t they? Do you think such startups will allow the carbon market to thrive throughout the next decades?

    As to answer @giorgiaamatemaggio, if one day I would possess the expertise and means needed in order to be a business angel, I would more than certainly invest in startups that work along the lines of ones such as Carbon Engineering or Opus 12, I think it would certainly be a challenging adventure from which I could profit from as an individual. However, I fail to believe that I would have the creative drive to be able to set up a company from scratch.

    Have a nice evening,

    Gabriella

     

    Giorgia
    Member
    @giorgiaamatemaggio
    #11838

    Hi everyone!

    The start-up world, as many of you is writing, is a great opportunity not only to change our habits daily but also to help to restore the planet.

    I would like to thank @gabriellalocati for introducing to me to the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) (https://www.aiche.org/ccusnetwork/what-ccus) method and Carbon Engineering and Opus 12 companies, that I have never heard before. In my opinion, those are two great examples of how to translate the problem into a solution and the prove that the phrase cited by Gabriella “necessity is the mother of invention” it is true.

    The environmental crisis we are facing nowadays is critically growing day by day and we must be fully aware of it. CO2 emission numbers are dramatic, but unfortunately many people still do not get that we must make our part in this process of changing. Companies such as Carbon Engineering and Opus 12 are supporting this change actively and many others are translating their model of business in a circular-economy business to aid the planet in numerous ways.

    A definition of the circular economy was given by Ellen McArthur   (https://www.ted.com/talks/dame_ellen_macarthur_the_surprising_thing_i_learned_sailing_solo_around_the_world?language=it#t-986101)  of the EllenMcArthur Foundation :“A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.” (https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/what-is-the-circular-economy)

    By adopting a circular economy model, we could improve not only local businesses, but we could sustain the environment by not creating pollution from transportation or for disintegrate or burn our waste.

    A circular economy model of business has been adopted already by many companies all around the world, especially in the food industry. Just to make to you and example the “Nolla”, a Finnish restaurant, aim is to create a model of business of a restaurant 100% zero-waste from product design and operation. By using this new business model, they affirmed to have decreased 80% of their waste within only 2 weeks.

    For instance, there is also an app called “TooGoodToGo”, that maybe some of you already know, that helps to relocate and sell food that was going to be wasted at the end of the day in restaurants, shops or supermarkets.

    Food Industry itself create a lot of Co2 emission and just by buying local from farmers or reducing waste in restaurants and supermarkets it could be a first step towards the radical change that we need to make happen. I wanted to mention also the example @andreastroppa has made as way on how start-up could support the waste system to improve.

    Start-ups world, made of brilliant ideas, technological innovations and passionate people, could make a real difference when conveniently fund by someone who believes in them, such as Angels. Small actions could benefit us towards a greener way of living, even though big steps are still ahead of our ways.

    For those who are interested in circular-economy and new start-ups related to the subject of environmental protection I suggest you surf on the EllenMcArthur Foundation website. (https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/case-studies)

    Thank you all for the great subject that you are taking into consideration!

    Giorgia

    LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/giorgia-amatemaggio

    Matteo
    Member
    @matteoamato
    #11841

    Hi, everybody

    My name is Matteo Amato I am 23 years old and I come from Sicily. I graduated last summer in “Political Science and International Relations” at the University of Palermo, and now, I’m a first year student of the master course in “Economic Development and International Relations” at the University of Pavia.

    I chose to undertake this course of study because I strongly believe that in a dynamic and constantly changing world, today, more than ever, interdisciplinary and transversal skills are needed that embrace the different sciences and sectors that govern the world, such as economics, law, sociology and a wise awareness of history. Specifically, I decided to enrol at the University of Pavia because of its excellent academic tradition and the interesting international character it has, as well as the important opportunities it offers its students, such as this study tour. During my bachelor, I participated in three different international research exchanges not promoted by the University of Palermo, rather by the European Union, whit the aim to bring together and let discuss young youth workers from many countries of the European Union and beyond, infact we often worked with young people from very different and distant countries such as the USA, Japan or Azerbaijan. The first of these projects, in Lithuania, was named “Research make perfect”, dealt with research methods, decision-making processes and the implementation of different policies in the most diverse areas. The second one, held in Slovenia, was aimed at training young people who participated and raising awareness of their skills in order to include them in a stimulating and international environment such as the one created in all exchanges. The third one, held in Norway, dealt with the theme of eco-sustainability, and was a strong stimulus as well as a starting point for reflection on sustainable development issues, always underlying that technological development does not necessarily have to conflict with respect for the environment and the sustainable and conscious exploitation of its resources.

    Participating in these projects, and others, has taught me the importance of teamwork, dialogue and confrontation as well and also has encouraged me to reflect on the importance of networking, I still keep in touch with many of the girls and boys I’ve met, although it has been years since the last meeting, and some of us have even had the opportunity to create or expand their companies through these projects.

    In addition to the concrete training that these projects have given me the opportunity to acquire, I believe that the real wealth that I have treasured was the experience itself, the opportunity to participate in these projects: I put myself at stake, I studied, I traveled and shared knowledge and experience with boys and girls from the most diverse sectors and with the most varied skills and backgrounds, which have enriched me with a continuous exchange, strengthening my know-how in an indescribable way, revealing different visions of reality that otherwise I woulded be able to discover.

    I am really happy to participate in this forum, in order to exchange opinions, informations and points of view about such current and important topics. I would also be excited to participate in the silicon valley study tour because it would mean to abroad and make concrete the study of a field that I really care about and for witch I have spent a lot of my time, study and passion, which has led me to travel and open my mind, and I’m sure that an opportunity like this would allow me to grow even more, put myself at stake and actively participate in the intense exchange of unique knowledge that will surely happen.

    Niccolò
    Member
    @niccolopuppo
    #11844

    In response to Ms. robertarabellotti

    The seminar presented by Paola Bonomo and Isabella Falautano was extremely interesting. Exploring the world of startups and how they are financed is a topic that is difficult to get to know without someone in that world.

    I’m a big fan of a TV series  called “Silicon Valley”, a series that follows the story of a group of young developers creating their company and a new internet. The TV series is consequently very tied to the dynamics and functioning of the startups (they are the best moments for me).

    Being able to see some elements of the TV series translated into real life and being able to deepen them was as incredible as having the opportunity to follow the seminar presented by two international experts who work in that sector in real life.

    Before the seminar, I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what the Business Angels were or all the numerous initiatives to reduce the gender gap in this sector. This is in fact a topic hardly dealt with by the media and consequently very often remains in the shadows (unfortunately!). I am very pleased that there is a strong commitment to promoting and training female figures in the business sector.

    It was a very motivating seminar, certainly even after knowing these two experts who worked for some of the most important companies in the world sharing their knowledge and experience with us!

    • This reply was modified 4 years ago by Niccolò.
    Marco
    Member
    @marco-canciani
    #11854

    Goodmorning everyone!

    First, I would like to thank Paola Bonomo and Isabella Falautano for sharing their experience with us.

    Honestly, I had already heard of Italian Angels for Growth. I have always been fascinated by the world of startups both in Italy and in the world.

    Today I would like to share with you a thought that has as its core why in Italy we have a different perception of Startups than in other countries and I fully agree with @botten and @giorgiaamatemaggio. In Italy there is always a lot of confusion in the Startup sector and very often these are confused with small and medium-sized companies. I personally believe the core of the problem can be identified based on three critical factors: growth, networking experiences and taxation. For many years I have been traveling to London for study and I think I can take it into consideration to highlight the critical issues I was talking about. In the last few years London has become one of the world capitals of technology, innovation in parallel of FinTechs. There are experiences of many Italians who decide to open their own Startup in the United Kingdom. One of the reasons why many of our fellow citizens choose to move to the UK is certainly the possibility of personal growth, collaboration, networking and finally, the language. The second advantage that Britain offers is certainly tax savings. Opening an LTD in London is more convenient than opening an SRL in Italy, both for the many possibilities of the benefits and in terms of leaner bureaucracy. I personally believe that these characteristics can give a significant acceleration in terms of business scalability.

    What do you think are the critical factors that most influence the creation and maintenance of a Startup in Italy?

     

    In the link that I leave you (I know, it is not very updated but it is the only one I found), at the bottom of the page you can get a summary idea of ​​what I talked about.

    http://www.taxlawplanet.it/ltd-vs-srl-confronto-tra-ltd-inglese-e-srl-italiana/

    Marco
    Member
    @marco-canciani
    #11856

    Hi guys!
    I’d like to share an interesting article with you. Let me know what you think about.

    https://www.corriere.it/economia/consumi/20_marzo_27/coronavirus-negozi-vacanze-cose-che-forse-non-torneranno-piu-come-prima-1914a4a4-6ad3-11ea-b40a-2e7c2eee59c6.shtml

    Noemi
    Member
    @noemiscifo17
    #11857

    Thanks to @ismaelepaoli for the suggestive topic proposed.

    I’m really enjoying smart-learning and I’m very comfortable attending classes at home even if, of course, I prefer the “normal way” which give us the possibility to interact each other.

    It’s funny to see how all the things you said are strictly connected:

    I prefer podcasts rather than streaming lessons, just like @niccolopuppi said, for many reasons. First of all because I can listen to or watch the lecture when I want, so I can manage better my time during the day; second, just like @fabianadurso said, at home I can take my time and I can focus more on things that appear not clear for me at a first view, by stopping and replaying the lesson everytime I need to. Finally, another pro of podcasts, if compared to streaming, is that after your download is completed, you’re out of connection issues, so you are sure you are not going to miss any word of the lesson, because, citing @gabriellalocati, unfortunately not everyone has a fast wifi connection at home, so it could happen to miss some parts of the lecture due to streaming’s bug.

    This last reason it is also an explanation of why government should not boost (when it is not an emergency) forced smart-working, smart-learning, virtual election or other virtual initiatives if it is not going to guarantee a perfect internet connection in the whole Italy (from North to South!). Unfortunately this is also one of the reasons why on Tuesday I couldn’t attend all the things which Dr. Paola Bonomi and Dr. Isabella Falautani said to us during the streaming Conference of SVST, because my internet connection was unstable.

    However, this quarantine has taught to us a lot of new things we never imagined  we could do before the CoVid19. We are exploring solutions for other problems which the future could bring to us: smart-working and smart-learning could be used also in case of weather alert, doctors could send ordinary prescriptions even by email, or a queue could be respected with one meter of distance among each person, without skipping it!

    Joking apart, I saw many messages of people who where thinking to keep smart-working or smart-learning even when we will be out of quarantine, as a way to reduce pollution and live in a greener world. I am not of this school of thought and I don’t think Greta would agree with you, guys! We don’t need to stay home to make the Earth a better place to live… When, actually, nobody is really living and enjoying it! It makes no sense. That’s why we study Innovation and development: to create renewable energy. We need to find a solution that can fit with our lives, our jobs, that allow us to go out and to travel, without polluting! We need to support a sustainable development!

    Answering to another question of @ismaelepaoli, I think innovation is already helping us since more than 3 weeks, but it never stops updating… And that’s the best thing of innovation!

    For example, a really useful instruments in this period could be the “Virtual Supermarket” which some engineers have been projecting in the lasts years. It consists in wearing an oculus rift (kind of virtual glasses) and two movements controller in the hands (which could be replaced also by special gloves with sensor on them). This device would enable consumers to interact with objects physically. The headset could place consumers in a store environment and allow them to interact with products, giving them a sensory experience that shoppers cannot otherwise get online, without having to leave the convenience of their own home. It is true that already exists some instrument which allow us to do shopping online or to receive our grocery shopping at home, but most of the times we can’t chose our product and it would be insane remembering all the specific product we usually buy! So we can’t compare shopping online with the virtual shopping and the sensation to walk in the supermarket and feeling the material of the things we’re touching even if not real… It’s an experience which also Google Glass can’t give to us! These instruments are already on the market, and used mostly for videogames, but they are still expensive, at the same time I think their cost will become more affordable in the future years and they will be implemented with new functions, not only related to entertainment and videogames, as the innovation’s dynamics teach us. An instrument like the “Virtual Supermarket” can scare us today and maybe we can think it’s going to affect our connection with reality creating new type of disease and addiction, but like everything it’s up to us taking our instinct under control!

    This is a video which recreate this wonderful experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGv5BlE2CGk&app=desktop

    And this is an article which may could help to understand the invention: https://www.businessinsider.com/walmarts-vr-grocery-patents-2018-8?IR=T

    Thank for the attention,

    Noemi

    Tommaso
    Member
    @tommasogagliardi
    #11858

    Good morning everyone.

    After the last conference, I remembered an article I read some week ago about the difficulties for little enterprises to be financed in Italy. Even though the governments, in the last years, tried to find new solutions for the access to public sources of financing, the private sources are still having an important role, as we learnt during the conference.

    During the last year, credits to little companies have been reduced of the 8%, because they are considered a too much riskful investment by many banks and other financial actors. Knowing the importance and the incidence of the little enterprise in our country, considering their difficulties of achieving credits, it´s not strange to see that new kinds of investment and new economical actors, as startups, are facing many problems to emerge in Italy.

    Someone suggested, during the conference, that the propensity to the risk may be a possible explanation. I share this kind of vision, because considering a cultural factor is always useful to understand a social process. Moreover, we should also try to see this problem from a more pragmatic point of view. If we know that a solid economic actor, as the little enterprise, is seeing its possibilities of financial sustainment reduced, we can imagine there’s a general problem with the entire process of financing in our economy. So, if this hypothesis is correct, the propensity to the risk has not to be considered anymore the reason of the difficulties to access to credit, but an effect of a wrong legislation. As Paola Bonomo said, in Italy there’s a lot of potential in terms of creativity and innovation, hence it’s strange that until now we haven’t been able to express it. The probabilities to see an increaseament of presence of startups in our country will rise only if the general problem of the credit access will be solved too. Simply, Italy hasn’t, until now, the right conditions to encourage this new type of innovation (start-up), exactly as it’s facing more difficulties to sustain the traditional sector of the little enterprise.

    According to the Prometeia institute, our country has rised credits to little enterprises of 0.3%, while the European average is 3.7%. Private sources of financing can partially supply to the public ones, but there must be a solid contest where little enterprises (included start-ups) can invest with public guarantees, especially in a historical moment like this.

    I share with you the article I considered, hoping it can be helpful: https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/credito-pmi-perche-l-italia-resta-indietro-ACO5cDAB

    Ismaele
    Moderator
    @ismaelepaoli
    #11866

    Hi guys! I appreciate a lot the way you are taking part in this forum and I like the links you make among different topics, this stimulates the debate and expands even more our considerations about technology, social issues and what happens in the Silicon Valley environment.

    The environment built up in the Bay Area is the engine that helped innovation to emerge more and more over the last few years: technological innovation is boosted by the research done in universities, as well as research done by big corporations capable to recruit clever minds and relentless workers; many startups cultivating new approaches to realize solutions for today’s issues. Moreover, incubators and accelerators in the valley are often critical in helping young startups to be reliable and captive for the market. Nevertheless, what is essential is capital, coming from venture capital, business angels, big companies or crowdfunding and a strong entrepreneurial mentality. It is like a huge vital hub with million activities going on. You can feel it in the air. 🙂

    Here is an interesting article: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/061115/why-silicon-valley-startup-heaven.asp

    Since it seems very hard to replicate the exact model of Silicon Valley elsewhere, which could be according to you a good model to be applied in Italy, or in Europe? How our country can exploit its resources to boost startups/companies’ innovation, social success and market success?

    Serena
    Member
    @serenagabbetta
    #11867

    Hi, everybody! How are you?

    I would like to thank you all for the articles that you proposed on this forum last week: I found them all very interesting and enlightening in many ways. I would like to dwell now on the one proposed by Marco Canciani.

    The sentence that struck me the most was: “a pandemic doesn’t look like war: a war, when it ends, it’s really over, while a pandemic can have a “tail”. The risk is that this return to normal will be less rapid”.

    I think it’s true. We are human beings and we are social animals, but I believe (and this is highlighted by many studies) that the sociality that will reaffirm will be, in some ways, different from the previous ones. In this last month we have learned to take advantage of the potential of the internet and technology; we have learned to keep in touch through the smartphone, to enjoy even a simple phone call. I hope that, when all this will be over, we won’t take our friends and family for granted anymore. Seeing us live will not be like before, it will be much better. I’ll want to give more importance to even the smallest things that before I almost took for granted.

    A second reflection concerns all the services that were not born in these days, but that before few people used (or at least, in small cities). I am referring to services such as online shopping and food delivery services such as JustEat or those made available to individual activities, such as supermarkets, gastronomies and pizzerias. I believe that many people who have experienced these possibilities during quarantine will continue to use them even after the emergency is over.

    Let’s move on to work and study issues. It may happen, for example, that a student can’t go to university if he’s sick, or that many commuters find a train that has been cancelled due to snow or other causes. In these cases, the possibility of working or taking lessons from home is very useful and meets our needs. Home working could also promote gender equality in the workplace, as working mothers could work from home for some periods to follow the growth of their children, but without giving up their careers.

    Personally, I’m enjoying the online lessons, although, I have to tell the truth, I miss human contact a little bit, even though technology helps us to keep in touch. As a colleague  said a while ago, podcasts are very useful and I hope we can use them again in future, for example if a professor will be absent for a while.Podcasts can be paused and listened to several times. Pptx formats are great too, as they allow me to have slides and audio recording in a single file. Regarding live streaming lessons, they sometimes create some problems with the connection, but many times you can listen to them again the next day with a better quality.

    I really like the dialogue that is being created here, it helps me not to lose the sense of being together.

    See you on March 31st!

     

    Giorgia
    Member
    @giorgiaamatemaggio
    #11869

    Hello guys, I hope you’ve had a great weekend

    I am grateful for the opportunity I’m having of talking with all of you and read different point of view. As @serenagabbetta said these discussions help to keep the sense of being in a community.

    I would like to tank both @marco-canciani and @ismaelepaoli for the articles they have shared with us. I have found both enlightening.

    The start-up system in our country is influenced as @marco-canciani pointed out by some critical factors. I completely agree with him about the difficulties that companies face in Italy caused by high taxation and shortage of networking experience. However, to answer @ismaelepaoli’s question the best way to exploit start-up innovations and market success is from my standpoint firstly to find a location to make it possible. In Italy, in my opinion, the only region where this could happen is Lombardy, more precisely nearby Milan.

    Milan is the most entrepreneurial city of Italy, the most connected to international business, that’s why I think there would be no better place to establish an “Italian Silicon Valley”. Secondly, I guess there should be incentive both economic and bureaucratic from the Government to enhance the chances of innovative companies to establish a business. I am aware that saying how should we proceed and actually make it happen could be different in real life, but the investments made in new companies and start-ups should be seen by Italian Government as an investment for future profits and the boosting of our country image around the Globe.

    To conclude, I wanted also to reply to @noemiscifo17 argument about how smart-working / smart-learning could not indeed help the environment. I agree with you, that a 100% transition from personal human interaction to only digital mediated social situation is unimaginable, and for sure it would not boost our happiness. However, I could not understand how diminishing for example cars moving around big cities every day or decrease number of flights used for work travel could not help the environment by reduce pollution.

    It is true, that we should, and we are investing in greener energy, but we have not reached yet the point by which every movement around the world or cities is green. I hope that you could see my point of view and maybe further explain your opinion.

    What do you guys think about this topic?  

    Giorgia

    LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/giorgia-amatemaggio

    Gabriella
    Member
    @gabriellalocati
    #11870

    Hi everybody,

    I completely agree with @serenagabbetta, the environment we have been creating in this forum is extremely stimulating and a positive note in such difficult times.

    As pointed out by the article shared by @ismaelepaoli, the conditions required in order to create the Silicon Valley were extremely unique, one could also argue that it is a one-of-a-kind ecosystem; attempting to mirror such model in Europe is quite a delusional quest from my point of view, as we would have to establish it taking into account many parameters that characterize our society but that differ from the one of origin.

    Europe is becoming home of the tech sector’s biggest names, take the Stockholm based startup Spotify, BlaBlaCar or Deliveroo as few example proof of our continent access to an extremely large pool of talents, also backed up by various notorious intellectual hubs.

    As pointed out by the article, one of the many key factors that allowed the Silicon Valley to flourish into the technological Eden it is today, is the “legal apparatus” from which it benefits. I agree with @tommasogagliardi in pointing out that our legislation is quite ill-equipped to effectively support new business; In order to allow startups to flourish in our continent and most importantly in our country, governments need to shift toward an entrepreneur friendly regulation, flexible labor conditions, fast-track work visas and business friendly policies. This so needed shift has been gradually taking place around Europe, President Macron, for instance has announced, last September, 5 billion euros in VC funds in order to aid foster French startups growth. The French government had already paved the way by providing fast-track visas to lure in foreign workers and furthermore by granting tax cuts and subsidies to help startups. As @marco-canciani mentioned, many similar policies have also been implemented in the UK, and are often cause of brain-drain for and from our country, hence implementing them in Italy, at an adequate scale, would supposedly facilitate the thrift of new business as well as tackle the emigration issue of highly skilled professionals.

    Furthermore, many Silicon Valley venture capital firms are opening new offices all around Europe lured by the opportunity to expand their portfolios, as a matter of fact, European tech startups faced 40% surge in VC funding in 2019 alone; European startups could benefit from the high level of investments and I believe that a new rivalry might awake in Italian investors a slightly higher sense of competitiveness, therefore our country might profit from it as Italian business costume might evolve and overcome its flaws, emerging from its present overly cautious attitude.

    In addition, it is important to point out that many cities across Europe are trying to thrive as the next major tech hub (as @giorgiaamatemaggio righteously stated, Milan is the perfect example of such environment in Italy); anyhow, these tech capitals are competing one against each other in complete isolation, therefore fragmenting the tech market. I am convinced that competition is another great source of drive from which our countries should benefit, however we need to connect funders and startups in order to built a fertile soil for innovating businesses and new companies. Europe’s unique challenges and unique demands should be the starting point of a new tailor-made model that differs from the one of the Silicon Valley, not one that mimics it. Our country and our continent’s diversity, may be viewed as source of fragmentation but I prefer to consider them priceless assets that will allow us to thrive and evolve toward our own, new tech Renaissance. Do you agree?

    Have a nice evening,

    Gabriella

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