Final report of Women&Technologies 2011

IV edition
International Conference
Women &

Bio and Nanotech Tecnologie ® : e-Health and "The Technovisionary" Award ® "2011"

With the participation of the President of the Republic

FINAL REPORT

Even the fourth edition of the International Conference "Women & Technologies" ® "and the International Award 'The Technovisionaries' ® 2011 confirmed itself as a highly anticipated and successful event in the international scientific landscape.
Since 2008, it proposes a new vision of the relationship between women and technology, addressed not as a gender issue but as a tool to enhance female talent in the fields of research, technological development, and innovation, with particular attention to the themes of interest of Expo 2015. The 2011 edition, after previous editions dedicated to the ICT sector, focused on Research and Innovation in the Health sector, with particular emphasis on technologies applied both to early disease diagnosis and to the treatment of even rare pathologies . An important section of the conference was dedicated to the role of women in health research and technology professions. Thus, Gianna Martinengo , creator and chairperson of Women&Technologies Donne & Tecnologie ® 2008-2015 ® , explains the challenge at the base of the initiative: " Our goal this year, as in previous years, was to demonstrate the excellence of female contribution in high technology activities. Despite this evidence, the prejudice that scientific research and technologies are male competencies is still deeply rooted; this prevents the country from fully utilizing the talents and capabilities of both genders for its development. With Women&Technologies we increase awareness of everyone about the potential, creativity, quantity, and quality of female contribution in the research and innovation sectors". ®

Contributions, Collaborations and Partners
The strong and motivated involvement of partners consisting of a dense number of entities, companies, and institutions , along with endorsements and institutional presences has highlighted the importance of the initiative and the need to continue on the path of identifying and enhancing "themes" and "people" aimed at the growth and development of the country.
The conference received the endorsement of the President of the Republic and was promoted by the Women and Technology Association, in partnership with the National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci", which hosted the event. It was made possible with the contribution of the Milan Chamber of Commerce. Intesa Sanpaolo, Farmindustria, Assolombarda, Multimedica Group, Diagramma, TT factor, Areta International, SEA Milan airports, ATM, participated as partners . The event was organized by Didael KTS , with Radio 24 as a media partner . The realization of the Conference and the final Gala Dinner was also contributed by Credit Suisse, Grafica Metelliana, ITG, Sevengrams, and Moët Hennessy Italia.
The 2011 edition received institutional endorsements from the Minister of Youth, the Minister for Public Administration and Innovation, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Department for Equal Opportunities, the Lombardy Region, and the Province of Milan - Equal Opportunities.
The initiative was awarded the medal that the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano chose to award as his representation prize.


Personalities from the scientific, academic, political, and institutional world participated in the conference and award ceremony of the "Technovisionary Women" Prize 2011: women but also men who have strengthened female presence and impact.
The fourth edition of Women&Technologies, under the guidance of Gianna Martinengo, who has made the relationship between technology and innovation one of the main themes of her professional life as a researcher and entrepreneur, saw the involvement of 13 members of the Strategic Committee , 17 members of the Program Committee , 21 qualified Speakers , 2 individuals for institutional greetings and, finally, an organizing committee that relied on the passionate contribution of 50 women and men associated and friends of the Women and Technologies Association.

The Conference
The day began with greetings from the Director General of the National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci" Fiorenzo Galli and the President of the Strategic Committee of Women&Technologies Donne & Tecnologie ® : the Protagonists ® ® 8 members of the Jury of the "The Technovisionary Prize" ® "2011" ® Sergio Dompé. After the opening speech by Gianna Martinengo, the first two round tables coordinated respectively by Daniela Bellomo, General Manager of TT Factor and Maria Luisa Nolli, CEO of Areta International began. To coordinate the afternoon round table, Alessandra Perrazzelli, Head of the International Regulatory and Antitrust Affairs Office at Intesa Sanpaolo, intervened. Greetings were also received from Giorgia Meloni, Minister of Youth, and Roberto Formigoni, President of the Lombardy Region.

The 3 Round Tables of the Conference The topics discussed in the 3 round tables, in addition to the high scientific rigor , were also valuable from a informative and guidance perspective for the numerous participants who are not experts and young people present in the room. The discussion around the first round table " New frontiers for diagnosis and therapy: biomarkers, imaging, and robotics " focused on the evolution of the biotech industry, which has experienced significant growth nationally and internationally, bringing to market a series of innovative drugs. The results of biotech innovation are already available to patients, but are still not well known. With the second round table "Rare and neglected diseases" it was emphasized the presence, among the new drugs that are revolutionizing the world of medicine, of a very innovative niche of biopharmaceuticals that are medicines for selected patients and for the treatment of diseases that cannot be cured with traditional drugs. The last round table "The value of Women" addressed the theme of the need to build in Italy, as is already happening in other countries, a bridge between research and finance to create companies and support the development of new drugs, generating wealth and "qualified" job opportunities at the same time. The discussion focused in particular on the model of university spin-offs, highly successful in the USA and very attractive to venture capitalists in other countries, but significantly underestimated in Italy.

The International Award "The Technovisionaries" ® "2011"
Monday, November 7th was also the day of the assignment of the International Prize "The Technovisionaries" ® 2011. An annual recognition dedicated to "visionary women" who, through their work in Research, Public Administration, and Business, have been able to "invent the future", combining innovation and technologies while maintaining an overall vision and necessary centrality of the individual.
This year, the award ceremony, conducted by Cinzia Sasso , a journalist from Repubblica, took place during the Gala Dinner held in the splendid halls of Palazzo Cusani, where the 2011 edition of Women&Technologies officially concluded. ® .
The Jury , composed of Diana Bracco, Giovanni Caprara, Deborah Chiodoni, Giovanna Luini Gatti, Gianna Martinengo, Silvia Rosa Brusin, Massimo Scaccabarozzi, and Federica Villa, awarded the 1st Prize "Bio WomenTech" to Franca Melfi (Director of the Multidisciplinary Robotic Surgery Center, University Hospital of Pisa) and the 1st Prize "Nano WomenTech" to Michela Matteoli (Director of the "Cellular Biology of the Synapse" laboratory, Department of Pharmacology at the University of Milan and President of Neuro-Zone Srl).
They also presented 3 Special Prizes , aimed at highlighting more specific scientific areas. The Special Prize: "Space" for Health was awarded to Samantha Cristoforetti (Astronaut, ESA) and presented by Giovanni Caprara, Journalist, writer, popularizer, responsible for the scientific editorial staff of Corriere della Sera; the Special Prize: Emergency Women, Women in Emergency went to Cecilia Strada (President of Emergency), presented by Monica Guarischi, Delegate of the President of the Lombardy Region for Equal Opportunities; the Special Prize for Scientific Outreach: If I say Health... was won by Nicoletta Carbone (Journalist, host of "Essere e Benessere" on Radio24), and presented by Adriana Albini, Head of Oncological Research, Scientific and Technological Pole - IRCCS MultiMedica.
Finally, two Special Mentions , aimed at young female researchers in the fields of bio and nanotechnologies, were awarded to Carlotta Guiducci (Associate Professor, Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne), presented by Mariagiovanna Sami, Professor of Computer Architectures, Polytechnic University of Milan; Member of the National Academy of Sciences, known as the XL, Past President of the Women&Technologies Strategic Committee. ® and to Stefania Rapino (Electrochemistry at the University of Bologna), delivered by Francesca Zajczyk, delegate from the Mayor of Milan for the development of initiatives for equal opportunities.
The winners of the Awards and Special Mentions received a canvas from the ANITA' collection specially created by Carlotta Todeschini for the International Prize "The Technovisionaries" ® "2011.
For the fourth edition of the Award, there have been over 30 reports on the portal www.womentech.info . The most voted candidates were then evaluated by a panel of experts who used an online system to indicate preferences and reasons and determine the winners."


It is also decreed by the numbers.
The Conference on November 7th saw the participation of over 150 people as audience and 30 journalists and media professionals . 150 distinguished guests who wanted to attend the gala dinner and the award ceremony of the Technovisionary Prize .
The interest generated by the initiative was also reflected in the significant number of visits to the dedicated portal www.womentech.info , created by Didael KTS, which has recorded to date 1,025,000 visits and 170,000 visitors from more than 120 Nations. The discussion groups dedicated to the initiative that have been activated on the main social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube) have over 1,000 members. The "Technovisionary Prize " has received over 30 nominations . The Jury has identified a group of 16 finalists, among whom the winners of the 7 awards of this edition have been chosen.

The permanent laboratory: towards the 2012 Edition
The 2012 edition will represent the opening conference of the three-year period dedicated to nutrition, a theme strongly correlated with health, sustainability, and innovation. The approach of the Conference involves a debate on the application of science and technology in favor of conscious nutrition with particular regard to the female figure, always linked to the theme of nutrition. The goal is to provide a comprehensive and accessible view to the end consumer of the new frontiers of nutrition connected to prevention, sustainable agriculture development, and support to small and medium enterprises in the sector that represent excellence to be protected, as well as the most innovative proposals from research on packaging, information transparency, and eco-sustainable technologies. Donne & Tecnologie ® : success in numbers The success of the fourth edition of Women&Technologies ® ® ®

The interesting and innovative aspect of the Women&Technologies approach ® The development of the theme is entrusted, nourished, and stimulated by the Creative, Physical, and Virtual Laboratory on the themes of the Conference. It is an open laboratory all year round that has as its reference point the portal www.womentech.info and the network of professionals, experts, or simply curious about the topics under discussion who are involved through dedicated groups both on the blog and on the main social networks. The Laboratory is also fueled by initiatives organized within the events that prepare the Women&Technologies conference (2008-2015). Therefore, starting from today and throughout the year, it will be possible to monitor and be part of the development of the main theme for [missing text]. The portal will continue to be active and will become the focal point of an open discussion on the conference themes, collecting and disseminating contributions from all interested parties; in this way, it will constitute an important element of continuity in view of the new "2012 edition" of Women&Technologies. ® contribute to the birth of the 2012 edition of Women&Technologies ® ®

Multimedia Acts

Photo Service
A photo service has been carried out, which, with the authorization of the Conference Protagonists, has been published on the conference portal.
The photo gallery can be viewed at this address:
http://www.womentech.eu/index.php/womentech-2011/gallery-womenatechnologies-2011.html

Video Production
The following video clips have been produced for the conference:

Radio spot production
Radio24 (Sole 24 Ore Group) has produced and aired a 30-second spot in the programming of the 2 weeks leading up to the conference.
http://www.womentech.eu/index.php/ultime-notizie-1/al-via-la-promozione-della-conferenza-womenatechnologies-su-radio24.html

Airplane
Subscribe to our newsletter.

Sign up to receive updates about our activities in your inbox.

"Sign up now"