Final report of Women&Technologies 2010

III edition
International Conference
Women &

Bio and Nanotech Tecnologie ^® : e-Health and the "Technovisionary" Award ^® 2010

With the participation of the President of the Republic

FINAL REPORT

Also the third edition of the International Conference "Women & Technologies" ^® "and the International Prize "The Technovisionaries" ^® "2010 confirmed itself as a significant and successful event in the international scientific landscape.
Since 2008, it has proposed a new vision of the relationship between women and technology, approached not as a gender issue but as a tool to enhance female talent in the fields of research, technological development, and innovation, with particular focus on the themes of interest of Expo 2015. The 2010 edition, after previous editions dedicated to the ICT sector, focused on Research and Innovation in the Health sector, with particular attention to Bio and Nanotechnologies, hence the title. Thus, Gianna Martinengo, the creator and chairperson of Women&Technologies." Donne & Tecnologie ^® 2008-2015" Donne & Tecnologie ^® : "e-Health: Bio and Nanotech" ^® explains the challenge at the base of the initiative: " Our goal this year, as in previous years, was to demonstrate the excellence of women's contribution in high-tech 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 everyone's awareness of the potential, creativity, quantity and quality of women's contribution in the fields of research and innovation. ^®

Contributions, Collaborations and Partners
The strong and motivated involvement of partners made up of a dense number of organizations, companies, and institutions, along with endorsements and institutional presences 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 support 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 realized with the contribution of the Milan Chamber of Commerce and with the collaboration of the European Parliament - Milan Office. Intesa Sanpaolo, Farmindustria, Assolombarda, Gruppo Multimedica, AICA, Diagramma, Donneinrete.net, TT factor, Areta International, SEA airports of Milan, ATM, Telethon Foundation, Assobiotec, Alintec and VEGA participated as partners. The event was organized by Didael KTS, with Radio 24 as a media partner. IF Innovation Festival Milano, Credit Suisse, Lenovo, Non chiederci la parola, Grafica Metelliana, Autoctono, Buongusto, and Sevengrams also contributed to the realization of the Conference and the concluding Gala Dinner.
The 2010 edition received institutional endorsements from the Minister for Youth, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Public Administration and Innovation, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Department for Equal Opportunities, the Higher Institute of Health, the Lombardy Region, the Province of Milan - Equal Opportunities, and the Municipality of Milan - Health.
The initiative was awarded the medal that President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano chose to designate as his representative prize.

Personalities from the scientific, academic, political, and institutional world participated in the conference and award ceremony of the "Technovisionary Women" Prize 2010: women but also men who have strengthened the presence and impact of women.
The third edition of Women&Technologies, under the leadership of Gianna Martinengo, who has made the relationship between technologies and innovation one of the main themes of her professional life as a researcher and entrepreneur, saw the involvement of 17 members of the Strategic Committee , 21 members of the Program Committee , 33 qualified Speakers , 7 personalities for institutional greetings and, finally, an organizing committee that benefited from the passionate contribution of 50 women and men associated and friends of the Women and Technologies Association. Donne & Tecnologie ^® : The Protagonists ^{® ®} 8 members of the Jury of the "Technovisionaries Award" ^® 2010

The Conference
The day began with greetings from the Director General of the National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci" Fiorenzo Galli , the Consul General of the United States at the Consulate General of Milan Carol Z. Perez , and the President of Farmindustria Sergio Dompé . After the opening speech by Gianna Martinengo , the first two round tables coordinated respectively by Daniela Bellomo , General Manager of TT Factor srl, and Maria Luisa Nolli , CEO of Areta International, began. At the opening of the afternoon sessions, there were interventions by Giampaolo Landi di Chiavenna , Councilor for Health of the Municipality of Milan, and Marco Accornero , Member of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce of Milan. Coordinating the two round tables in the afternoon were Michela Matteoli , Director of the laboratory of "Cellular Biology of the Synapse" Department of Pharmacology of the University of Milan, as well as co-founder and President of Neuro-Zone srl, and Alessandra Perrazzelli , CEO of Intesa San Paolo Eurodesk. The closing remarks were made by Maria Grazia Cavenaghi-Smith , Director of the Information Office of the European Parliament in Milan.
Greetings were also received from Giorgia Meloni , Minister of Youth, from Roberto Formigoni , President of the Lombardy Region, and from Umberto Veronesi , Director of the European Institute of Oncology.

The 4 Round Tables of the Conference
The topics discussed in the 4 round tables, in addition to the high scientific rigor , were also valuable from an informative and guidance perspective for the numerous non-experts and young participants in the room.
The discussion around the first round table " How are our drugs changing? (the influence of biotechnologies in medicine) " focused on the evolution of the biotech industry, which has experienced significant growth at both national and international levels, bringing a series of innovative drugs to the market. The results of biotech innovation are already available to patients, but are still not well known. With the second round table "Advanced Therapies: New Frontiers of Regenerative Medicine" the presence was highlighted, among the new drugs that are revolutionizing the world of medicine, of a very innovative niche of bio-pharmaceuticals that are medicines for selected patients and for the treatment of diseases not curable with traditional drugs. With the third round table "Nanotechnologies for Health" the advantages and risks in the Health sector of nanotechnologies were discussed, which constitute a new approach based on the understanding and in-depth knowledge of the properties of matter on a nanometric scale. The last round table "Start-Ups and Finance for Innovation" addressed 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 underutilized in Italy.

The International Award "The Technovisionaries" ^® " 2010
Monday, November 8th was also the day of the assignment of the International Prize "The Technovisionaries". ^® "2010. 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 Guido Romeo , science editor of Wired, took place during the Gala Dinner held in the splendid halls of Palazzo Cusani, officially closing the 2010 edition of Women&Technologies." ^® .
The winner of the 1st Prize "Bio and Nano WomenTech" was Alessandra Biffi (San Raffaele-Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in Milan ). She was awarded the Medal that the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, designated for the initiative as his representation award.
Additionally, 4 Special Prizes were awarded, aimed at highlighting more specific scientific areas. The Special Prize: Interdisciplinarity was awarded to Antonella Canonico (ILABS); the Special Prize: "Space" for health was given to Simonetta Di Pippo (Director of Human Spaceflight, ESA); the Special Prize: Women in Emergency, Women in Crisis went to Sister Marcella Catozza (Kay La Association), but was accepted by Maurizio Ferrario (President of Kay La Association) as Sister Marcella was on duty in Haiti; the Special Prize for Scientific Communication: If I say Health... was won by Daniela Mattalia (Editor-in-Chief of scientific information, Panorama).
Finally, a Special Mention as the most noted technovisionary by the "audience" and the youngest among the finalists, went to Maddalena Paganin (Post-doc at the Laboratory of Pediatric Oncology, University of Padua).
The winners of the Special Prizes and Special Mention received a canvas from the ANITA' collection specially created by Carlotta Todeschini for the International Award "The Technovisionaries". ^® 2010.
For the third edition of the Award, there were over 50 nominations received through 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 8th saw the participation of over 200 people in the audience and 30 journalists and media operators . 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 1,012,000 visits and 166,000 visitors from over 110 Nations. Discussion groups dedicated to the initiative that have been activated on the main social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube) have 4000 members. "Women & Technologies " 2010 was also one of the proposals selected by Innovation Festival for its ability to promote the culture of innovation that led to the Futurecamp , an initiative dedicated entirely to young people interested in discovering the paths to enter the world of research and innovation in the field of biotechnology and nanotechnology, which saw the participation of around 100 young people . The "Technovisionary Prize " received over 50 nominations . The Jury identified a group of 14 finalists, among whom the winners of the 6 awards of this edition were chosen. Donne & Tecnologie ^® : the success the figures The success of the third edition of Women & Technologies ^{® ® ® ®}

The permanent laboratory: towards the 2011 Edition
The fourth edition of will once again focus on the theme of e-Health - Research and Innovation in the Health sector. The interesting and innovative aspect of Women & Technologies' approach Donne & Tecnologie ^{® ®} The development of the theme is entrusted, fueled, stimulated by the Creative, Physical, and Virtual Laboratory on the topics 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 simple enthusiasts of 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. ^® contribute to the birth of the 2011 edition of Women&Technologies ^®

The portal will continue to be active and will become the focal point of an open discussion on the themes of the conference, collecting and disseminating contributions from all interested parties; in this way, it will be an important element of continuity in view of the new "2011 edition" of Women&Technologies. ^®