From 9 to 12 October in Tuscany, Pisa, it is being held the Third Edition of Internet Festival, one of the most important European events dedicated to the digital world, promoted by Tuscany Region, Municipality of Pisa, Registro.it, the IT and Telematics Institute of CNR, University of Pisa, Sant’Anna High School, Normale High School, together with Chamber of Commerce, Pisa’s District and Science Festival Association.

As confirmed by the numbers, last edition of the Festival was a great success: 280 thousand visitors in four days, 20 dedicated locations, 65 thousand users connected via Web, 150 events, 200 speakers from 60 countries.

Pisa territory is heart and brain of the network and first Italian area for research investment and development in respect to  the GDP (3.5% versus 1,1% of the national average), also thanks to the 1300 high technology enterprises of which 800 works in the ICT sector.

The commitment of Tuscany Region to digital development, considered as main tool for the full citizen engagement, this year will connote many areas of the Festival. In particular Logge de’ Banchi, recognised centre of Pisa society, will host services and initiatives related to the regional Open Data.

Testimonial of IF2014 will be obviously Galileo Galilei, whose 450th birth anniversary is celebrated this year.
Key word of the event will be matter: almost a provocation, considering that the web is immaterial by definition. But so as the industrial revolution was born out of coal and steel, the digital revolution is born out of mines bursting with an inexhaustible supply of binary numbers, which when put together generate big data, the vital substratum for complex matter and active semi-processed products. The new economic paradigm of Internet Economies emerge out of these mines; citizens, researchers, public administrators, makers, start-ups, artists and visionaries play a leading role, extracting first matter to realise projects and products which impact our daily lives.

The Festival will also analyse the Internet Economies, common thread of 2014’s edition, into eight sections: Take the money, Make it good, Go Green, Design to innovate, Culture is smarter, Cooperation wanted, Break the rules and Play the Game. These section are intended to investigate themes related to culture, participation, opportunities for young people, green start-ups, design, game business and the connection between hackers and privacy.

Among the already confirmed speakers of IF 2014: Alberto Abruzzese, Lucia Annunziata, Moni Ovadia, Fabio Vaccarono, Alex Giordano, Derrick De Kerkhove, Remo Bodei, Giulio Giorello, Giacomo Marramao, Nathan Jurgenson, Riccardo Luna, Mario Tedeschini Lalli, Anna Masera, Massimo Russo, Marino Niola, Michele Mezza, Vincenzo Susca, Giancarlo Sciascia, Simone Cicero, Donata Columbro, Alessio Jacona, Mattia Sullini.

A very important area will be the T-Tour one, dedicated to playful educational workshops for adults, teenagers and children, which in 2013’s edition registered more than six thousand attendees.

This Tuscan event will involve important places of Pisa such as Bastione San Gallo, the Cineclub Arsenale, the Research Area of CNR, Cavalieri Square (where a geoide will be raised), Normale High School, Sant’Anna High School, Logge dè Banchi, the Mixart, Fibonacci UniPi Pole, the Ponte di Mezzo, the Sms Library – Piagge Urban Park, SMS Exhibition Centre for Contemporary Art, the Leopolda Station, the Feltrinelli and the Ubik bookshops.

Festival director is Claudio Giua, President of Fondazione Sistema Toscana.

Adriana De Cesare of Fondazione Sistema Toscana is Festival Coordinator, while Anna Vaccarelli (IIT-CNR) and Gianluigi Ferrari (University of Pisa) coordinate, respectively, the Executive and the Scientific Committee.

Internet Festival, 9 – 12 October 2014, Pisa   www.internetfestival.it

Promoters:
Tuscany Region 
Municipality of Pisa 
CNR
Registro.it
IIT
Pisa Chamber of Commerce
University of Pisa
Pisa’s District
Sant’ Anna High School
Pisa Normale High School 
Science Festival Association

Organized by:
Fondazione Sistema Toscana

Under the patronage of:
ISCOM