The opening of the “Italy of the Future” travelling exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo has launched a month of seminars, meetings and events designed to showcase Italian excellence to the Japanese research and industry communities in the fields of science, technology and innovation.
Coordinated by the Embassy of Italy in Tokyo as part of “Italy in Japan” programme of events, the exhibition is promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was organised by the National Research Council (CNR) in collaboration with Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the Biorobotics Institute at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced studies in Pisa and other scientific institutions. “Italy of the Future” will provide an opportunity for these organisations to meet and exchange views with their Japanese counterparts.
The aim is to explore opportunities for bilateral collaboration in the research and technology field and to disseminate a image of today and tomorrow’s Italy in Japan. The programme of events will highlight the contribution made by our scientific community to sectors such as robotics, particle physics, medicine, transport, the “New Made in Italy” brand and conservation as applied to the cultural heritage.
Speakers at the Tokyo event included CNR President Luigi Nicolais, the Scientific Director of the IIT, Roberto Cingolani, the Director of the Biorobotics Institute, Paolo Dario, and INFN President Fernando Ferroni.
Participants on the Japanese side included the Presidents of the Science and Technology in Society Forum, Koji Omi, and of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Yuichiro Anzai, and the President of Riken and Nobel Prize for Chemistry, Ryoji Noyori.
“Our ultimate goal”, declared Ambassador Domenico Giorgi, “is to convey a modern image of an Italy rich in art and history, which at the same time produces cutting-edge research and technology. The warm welcome extended by Japan is symptomatic of the country’s growing interest in Italy as a technological partner”.
The Science and Technology Focus of Italy in Japan 2013 will run for a full month. It will act as a framework for the forthcoming signing of the 10th Executive Programme of the bilateral science and technology agreement between Italy and Japan, first set up in 1988. Highlights of the programme include:
“Human Technology and Humanoid Robots”
“Scientific Cooperation for the Sea of the Future”
“The Gravitational Wave Detectors of the Future”
“Italy meets Asia 2013”
“Ion Dynamics in Normal and Tumoral Tissue”
“Italian-Japanese Colloquium on Population Ageing: the problem of neuro-degenerative disease”
“Information Security in Today’s World”
