Date: 26th – 29th September 2024

Location: Modena, Italy

From September 26th to 29th, Modena welcomed the 9th Edition of the Smart Life Festival, a key event in Italy dedicated to exploring the intersection of digital culture, technology, and societal change. This year’s theme, “True, False, X”, invited participants to delve into the challenges of distinguishing reality from fiction in the age of generative AI. The festival explored how we acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate these complexities.

Event Scopes

The festival brought together a broad spectrum of disciplines, including: Technology, Information and Journalism, Education, Science, Art

Key Themes

This year’s program focused on crucial topics such as:

• Technological transformations and their impact on society.
• New frontiers in the fight against disinformation, particularly in a world increasingly shaped by AI.
• The evolving relationship between science and truth in a digital age.
• The dynamic between human beings and computational machines, exploring AI’s role in shaping human interaction.
• A unique focus on the interaction between artificial intelligence and animal intelligence, adding a philosophical layer to discussions about life, intelligence, and technology.

TRACE’s Contributions

TRACE actively participated in these discussions, contributing through two public events that, building on the experience of the TRACE project, aimed at investigating and discussing legal and social implications and challenges of emerging technologies, in the areas of mobility and logistics.

• Panel Discussion: “Ethics, Privacy, Security and AI for Mobility and Logistics: From Horizon Europe to Modena.” Here, TRACE explored the ethical considerations surrounding the integration of AI in urban mobility, particularly in logistics, and how this aligns with broader European initiatives like Horizon Europe. Researchers, PhD students, and an R&D experts in Computer Vision were involved as speakers.
• Workshop: “Mobility of the Future: Between Perception, Trust, and Technological Innovation.” TRACE led this engaging workshop, focusing on the transformative potential of emerging technologies in shaping trust and perception in urban transportation.

The events took place in Galleria Europa (home of the EUROPE DIRECT Center of Comune di Modena).

 Live Demonstration

A major highlight was TRACE’s live cargo bike and drones’ exhibition and demonstration, which showcased the project’s cutting-edge solutions for last-mile logistics. The exhibited cargobikes and drones will be used within the Italian demonstrator of TRACE. The prototypes have been available to the public in Galleria Europa during the events.

One of the cargobikes – appropriately branded with the project graphics – was circulating in the historical city center of Modena, distributing leaflets and information about the dissemination events going on within the festival.  

The demonstration gave attendees an immersive experience of TRACE’s smart urban logistics systems in action, underscoring its role in making urban transportation more efficient and sustainable.

Collaborations

TRACE’s involvement in the festival was made possible through strong collaboration among Comune di Modena (City of Modena), UNIMORE (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) and ISIG (Institute of International Sociology of Gorizia).

Additionally, all the project’s Italian partners – URBICO (a network of CITY LOGISTICS operators), One Less Van (Cargo bikes for logistics needs in urban centers) and ITL (Institute for Transport and Logistics Foundation) took active part in it. 

Together, these partners played crucial roles in organizing, supporting, and driving innovation during the event.

Networking

TRACE also engaged in clustering activities with the SAFE-CITIES project, further strengthening its network and expanding its reach in smart city solutions.

The Smart Life Festival 2024 provided a rich platform for TRACE to engage with diverse stakeholders, from researchers and educators to tech enthusiasts and policymakers, solidifying its role in shaping the future of urban mobility and logistics.