When thinking about digital innovation and policy around technology we often view it either through the lens of Silicon Valley surveillance capitalism or Chinese digital authoritarianism. We don’t often think about what a European approach to innovation might look like. Francesca Bria on the other hand spends most of her time thinking about just that. In our conversation, Francesca offered insight on Europe’s role in digital innovation, how culture informs technology and how citizens can get active in the area of digital innovation and policy.

GUEST

Francesca Bria is the President of the Italian National Innovation Fund. She is an information technologist, innovation economist and digital policy expert, working at the intersection of technology, geopolitics, economics and society.

HOST

Severin Matusek is an editor and strategist who has spent the last decade researching how technology transforms culture, communities and society.

IDEAS AND PEOPLE IN CONTEXT

Nesta is an innovation foundation intended to promote innovation across a broad range of sectors through investment, policy and research. https://www.nesta.org.uk/

The Italian Innovation Fund is an initiative by the Italian government to help fund innovation within the country and boost the Italian start-up ecosystem. https://www.cdp.it/sitointernet/it/homepage.page

The New European Bauhaus is a creative and interdisciplinary initiative, convening a space of encounter to design future ways of living, situated at the crossroads between art, culture, social inclusion, science and technology. https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/index_en

GAFAM is a name given to the four or five largest and most dominant companies in the tech industry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Tech

D-CENT (Decentralised Citizens Engagement Technologies) was a Europe-wide project helping citizen-led organisations in developing the next generation of open source, distributed, and privacy-aware tools for direct democracy and economic empowerment. https://dcentproject.eu/

TRANSCRIPT

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CREDITS

The Vienna Business Agency supports businesses, the economy and the city in developing the Austrian capital’s creative industries and shaping its future trajectory. viennabusinessagency.at

Editorial Team: Mike Evans, Paul Feigelfeld, Severin Matusek, Elisabeth Noever-Ginthör, Elisa Stockinger, Heinz Wolf.

Theme Music by Zanshin.