UNIDO ITPO Italy’s virtual event “Bridging the gaps towards Industry 4.0: focus on Digital Manufacturing” took place on 16 December 2020, exploring and promoting the disruptive potential of technological innovation offered by the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the sector of digital manufacturing.

The session was organized as the first of a long series of activities in the framework of the project “Innovation Bridge Trieste – Dubai 2020” funded by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, which will lead up to Expo Dubai 2021 addressing various aspects of its main theme, namely “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”.

The conference was opened by the welcoming remarks of Ms. Diana Battaggia, Head of UNIDO ITPO Italy, and Ms. Sandra Sodini, Director of the Department for International Relations and European Programming of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, and moderated by UNIDO ITPO Italy’s Investment Promotion Experts Ms. Aurora Cicillini and Ms. Eleonora Rella, and featured the interventions of organizations, the private sector and academia in the field of digital manufacturing from different countries around the world.

In this framework, Mr. Stefano Salvador, Head of Enterprises and Incubation Office at Area Science Park, presented the initiatives of Area Science Park and IP4FVG to digitalize small and medium enterprises at a local, regional and national level; Mr. Alessio Lorusso, CEO of Roboze, shared the company’s innovative 3D printing solutions to improve international supply chains; Mr. Roberto Gallo, Director of FabLab ZOI, showed the role of digitalization, 3D printing and distributed production in Ecuador during the Covid-19 pandemic; Mr. Leonard Mabele, Manager of the IoT Research Lab of iLabAfrica at Strathmore University in Kenya, presented projects to mainstream IoT and 3D printing in the Kenyan private sector; and finally Mr. Raymond Tavares and Mr. Wu Yugang, respectively Industrial Development Officer at UNIDO and Director of the UNIDO Shanghai International Intelligent Manufacturing Promotion Center (SIIMPC), highlighting the crucial role of digital innovation and UNIDO's experience in China.

Thanks also to its special interactive session and final Q&A, the conference successfully provided a platform for international innovators to exchange sectoral knowledge in the field of digital manufacturing, sharing inspiring success stories and best practices so as to foster strategic partnerships aimed at promoting technological innovation for sustainable industrial development.