Innovation 4 Change 2023 edition
Fabiola Gianotti, Director General of CERN, together with John Elkann, CEO of Exor, and other jury members, awarded the winners of the 2023 edition of Innovation 4 Change, an educational programme developed by the Collège des Ingénieurs (CDI) & CERN's innovation space, IdeaSquare.
I4C is a laboratory for the future that aims to train purpose-driven, deep-tech innovators by challenging talented students to solve global problems identified by industry. Fifty future leaders from MBA and Ph.D. programmes met with 50 European industry and institutional leaders to explore future opportunities, technologies, and value chains that can help create a sustainable future. The three finalists selected by the jury for the I4C Expo were:
- Insetech (Challenge Biocentis) - the Navigation Tool of Pest Prediction - a holistic and networked AI-based pest prediction system coupled with targeted pest control monitoring.
- e-Chlora (Grimaldi Group Challenge) - a simple, transparent, and scalable solution for effective CO2 capture and climate change mitigation.
- SoilSoul (Rai Way Challenge) - an autonomous robot that uses edge computing to continuously analyse soil parameters in agricultural fields, improving sustainable farming practices.
Fabiola Gianotti, Director General of CERN, commented: "Educating the next generation of scientists and innovators is part of CERN's mission. We are pleased to support the development of young minds committed to making a difference in society."
John Elkann, CEO of Exor, said: "Innovation 4 Change and CERN bring together young European talent and challenge them to tackle the most critical issues facing our world: we are proud to support this programme aimed at building a better world and we are committed to expanding the scope of its activities in the future."
The programme included a visit by the jury to the project stands, a fireside chat between Dr. Fabiola Gianotti, Mr. John Elkann, and Dr. Amelie Schoenenwald (ESA Astronaut Reserve Group) on intergenerational cooperation as a key leadership tool, and two panels. The first panel, chaired by Mr. Edward Glanville of Economist Impact, part of The Economist Group (Senior Programme Editor and Head of Sustainability Events Programming), discussed the potential of public-private partnerships. The second panel, chaired by Catherine Howe of Economist Impact, part of The Economist Group (Head of Content & Programmes), focused on decarbonisation strategies and projects to accelerate the energy transition. Participants heard from a panel of speakers on different perspectives on the future of energy.
