A leap into the future to discover how our lives will change Innovation, technology, and creativity take center stage at Maker Faire 2023, the annual event held at the Fiera di Roma that brings together researchers and enthusiasts from across Europe.
Maker Faire Rome, now in its eleventh edition, symbolizes the strong push for local development initiated by the Rome Chamber of Commerce.
This institution has been actively promoting and organizing this event since its inception. Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition is a project promoted by the Rome Chamber of Commerce and organized by Innova Camera, its internal unit focused on innovation and entrepreneurial development.
The three-day event, which animated the setting of Fiera di Roma from October 20 to 22, featured a true city of technology spanning 100,000 square meters with over 600 installations.
It successfully attracted approximately 70,000 visitors, including families, schools, entrepreneurs, and representatives from the academic world, all eager to catch a glimpse of the future of the tech industry.
This time, the spectacles slowed down, allowing for a more thoughtful and perhaps more mature reflection. Today, two souls coexist in that future.
One, highlighted in numerous panels on the main stage, works vertically: artificial intelligence in law enforcement, social and prosthetic robotics in the healthcare system, cybersecurity as a critical node in the corporate and governmental spheres.
The other soul is that of raw experimentation, originating from the idea garages that aim to change the world—a theme dear to Massimo Banzi, the founder of the “maker” movement with his invention, Arduino, a motherboard that still manages to colour the fair today.
Lorenzo Tagliavanti, President of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, emphasizes, “We always keep humans at the center of progress.”
Populating the pavilions of this festival are the makers: innovators, technology enthusiasts, educators, thinkers, inventors, engineers, authors, artists, students, digital artisans, and university researchers.
These professionals create and amaze with the innovative power of their ideas—individuals, companies, and startups that, observing reality, identify new solutions to solve problems and improve people’s lives, making society more sustainable.
This exchange of ideas is facilitated this year by MFR Networking, a platform that allow companies and makers, representing supply and demand in innovation, to meet.
Participating in Maker Faire Rome means encountering present-day innovators in all fields: from digital manufacturing to the Internet of Things, from circular economy to agritech, from robotics to artificial intelligence, touching on big data and aerospace, all the way to the latest developments in the metaverse and augmented reality.
The EdTech area this year is also unmissable, with a packed schedule of educational activities, interactive workshops, and enlightening talks. In addition to showcasing projects and inventions, Maker Faire offers workshops, conferences, and laboratories to acquire technical skills and stimulate collaboration among students, startups, companies, government entities, families, entrepreneurs, and investors.
The event promotes the exchange of ideas and the evolution of technologies, as explained by the content curator, Alessandro Ranellucci. “This is the 11th edition of Maker Faire—returning to the dimensions of before the pandemic, a city of makers with seven pavilions. In essence, what truly comes to life is a city, a community that brings innovation to Maker Faire every year in many fields.
We try to tell the story of how innovation will change our lives tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, at all scales, from daily life to the major themes of the planet. But in reality, we also try to narrate how today, in many areas, even if we are not aware, there are many sectors, many people using innovative approaches.”
Aerospace and aviation, drones, smart cities, artificial intelligence, and big data are just a few of the topics covered in this 11th edition, which saw thousands of visitors flock to the Fiera di Roma to literally take a leap into the future.
