WELCOME SPEECH
Carlo Mazzi – Chairman, Prada S.p.A., welcomed today’s speakers and guests to Fondazione Prada in Milan for Shaping a Sustainable Digital Future, the second edition of Prada Group’s ‘Shape a Future Conversations’. He opened today’s discussions by noting that digitalization makes an extraordinary contribution to sustainable development, and that taking the time to refect on what this really means by an event such as today is vital.

ROUNDTABLE 1: SOCIO-GEOPOLITICAL IMPACTS TRIGGERED BY THE DIGITAL EVOLUTION
In this session, the roundtable guests discussed how digital evolution and technology are shaping and impacting human life. The speakers looked at the role government and businesses should play to ensure people can enjoy the beneft of digital evolution and develop skills to manage new technologies as these become integral to human life.

Roundtable

• Vittorio Grilli, Chairman of Italy and Chairman of the Corporate & Investment Bank EMEA at J.P. Morgan
  
• Rachel Coldicutt, Doteveryone CEO
  
• Jon Iwata, Executive-in-Residence, Yale School of Management Former IBM Chief Brand Officer & Senior Vice President
  
• Andrew Keen, Technology entrepreneur, critic and author
  
• Anil Menon, President of Cisco Smart+Connected Communities
  

Moderators

• Ravi Dhar, Professor of Management and Marketing & Director of the Center for Customer Insights Yale School of Management
  
• Raffaella Cagliano, Deputy Director of the Department of Management Engineering and Professor of People Management & Organization, Politecnico di Milano School of Management

KEYNOTE SPEECH
In his powerful keynote speech ‘Beyond Digital’, Nicholas Negroponte, Chairman Emeritus of MIT Media Lab, discussed the complex interplay of capitalism, entrepreneurship, democracy, education and culture. He highlighted the destructive nature of ‘groupthink’ and proposed new ways of thinking about technology. Nicholas fagged that the greatest minds in the feld of AI have considered the deep issues of human intelligence in relation to AI – such as humor, happiness and music – rather than superfcial form and function. He argued the crisp lines that historically guided human interaction no longer exist –people need to adapt and understand technology in a more nuanced way.

ROUNDTABLE 2: WILL DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES PRESERVE OR DISRUPT CULTURAL IDENTITIES OF INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES?
Today’s second roundtable was introduced by the “Being” Project – the Yale and MIP students’ winning Hackathon presentation, which looked at the ways technology can be integrated to deploy and connect sustainable development.

The conversation then moved on to the guest speakers’ debate, which analyzed the importance of cooperation between the public and the private sectors to preserve cultural heritage and to allow digital technology to fourish.

Roundtable speakers

• Roberta Cocco, Deputy Mayor for Digital Transformation and Citizens Services at the Municipality of Milan
• Andrea Illy, Chairman of illycaffè S.p.A.
• Elena Zambon, Chairman of Zambon S.p.A. Former IBM Chief Brand Officer & Senior Vice President

Moderators

• Alessandro Brun, Director of Master in Global Luxury Management at MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business
  
• Jennie Liu, Executive Director, Yale Center for Customer Insights and Lecturer in the Practice of Management, Yale School of Management