Ignazio Vinci is associate Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Palermo. As researcher and consultant he deals with urban policy, local development, strategic planning. On this topics he has published around 110 works, including books, book chapters and journal articles. He’s also member of the governing board of the European Urban Research Association.

Born in Palermo in 1983, he is Master of Science in information engineering at Polytechnic University of Milan. He has worked as Temporary Research Associate at Polytechnic University of Milan. He’s co-founder and Associate Managing Director of the innovation lab PUSH and CEO of the design studio NEU / Integrated Design.

Jean Barroca has a degree in Engineering Sciences – Electrotechnical and Computer Engineering, from Instituto Superior Técnico of the Technical University of Lisbon. He worked in several non-profit organizations and also at Local Government level where he has developed experience and competencies in team and project management with strong emphasis on open innovation strategies, Web 2.0 dissemination strategies and creation of new services through ICT enabled applications in different domains. During the last years he has been involved in several EU funded projects under CIP ICT PSP and FP7, in the context of Smart Cities.

Jesse Marsh moved from America to Milan in the mid-‘70s to work as an industrial designer. In fifteen years of professional activity, he confronted a wide range of technologies, processes and product sector, from chairs to artificial lungs. In the late ‘80s he was drawn to information technologies. First in Milan and since 1995 in Palermo, he worked with learning technologies, teleworking and e-commerce and then in policy work on the link between the information society and sustainable development, cultural diversity and democratic participation. In recent years he worked with local authorities in Sicily, in Territorial Cooperation projects.

Ivonne Jansen-Dings works as an Open Data project manager at Waag Society, where she is active in the field of Smart Cities. She has led numerous projects on a local, national and European level in the field of citizen participation, civic engagement and open data. Currently she is leading the Apps for Europe consortium, is the chair of Code for Europe and heading the Code for NL initiative in the Netherlands.

Francesco Molinari graduated in Economic and Social Disciplines at Bocconi University and specialised in Public Management at the University of Siena. He is currently research associate on Frugal Government at Politecnico di Milano, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, and visiting professor on Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Business School of the University of Ulster, Belfast. As a policy advisor and research manager he has worked for about 15 years with several public and private clients in Europe – including international organisations like FAO and the European Commission – the Ministries of Economic Development and Research and Education and a number of Regions in Italy.

Andrea Cusumano is an academic, a film director, a play-writer, a painter, and an orchestra director. He is teacher at Goldsmiths College in London and External Examiner at the American University of Athens and at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He is artistic director at CeSDAS. From 2013 he organizes the “Goldsmiths” festival in Palermo. He has worked for over twenty years with Hermann Nitsch and he is the main director of the Orgien Mysterien Theatre Orchestra. Since September 2014 he is the Minister of Culture of the City of Palermo.