Makers at World Wide Rome

Arduino
Makers at World Wide Rome

I’m in Rome at a gathering of makers, organized to promote how Italy can develop and contribute to the maker movement. Chris Anderson and Massimo Banzi presented this morning, and I’ll be up in the afternoon. Riccardo Luna is the host and conference organizer of World Wide Rome – the Makers Edition. The conference is held at the beautiful Acquario Romano.

Anderson talked about the primacy of design in Italian culture and that expertise could be the focus for understanding a new world in which we are all designers.

Banzi, who is probably better known in the US than in Italy, talked about the development of Arduino at the Institute of Interactive Design at Ivrea. The development of Arduino arises from his interest in building a platform for experimentation in interaction design.

20120309-123608.jpg

Leandro Agro gave an interesting talk about how design is no longer about the shape of objects but about the behaviors of connected objects.

Later, I will give my talk, “Leading and Following the Maker Movement.” There are times in history when there’s a creative explosion – emerging tools and knowledge provide new opportunities for all forms of expression, which constitute personal and social transformation. This is what the Renaissance represents in history. What if we are in the midst of a similar transformation by new tools and new ideas and a growing number of participants? What if we can find the elements of a renaissance in our own day and age?

There is work underway to develop a Maker Faire in Florence, which is an amazing cultural context to showcase the makers of this emerging world.

10 thoughts on “Makers at World Wide Rome

  1. meedabyte says:

    Dale,
    has been amazing having you, Chris and Massimo on stage, all was so ispirational.
    This gave us some hope that the Italian society can finally change and start looking for the real, bottom up, innovation that can change our country as well as is doing with the whole world.

  2. Nishant says:

    Hello,
    I really appreciated your intervent during WWRome, I was there too. Besides the great tech and emotional vibes we shared during the event Italy has to solve structural and credit-related problems that are essential to make our economics grow so I think it’s time to focus on a practical way to solve those issues which are really stopping Italy.

  3. Giovanni Re says:

    Dale, thanks for your kind words and support. We are ready for a new Italian Renaissance.

  4. Leandro Agro says:

    Thank you for your mention Dale.
    (leandro, not leondro)

  5. La nuova rivoluzione industriale: i Makers - Market Revolution says:

    […] Makers at World Wide Rome (Make blog) […]

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

DALE DOUGHERTY is the leading advocate of the Maker Movement. He founded Make: Magazine 2005, which first used the term “makers” to describe people who enjoyed “hands-on” work and play. He started Maker Faire in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2006, and this event has spread to nearly 200 locations in 40 countries, with over 1.5M attendees annually. He is President of Make:Community, which produces Make: and Maker Faire.

In 2011 Dougherty was honored at the White House as a “Champion of Change” through an initiative that honors Americans who are “doing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.” At the 2014 White House Maker Faire he was introduced by President Obama as an American innovator making significant contributions to the fields of education and business. He believes that the Maker Movement has the potential to transform the educational experience of students and introduce them to the practice of innovation through play and tinkering.

Dougherty is the author of “Free to Make: How the Maker Movement Is Changing our Jobs, Schools and Minds” with Adriane Conrad. He is co-author of "Maker City: A Practical Guide for Reinventing American Cities" with Peter Hirshberg and Marcia Kadanoff.

View more articles by Dale Dougherty

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK