INSIDE Connect 2026
The INSIDE Connect 2026 event — from 30 September to 1 October, 2026
European digital systems roadmapping forum
Where Europe’s digital future takes shape
INSIDE Connect 2026
Join industry leaders, researchers, policymakers and innovators from across Europe for two days of strategic discussions, networking and collaboration that will shape the future of electronic systems and semiconductor technologies.
Why attend?
- Connect with Europe’s leading digital systems ecosystem
- Discover future technology roadmaps and innovation priorities
- Exchange with industry, academia and policymakers
- Explore collaboration opportunities and EU initiatives
- Experience one of Europe’s most inspiring destinations
Event highlights
Strategic Keynotes • Technology Roadmaps • Networking Sessions • Cultural Tour • Social Dinner • International Community
We are absolutely delighted to invite the global INSIDE community to join us in Palermo, Southern
Italy, for the upcoming Roadmapping Forum.
This remarkable city offers a truly distinctive setting that pairs a robust academic and research
foundation with an incredibly vibrant, layered cultural backdrop.
INSIDE Connect 2026 is where our interdisciplinary, inclusive, and forward-thinking community comes together to anticipate what lies ahead, defining a collective vision that strengthens our impact, influence, and identity in a rapidly changing world.
This is where connections become direction!
Army Officers’ Club
P.za Sant’Oliva, 25, 90141 Palermo PA, Italy
It’s time to connect!
During INSIDE Connect 2026, you can expect two inspiring days filled with insightful keynotes, interactive workshops, industry showcases, and meaningful networking opportunities. The program is designed to connect ideas, people, and innovation across Europe’s digital ecosystem.
Below is what you can expect:
Programme
This programme is currently a draft and may be updated as sessions and speakers are confirmed.
Programme
INSIDE Connect 2026
All times are local to Europe/Rome.
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Wednesday 30 September 2026
Registration and Welcome Coffee
Entrance
INSIDE Connect Opening
Main Plenary
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09:00 – 09:10
Paolo Azzoni, Secretary General, INSIDE Industry Association
Jean-Luc di Paola-Galloni, President, INSIDE Industry Association
Jean-Luc di Paola-Galloni
INSIDE Industry Association
President
National and regional strategies for digital innovation
Main Plenary
-
09:10 – 09:20 Welcome speech
Fabrizio Ferrandelli, Municipal Councilor for Digital Innovation
Fabrizio Ferrandelli
Municipal Councilor for Digital Innovation
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab)Filippo D'Arpa, Chief Executive Officer, Distretto Tecnologico Micro-Nano Sistemi
Filippo D'Arpa
Distretto Tecnologico Micro-Nano Sistemi
Chief Executive Officer
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab) -
09:20 – 09:50 Building ECS value chain future: national perspectives
Francesco Tenuta, Head: Critical Raw Materials Unit, Member of the Italian Strategic Fund Steering Committee, Ministry of Enterprises & Made in Italy (MIMIT)
Francesco Tenuta
Ministry of Enterprises & Made in Italy (MIMIT)
Head: Critical Raw Materials Unit, Member of the Italian Strategic Fund Steering Committee
Francesca Galli, Head of the Technical Secretariat, Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca (MUR)
Francesca Galli
Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca (MUR)
Head of the Technical Secretariat
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab) -
09:50 – 10:00 Italian and European perspective on ECS value chain
Fabrizia Vigo, Public Affairs Director, ANFIA
State of Affairs: Chips Act 2.0, MFF/ECF/FP10, WP 2027
Main Plenary
-
10:00 – 10:45
Paolo Azzoni, Secretary General, INSIDE Industry Association
Networking Break: Connect & Exchange
Terrace – coffee break area
Projects Exhibition
Global Semiconductor Power Shift: Europe, US & China
Main Plenary
-
11:15 – 11:35 Presentation by Valeo/INSIDE
Jean-Luc di Paola-Galloni, President, INSIDE Industry Association
Jean-Luc di Paola-Galloni
INSIDE Industry Association
President
-
11:35 – 11:55 Presentation by LIMES
Giuseppe De Ruvo, PhD Student, LIMES
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11:55 – 12:15 Presentation by German Marshall Fund (GMF)
Antonia Wunnerlich, Fellow, Innovation and Competitiveness, German Marshal Fund
Antonia Wunnerlich
German Marshal Fund
Fellow, Innovation and Competitiveness
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab)
Building Europe’s Next-Generation Chips with RISC-V
Main Plenary
-
12:15 – 12:45
Michael Chapman, CEO, CORTUS
CADETTI: the Italian Competence Center
Main Plenary
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12:45 – 13:00 Meet the Ecosystem
Cristina De Luca, Director of International Relations and Partnerships, Chips IT Foundation
Cristina De Luca
Chips IT Foundation
Director of International Relations and Partnerships
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab)
Networking Lunch: Connect & Exchange
Garden – lunch area
Projects Exhibition
The Future of Compute: Brain-Inspired and Unconventional Computing
Main Plenary
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14:00 – 14:30
Wilfred van der Wiel, Professor of NanoElectronics, UT-EEMCS
14:30 – 15:30Parallel sessions — choose a track
Autonomous Systems
Main Plenary
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14:30 – 14:50 Enabling the Trillion Sensor Economy with Ultra-low Power Edge Computing
Michele Mastella, CTO & CoFounder, Neuronova
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14:50 – 15:10 Agentic AI for Robotic Autonomous Systems
Marco Di Felice, Full Professor in Computer Science, University of Bologna
Marco Di Felice
University of Bologna
Full Professor in Computer Science
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab) -
15:10 – 15:30 Brain-Inspired Compute for System-Level Autonomy
Mahmoud Akl, VP of Software, SpiNNcloud
Engineering the Next Generation of European Chips
Room 2
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14:30 – 14:50 How High-performance CPU Contribute to Europe AI Strategy
Vincent Casillas, CTO, SiPEARL
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14:50 – 15:10 Computing Evolution for the AI Edge
Giulio Urlini, R&D Program Manager, STMicroelectronics
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15:10 – 15:30 PHOENIX: A National Hub for Chiplets and AI-enabled EDA – Aligning with Europe’s Chips Act Priorities
Andrea Pinna, Executive Vice President, Socio-Economic Partnerships, Sorbonne Université
Andrea Pinna
Sorbonne Université
Executive Vice President, Socio-Economic Partnerships
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Networking Break: Connect & Exchange
Terrace – coffee break area
Projects Exhibition
16:00 – 17:00Parallel sessions — choose a track
Autonomous Systems
Main Plenary
-
16:00 – 16:20 Europe’s Robotics Future: Opportunities and Challenges in the Age of Embodied Intelligence
Juha Röning, Professor, University of Oulu / ADRA
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16:20 – 16:40 Efficient Edge Intelligence for Autonomous Drones and Robotics
Michele Magno, Professor and Head of the Project-based learning Center, ETH Zurich
Michele Magno
ETH Zurich
Professor and Head of the Project-based learning Center
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab) -
16:40 – 17:00 Interoperable Multi-domain Autonomy
Alberto Bianchi, Senior R&D / technology strategy, Leonardo S.p.A
Alberto Bianchi
Leonardo S.p.A
Senior R&D / technology strategy
Application-driven Innovation Across the ECS Value Chain
Room 2
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16:00 – 17:00 Panel DiscussionModerators:
Dimitrios Serpanos, President, CTI
Panellists:Andrea Pinna, Executive Vice President, Socio-Economic Partnerships, Sorbonne Université
Andrea Pinna
Sorbonne Université
Executive Vice President, Socio-Economic Partnerships
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab)Gianluigi Ferrari, Full Professor, Università di Parma
Jon Perez, Tech. Dir. Electronic Embedded Systems and Cybersecurity, Ikerlan
Jon Perez
Ikerlan
Tech. Dir. Electronic Embedded Systems and Cybersecurity
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab)Markus Tauber, Chief Scientific Officer, Research Studios Austria
Markus Tauber
Research Studios Austria
Chief Scientific Officer
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab)
17:00 – 17:30Parallel sessions — choose a track
Software-defined-X
Software-defined-X: the Future of Digital Systems
Main Plenary
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17:00 – 17:30 Hardware plasticity: unlocking the true potential of AI with software-defined hardware
Keith Shea, CEO, D-Chiplet
Functional safety in AI
Trust in Motion: Making Physical AI Safe
Room 2
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17:00 – 17:30 Trust in Motion: Safety & Availability for Physical AI Beyond HW Redundancy
David Baca, Head of Quality, Safety, and Security, Apex.AI
Return to the hotels and reach the meeting point
Meeting point in front of Army officers' club at 18:15
Discovering Palermo: heritage & innovation walk
Palazzo Fatta
Evening networking dinner
Palazzo Fatta
Thursday 1 October 2026
Networking Break: Connect & Exchange
Terrace – coffee break area
Projects Exhibition
09:00 – 10:45Parallel sessions — choose a track
Software-defined and AI-defined Mobility
Main Plenary
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09:00 – 09:20 ECAVA Evolution and Future Opportunities
Michael Paulweber, Executive Adviser SW defined Vehicle (SDV) and Automated Driving, AVL List GmbH
Michael Paulweber
AVL List GmbH
Executive Adviser SW defined Vehicle (SDV) and Automated Driving
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09:20 – 09:40 A Hardware Architecture for the Digital Vehicle of the Future
Patrick Pype, Director Strategic Partnerships at NXP, NXP
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09:40 – 10:00 Software-Defined Systems Across Domains: Shared Technologies for the Future of Mobility
Christian Fidi, Senior Vice President Business Unit Aerospace, TTTech
Christian Fidi
TTTech
Senior Vice President Business Unit Aerospace
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10:00 – 10:45 Open discussion
CEI-Sphere
CEI-Sphere Deep Dive – Edge to Cloud in Industrial Optimization and Productivity
Room 2
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09:00 – 09:20 CEI-Sphere Introduction
Paolo Azzoni, Secretary General, INSIDE Industry Association
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09:20 – 09:40 Hourglass Model 2027 as a Business Canvas
Antonio Kung, Co-founder – Executive board, Trialog
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09:40 – 10:00 Presentation and Analysis of the “Stand-up 3” Questionnaire
Mauro Tortonesi, Associate Professor, University of Ferrara
Paolo Azzoni, Secretary General, INSIDE Industry Association
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10:00 – 10:20 Deep-dive Open Discussion
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10:20 – 10:45 Preliminary Recommendations
EuroCDP
EuroCDP – Designing Chips in Europe: Tools, Support and Opportunities
Room 3
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09:00 – 09:05 Session opening
Réda Nouacer, Researcher and Program Officer, CEA
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09:05 – 09:25 Design-Platform Overview
Helio Fernandez Tellez, Program Director, IMEC
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09:25 – 09:45 Using the EuroCDP Platform: a Tutorial
Marina Dias, Coordinator for EU Funding | RTD+I Manager, INL
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09:45 – 10:05 Design Enablement Teams overview
Olivier Thomas, Deputy head of the Digital Integrated Circuit & System division, CEA
Olivier Thomas
CEA
Deputy head of the Digital Integrated Circuit & System division
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab) -
10:05 – 10:25 EuroCDP Venture Programme
Giorgio Dell’Erba, Director of Industrial Partnerships and Tech Transfer, ChipsIT
Giorgio Dell’Erba
ChipsIT
Director of Industrial Partnerships and Tech Transfer
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10:25 – 10:40 EuroCDP Grants
Helio Fernandez Tellez, Program Director, IMEC
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10:40 – 10:45 Questions and answers
Réda Nouacer, Researcher and Program Officer, CEA
Networking Break: Connect & Exchange
Terrace – coffee break area
Projects Exhibition
11:00 – 13:00Parallel sessions — choose a track
Autonomous systems
Main Plenary
Parallel thematic workshop 1
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11:00 – 11:20 The Future of AI is Event-Driven: Connecting Sensors, Edge Intelligence and NeuroAI
Gianvito Urgese, Politecnico di Torino
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11:20 – 11:40 From LLMs to Living Systems: Autonomic AI in Controlled Environment Agriculture
Markus Tauber, Chief Scientific Officer, Research Studios Austria
Markus Tauber
Research Studios Austria
Chief Scientific Officer
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab) -
11:40 – 13:00 Working Group Open Discussion
European engineering toolchain
Room 2
Parallel thematic workshop 2
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11:00 – 11:20 AI-driven Engineering Copilot Based on Federated Knowledgegraphs
Torbjörn Holm, TBH Consult / Luleå University
Jan Van Deventer, Associate Professor, Luleå University of Technology
Jan Van Deventer
Luleå University of Technology
Associate Professor
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11:20 – 11:40 Digital Transformation and why Ontology Based Integration could Significantly Improve the Success Rate
Håkan Kårdén, CEA, Håkan Kårdén AB
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11:40 – 12:00 Guardrails in Generative AI – Automated Traceability and Liveness: from Requirements to Trusted Implementation.
Flip van Spaendonck, Promovendus, Verum
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12:00 – 13:00 Working Group Open Discussion
Networking Lunch: Connect & Exchange
Garden – lunch area
Projects Exhibition
14:00 – 16:00Parallel sessions — choose a track
Trustworthy & Resilient Cyber-physical SoS
Main Plenary
Parallel thematic workshop 3
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14:00 – 14:20 From Chip to SoS: State-of-the-Art Cybersecurity and the Research Challenges Ahead
Jon Perez, Tech. Dir. Electronic Embedded Systems and Cybersecurity, Ikerlan
Jon Perez
Ikerlan
Tech. Dir. Electronic Embedded Systems and Cybersecurity
View LinkedIn profile (opens in a new tab) -
14:20 – 14:40 Agentic AI: A New Paradigm for Cyber-Physical Systems Cybersecurity
Dimitrios Serpanos, President, CTI
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14:40 – 16:00 Working Group Open Discussion
Open ECS Architectures
Room 2
Parallel thematic workshop 4
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14:00 – 14:20 RISC-V: from fragmentation to foundation
Vicente García Garrido, Principal Program Manager, Quintauris
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14:20 – 14:40 RISC-V Vector for Scalable Acceleration of AI and HPC
Massimo Scardaci, OpenChip
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14:40 – 16:00 Working Group Open Discussion
Closing Session: Shaping the Next Steps of the INSIDE Ecosystem
Main Plenary
Find your way around the venue, from the plenary and meeting rooms to the garden, lunch and coffee areas.
Event Venue
Located in the heart of Palermo, the Army Officers’ Club provides a distinctive historic setting for the two-day INSIDE Connect programme.
Army Officers’ Club
Piazza Sant’Oliva, 25
90141 Palermo, Italy
Cultural Tour
Join us for a memorable cultural and social experience in the vibrant city of Palermo.
We believe that the best professional connections are often made outside the lecture hall. To enrich your experience in Palermo, our social programme will begin with a carefully curated, guided cultural itinerary through the city’s historic centre. Designed specifically to be engaging yet time-efficient for an international audience, this walk will guide you through stunning Arab-Norman landmarks, bustling traditional markets, and vibrant central streets, allowing you to discover the city’s visible layers of history together.
Date: 30-09
Social Dinner
Following the cultural tour, the evening will culminate in the official Social Dinner, hosted at the magnificent Palazzo Fatta. Located in the heart of the city, this stunning aristocratic residence provides an exceptionally elegant and authentic Sicilian backdrop. It is the perfect prestigious setting to enjoy an unforgettable evening of fine dining, celebrate the day’s insights, and continue networking in an atmosphere of historic grandeur.
Let’s share great food, laughter, and community spirit together!
Date & Time:
30-09-2026 20:00
Location:
Palazzo Fatta
Piazza Marina 19
Palermo
Link to Google maps
Optional evening walk
For those who wish to join, we will end the evening with a short 20–30 minute walk around Molo Trapezoidale and Palermo Marina Yachting, enjoying the lively waterfront and the beauty of Palermo by night. A relaxed way to continue the evening together.
Palermo stands as a historic cultural crossroads, having been deeply shaped over the centuries by Greek, Roman, Arab, Norman, and Spanish influences. This incredible diversity has left a permanent, fascinating mark on the city’s architecture, its everyday energy, and its world-renowned cuisine.
Experience the atmosphere of our upcoming INSIDE Connect in Palermo.
Hotel Recommendations
Below are our selected accommodation recommendations for attendees visiting the event. These hotels have been chosen to help make your stay more comfortable and convenient, with options suitable for different preferences and budgets. We encourage guests to review the available options and book early to secure their preferred accommodation during the event period.
Please, Our advise is to book your hotel asap
Moments from INSIDE Connect 2025
A glimpse of the previous event, where the community gathered in Málaga for two days of keynotes, workshops, showcases, and cultural activities focused on collaboration and digital innovation in Europe.
INSIDE Connect 2026 is fully booked
Thank you for your interest in INSIDE Connect 2026. We are pleased to announce that the event is now fully booked.
If you would like to be placed on the waiting list in case spaces become available, please contact us at info@inside-association.eu
