Milan, 8^th September, 2008. The “Women&Technologies: research and innovation” (www.womentech.info) conference, which brought together 360 participants for a day of observations and discussions regarding women as “creators of technology”, came to a fascinating close with the awarding of the “Le Tecnovisionarie®” 2008 – BlackBerry® “Women&Technology Award” to a woman whose work in the fields of research, business or Public Administration was able to create a marriage between creativity, innovation and quality of life.

The award panel was made up of: Cristina Bombelli (Bicocca University of Milan, Expert in Organizational Behaviour, Human Resource Management and gender differences within organizations); Diana Bracco (President of Confindustria's special Research and Innovation and Expo 2015 projects); Luca De Biase (Editor in Chief of “Nova24”, 'Il Sole 24 ore' newspaper's insert on research, innovation and creativity); Elisa Greco (Expert in Communications and Public Relations); Gianna Martinengo (Chairperson of Women & Technologies and ICT Entrepreneur); Giorgio Monaci (Manager of the Province of Milan's Business Activities and Innovation Sector); Eugenio Occorsio (Editor in Chief of “Business and Finance”, an insert of “La Repubblica” newspaper); Roberto Vacca (systems engineering and technological forecasting Consultant); Federica Villa (Presidency and Institutional Relations Manager, Milan Chamber of Commerce).

Under the presidency of prof. Roberto Vacca, the panelists, using the online voting system provided by Didael, chose the worthiest candidate from each of the conference's 3 Sessions: 1) Women and ICT in Europe; 2) Art and Affective Computing; Interaction and Dialogue in Communities of the future; 3) Innovation in Enterprises and Institutions.

In this way, three finalists were chosen: among these, she who gained the most votes was declared the prizewinner.

She is Fiorella Operto (School of Robotics Association, Genoa), winner of the Women and ICT in Europe Session and overall winner, who was nominated the “Tecnovisionaria [Techno-visionary] 2008”for the following reasons: The efforts that Fiorella Operto focused on motivating women to take interest in science and technology, and to work in these fields, are of significant value particularly because they have been accompanied by a consistent provision of tools (book series). The choice of Robotics as her main field of professional activity, and as the leading sector to offer to young women in particular, is a unique example of the potential that exists to elevate average levels of knowledge whilst at the same time motivating young people to choose advanced and fascinating subject matters. Fiorella Operto is doing an excellent job of reconciling the sciences with the humanities. She is creating technologies today for the women of tomorrow”.

The finalist for the Art and Affective Computing; Interaction and Dialogue in Communities of the future Session was Nik Nailah Binti Abdullah (National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo) for the following reasons: “for her creativity in identifying paths not yet taken in informatics research and for her tenacity in pursuing results with extraordinary practical potential”. The first place position in the Innovation in Enterprises and Institutions Session was instead achieved by Fiorina Facchinetti Berti (President of Faber System S.r.l.) for the following reasons: “She is a notable example of an innovator who has designed and actually constructed various successful measures and enterprises. The value of the results she has achieved surpasses that of bundles of paper that, while often containing interesting, positive ideas, fail to have practical implications”.

A heartfelt thanks to all those who made this initiative possible. See you at the 2009 edition!