Today, I had the privilege of speaking at SMAU | Italy RestartsUp in London, an event dedicated to the Italian startup scene 🇮🇹🚀 — the panel I contributed to focused on the impact of digitalisation and new technologies. It was a real pleasure to see companies operating in areas close to my academic heart, at the intersection of data science and education, tourism, heritage, museums, and mobility.
What I discussed in a nutshell: The digitalisation of geographic data has revolutionised industries such as logistics, retail, telecommunications, sustainability, and urban planning. AI now has the ability to process vast amounts of locational data in real-time, making processes more efficient, predicting behaviours, and identifying geographic areas for investment. For startups, this nexus presents immense opportunities. AI tools are making spatial analytics more accessible than ever, lowering technical barriers and allowing companies to leverage data for strategic decision-making. However, with this increased accessibility comes challenges, especially in relation to possible misuse of statistical methods, and the shallow, dangerous feeling of knowledge that AI tools may give to non-experts.
The rapid advancement of AI is not only reshaping industries but also challenging universities to rethink their approach to education, as most academics experience on a daily basis with GPT use in student assessment. Higher education institutions must integrate AI literacy and digital ethics into their curricula while fostering critical engagement with AI’s societal impact. Difficult questions include: How can universities ensure that students are equipped with a balanced combination of solid, traditional technical skills, ethical awareness, and the ability to harness recent technologies? What structural changes are needed to train the next generation of data analysts, AI specialists, and business leaders? How can academia and industry work together to ensure that education keeps pace with AI-driven innovation? Excited to see what this startup ecosystem will produce!
#smau
Cultural Geo-Analytics Lab 