Generative AI for Sustainable Entrepreneurship
to be held on Wednesday 17 September, 13:00-14:00 CET
Focus:
Generative AI is reshaping how we think about innovation, creativity, and business development. For entrepreneurs, especially those focused on sustainability, it offers powerful tools to design smarter solutions, streamline processes, and accelerate impact while keeping environmental and social responsibility at the core.
In this year’s webinar we’ll explore how generative AI can support sustainable business models—from creating resource-efficient products and optimizing supply chains, to enhancing communication and engagement with stakeholders. Our aim is to spark ideas, highlight real-world applications, and consider both the opportunities and challenges of integrating AI into sustainable ventures.
Programme:
13:00 Short Introduction on Generative AI for Sustainable Entrepreneurship
13:05 Raffaella Bernardi - Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
13:15 Francesco Ravazzolo - Full Professor of Econometrics at Faculty of Economics and Management at Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
13:25 Giorgos Tsapparellas - Senior Pre-Sales IoT Engineer at CyRIC IoT
13:35 Discussion with the panel members
14:00 Conclusions and comments
Invited Panel Members' Bios:
Raffaella Bernardi is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. She works on Computational Linguistics focusing on the interplay between Language and Reasoning as displayed during conversations and/or inmultimodal contexts. She is an active member of the international Association of Computational Linguistics (ACL), serving as a Senior Chair, Area Chairs of *ACL conferences; she is also an active member of the italian Association of Computational Linguistics (AILC) serving eg. as PC chair, AC, member of the scientific committee of AILC Lectures. She has recently been the EU representative within the ACL Sponsorship Board. She has also been quite active in disseminating Computational Linguistics by means of teaching activities. She has long been the local coordinator, at FUB and then at UniTN, of the Erasmus Mundus European Masters Programme in Language and Communication Technologies. She is an ELLIS (European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems) Fellow.
Francesco Ravazzolo is Full Professor of Econometrics at Faculty of Economics and Management at Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and Head of the Department of Data Science and Analytics at BI Norwegian Business School. He is also co-founder of AIAQUA, COMMODIA and STAIRS. His research focuses on commodity markets, data anlytics, econometrics, energy economics, financial econometrics and macroeconometrics. He has published in several leading academic journals. STAIRS develops indices of geopolitical risk divided by country based on artificial intelligence. Then, it integrates it in firm business models and measures risks that firms have associated to it.
Giorgos Tsapparellas is Senior Pre-Sales IoT Engineer at CyRIC IoT, specializing in sensing solutions, IoT platforms, cloud integration, and data analytics. He designs and implements innovative IoT architectures and projects that enhance efficiency and sustainability across sectors such as smart cities, agriculture, industry, and hospitality. He holds an MSc in Advanced Computer Science and IT Management from the University of Manchester and a BSc in Computer Science from Northumbria University. Beyond his professional role, he serves as Vice-President of Deryneia Youth Community, Secretary of the IEEE Systematic Innovation Group, Ambassador for IEEE Region 8 Entrepreneurship, and member of the Next Generation Internet Community. His passion lies in leveraging IoT to address global challenges in sustainability, climate action, and public health, in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). CyRIC IoT is a leading provider of LoRaWAN® networks and IoT solutions in Cyprus, Greece, the UK, and across the EU. With more than eight years of experience and thousands of sensors deployed, the company delivers end-to-end smart solutions in sectors such as water management, smart buildings, agriculture, cold chain, and environmental monitoring. In addition to system integration, CyRIC IoT develops its own innovative products, including the SAT IoT Hub, which combines terrestrial and satellite LoRaWAN® connectivity to enable reliable remote sensing and control.
Programme Organising Committee:
Andreas Zitek (Chair), BOKU University, Vienna, AT
Yiorgos Gadanakis, Cyprus University of Technology, CY
Guido Orzes, Free University Bozen-Bolsano, IT