This weekend, Trieste celebrates science in a big way with its TriesteNext event. Starting today and running through Sunday 27 September, the city will host numerous exhibits and talks related to this year's theme, "BIOlogos: The Future of Life". Most activities will be held on or near Piazza Unita and are open to all; for details visit the TriesteNext website at http://triestenext.veneziepost.it/.

ICTP is participating by hosting one of TriesteNext's main speakers: Steve Chan, a technology expert from MIT and a director of IBM's Network Science Research Center. Chan will be the keynote speaker at ICTP's roundtable on Digital Technology for Development: How the Internet of Things and Big Data can Contribute to Development. He will be joined by panelists including:

--Maurizio Fermeglia, rector, University of Trieste

--Simone Sala, expert in ICT applied to development, environment, climate change and security, FAO

--Marco Zennaro, research officer, ICTP Wireless Lab

--Massimo Sideri, journalist and commentator, Corriere della Sera

The roundtable takes place on Saturday 26 September at 18:00 in the Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia Salone di Rappresentanza (entrance from Piazza Unita 1).

In addition, today and Saturday, ICTP is welcoming groups of students from scientific and technical universities throughout Italy and beyond who are participating in TriesteNext's "Borse di Soggiorno" programme. The students will tour the Centre's SciFabLab as well as meet with ICTP scientists and mathematicians.

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While he is at ICTP, Steve Chan has agreed to give a colloquium here on the Internet of Things. The talk will be held today, Friday 25 September, at 16:30 in the Budinich Lecture Hall.