2024 Jury

Francesca Bria (IT) is the President of the Italian National Innovation Fund and a Board Member of the Italian public broadcast company RAI. She is Honorary Professor in the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at UCL in London and she is part of the High-level Roundtable for the New European Bauhaus set up by the EC President Ursula von der Leyen. She is the former Chief Digital Technology and Innovation Officer for the City of Barcelona in Spain. In this role, she was leading the smart city Agenda and she was one of the founders of the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights, a UN-backed platform to promote sustainable digitization and urban digital transformation that works for the benefit of all. She has served as Senior Adviser to the United Nation (UN-Habitat) on digital cities and digital rights, launching the People-focused smart cities programme at the World Urban Forum convened in Abu Dhabi that promotes the deployment of technological innovations to realize sustainability, inclusivity, and human rights. Francesca Bria is leading the DECODE project on data sovereignty in Europe, is a member of the European Commission high level expert group Economic and Societal Impact of Research and Innovation (ESIR), and a Senior Adviser on the EC programme STARTS (Innovation at the nexus of Science, Technology and the Arts). Francesca has a PhD in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Imperial College, London and MSc on Digital Economy from University of London, Birbeck. As Senior Programme Lead at Nesta, the UK Innovation Agency, she has led the EU D-CENT project, the biggest European Project on digital democracy platforms and digital currencies. She also led the DSI4EU project, advising the EU on digital social innovation policies and mission-driven innovation. She has been teaching in several universities in the UK and Italy and she has advised Governments, public and private organizations on technology and innovation policy, and its socio-economic and environmental impact. Francesca has been nominated Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. She is in Politico annual ranking of the 28 power players behind Europe’s tech revolution, and she is also Culture Persons of the Year 2020 according to the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). She has been listed in the top 50 Women in Tech by Forbes Magazine, and in the World’s top 20 most influential people in digital government by Apolitical. She has also been featured in the Italian Magazine Repubblica “D”, amongst the 100 Women Changing the World. 

Miha Turšič (SI/NL) works on international collaboration and the initiation of projects touching on the themes of art-science, biotechnology, digital fabrication, open source hardware, ecology, material research and outer space. At Waag Futurelab, he leads the Spacelab while closely involved with Open Design Lab and Open Wetlab. Miha works with the partners in the European S+T+ARTS collaboration, operating on the crossings of science, technology and the arts, where he focuses on methodology for collaborative innovation. He was involved in a number of leading Waag projects such as OpenNext, promoting concern-driven innovation through open source hardware, VOJEXT and Better Factory engaging artists in art-driven innovation with industry, and now coordinating More-than-Planet project focusing on new planetary imaginaries. Miha studied Industrial Design at the University of Ljubljana. He is co-founder of Asobi Design Studio and KSEVT, the Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies. Nowadays, KSEVT is developing a cultural space programme, enabling the understanding of art, culture and humanities in outer space. In collaboration with both space and cultural organisations, KSEVT produced cultural programmes on the International Space Station, introduced space architecture to the biennial of Venice, and presented Voyager instruments to the public for the first time in history. Miha is also part of the Postgravityart group, which produced the very first theatre production in zero gravity and works on the 50-year performance project Noordung 1995-2045.

Fumi Hirota (JP) is Art Producer and Chief of Initiatives Section at the Digital Creativity Division of Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture. After completing graduate studies at the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS), Fumi Hirota worked as a researcher for the Cultural Media Center at IAMAS. She joined the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM) in 2008, where she was involved with production and planning for new media art and other projects. From 2012, she was a researcher in the Arts and Culture Division of the Cultural Affairs Department at the Agency for Cultural Affairs. She worked on initiatives promoting media arts, including efforts to expand the reach of the Japan Media Arts Festival overseas and in regional Japan. She left the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2015 to work at the Japan Foundation Asia Center, where she was involved with media art projects as part of cultural exchange initiatives between Japan and Southeast Asia until 2019. Hirota took up a post at the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History of Culture in 2020, helping launch Tokyo Smart Culture Project, which digitizes cultural resources like the collections of Tokyo’s cultural institutions and offers various types of viewing experiences. In 2022, she was part of the team behind the opening of Civic Creative Base Tokyo (CCBT) in Shibuya. 

Manuela Naveau (AT) is a university professor, an independent curator and an art-based researcher. For almost 18 years she worked as head of Ars Electronica Export, curator and started as project manager at Ars Electronica Linz, where she developed the Ars Electronica Export department together with Artistic Director Gerfried Stocker and led it operationally since its inception. Since 2020, Manuela Naveau has been a university professor for Critical Data at the Interface Cultures Department / Institute of Media at the University of Arts Linz, which she is heading since February 2023 and initiated the Critical Data Research Group since then. Previously, she has held teaching positions at the Paris Lodron University in Salzburg, the Danube University Krems among others and was invited as a guest professor at the Technical University in Vienna (Future.Lab). Her monography “Crowd and Art – Kunst und Partizipation im Internet” was published by transcript Verlag, Germany. The book is based on her dissertation, for which she received the Award of Excellence from the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy. 

Katja Schechtner (AT) is an urban scientist who develops new technologies and shapes innovative policies to keep cities on the move. She currently focuses on a reassessment of the position of nature and technology within urban governance processes with MIT LCAU and at the same time, tackles questions of urban policy making with a particular emphasis on understanding the human perception of – and interaction with – the built environment with MIT senseable city lab. Previously she led innovation and technology programs at OECD in France, the Asian Development Bank in the Philippines and advised the Inter-American Development Bank in Costa Rica and Argentina, the EU Commission, and headed an applied research lab at the Austrian Institute of Technology – all the while holding visiting professorships, lecturer positions and research affiliations globally, e.g. at MIT Media Lab, Paris-Saclay, dieAngewandte, TU Vienna, or HDM Stuttgart. Her own work has been exhibited among others at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism and Ars Electronica – meanwhile her exhibition on “Women Building Cities” is currently travelling European cities, earning acclaim in major publications like Le Monde, El Pais and Al Jazeera. She has published widely in scientific and public media, including books with Birkhaeuser and Ambra on “Urban Data as Public Space” and “Accountability Technologies – Tools for Asking Hard Questions” together with Dietmar Offenhuber. Additionally, she serves on various boards, including the payment tech subsidiary of the Austrian National Bank, the Austrian Institute of Technology and is a member of the founding convent of the new IT:U in Linz, focusing on digital transformation. 

Amanda Masha Caminals (ES) is co-director and curator of the Artistic Laboratory for Climate (LAC-itdUPM, previously known as Mutant Institute of Environmental Narratives-IMNA), the artistic laboratory for climate action of the Innovation and Technology for Development Centre of the Technic University of Madrid. LAC-itdUPM fosters artistic practices in connection with journalism, science and technology as a response to the challenges of the environmental crisis. She is also co-founder of the network Translocalia. Previous to that, she directed the CITY STATION of the Environmental Health Clinic by artist Natalie Jeremijenko at the Centre for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) and the Barcelona City Council. As an independent curator she was responsible for the 2019 edition of Mobile Week Barcelona, a 10 days festival before the Mobile World Congress of Barcelona that formulates an open space of dialogue around the impact of digital technology in society. She has worked in institutions including the Institute of International Visual Arts in London and Casa Triângulo in São Paulo. She holds a BA in Humanities from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, a Degree in History of Art from the University of Barcelona and an MA Hons in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art in London. 

Yun-Cheng Chen (Lucky) (TW), a freelance trans-disciplinary design artivist and strategist. Having resided in both the United States and Germany, he had the privilege of furthering his studies under the esteemed guidance of Professor Dr. Michael Erlhoff, a pioneer in introducing the concept of Service Design. Lucky’s extensive expertise in performing arts, deliberative democracy, regional revitalization, digital transformation, and the open data/government movement has garnered him numerous invitations to program and execute an impressive array of local and international projects since 2016. He excels in integrating resources and initiating collaborative initiatives among industry, government, university, and global community/DAO. Currently, Lucky serves as the Strategy Director of Les Petites Choses Production and Seabelongings, consultant of Taiwan Dancing Forward Collective, while also actively contributing to g0v/da0. 

Primavera De Filippi (FR/IT) is a legal scholar at Harvard University, as well as an Internet activist and artist exploring the intersection between law and technology, focusing specifically on the legal and political implications of blockchain technology. Her artistic practice instantiates the key findings of her research in the physical world, creating blockchain-based lifeforms that evolve and reproduce themselves as people feed them with cryptocurrencies. Her works have been exposed in various museums, galleries and art fairs around the world including Ars Electronica, Furtherfield Gallery, Kinetica Art Fair, Gazelli Art House, Centre Pompidou, Grand Palais, Gaité Lyrique, and Le Cent Quatre, as well as festivals such as Burning Man and Fusion Festival. 

Rodolfo Groenewoud van Vliet (NL) is co-founder of In4Art – an independent Institute for Art-Driven Innovation, est. in 2015. His interests lie in exploring and prototyping possibilities of technologies and the economics which will influence the shorter- and longer-term futures of food, manufacturing, health and biodiversity. Together with his wife and collaborator Lija Groenewoud van Vliet, he invented and practices the Art-Driven Innovation methodology which is currently driving over 75 international experimental programs and projects involving art, science, technology, and industry. 

Lydia Kallipoliti (GR) is an architect, engineer, and scholar whose research focuses on the intersections of architecture, technology, and environmental politics. She is a tenured Associate Professor at the Cooper Union in New York. Her work has been published and exhibited widely including the Venice Biennial, the Istanbul Design Biennial, the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York and the London Design Museum. She is the author of the awarded book The Architecture of Closed Worlds, Or, What is the Power of Shit (Lars Muller Publishers, 2018), and the editor of EcoRedux, a special issue of Architectural Design magazine (AD, 2010). She is the principal of ANAcycle thinktank, which has been named a leading innovator in sustainable design in Build’s 2019 and 2020 awards.

Micaela Mantegna (AR). Known as the ‘Abogamer’, Micaela is a video game lawyer and activist who is internationally renowned for her expertise in digital ethics, extended reality (XR) policy, and the complex relationship between artificial intelligence, creativity, and copyright law. In 2022, Micaela was chosen for the prestigious TED Fellowship, and her TED talk on the metaverse earned 1.5M+ views globally. Currently she is an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University, while also serving on Chatham House’s Responsible AI Taskforce, the World Economic Forum’s Metaverse Council, and the Scientific Committee of UAMetaverse Chair, positions that highlight Micaela as a global thought leader in Generative AI, ethics, videogames and metaverse policy. As a keynote speaker, she has presented across the globe in conferences like GDC, TED, GamesBeat Summit, Ada Lovelace Festival, Vancouver Biennale, More Than Just a Game, RightsCon, DLD, Internet Freedom Festival, and many more, in over 28 countries. Author of “ARTficial: creativity, AI and copyright” (2022) and the upcoming “Braindancing in the Metaverse: a capitalism of cognitive surveillance” (2024), her work explores in depth the implications of digital capitalism, at the intersections of intellectual property, AI, art, and ethics. She earned the 2017 Google Policy Fellowship for her work creating an algorithmic governance framework. Her work and insights have been featured in outlets like The Verge, WIRED, and Le Monde. Micaela curates the popular Substack newsletter “This week in the #Metaverse”, offering weekly insights into the latest trends and policy developments on the metaverse, AI, neurotech, crypto and gaming.

Kyuseung Keith Noh (KR) is Team Lead & Creative director of ZER01NE, which is creative talent platform of Hyundai Motor Group. ZER01NE’s mission is Human-centered Innovation beyond typical Open Innovation of other corporates. ZER01NE is nurturing creators and startups who can challenge and solve the problem of future society through collaboration of ART, TECH and BIZ. Since 2018, over 120 creators and 80 startups were supported and funded. Lastly he is also professional investors and managing partner of ZER01NE Fund.  

Irini Papadimitriou (UK) is a curator and currently Creative Director at FutureEverything in Manchester UK. In 2023 she was Artistic Director for the Sea Art Festival 2023 with Busan Biennale, South Korea. She was previously Digital Programmes Manager at the V&A, and Head of New Media Arts Development at Watermans. Recently curated exhibitions include: Flickering Shores, Sea Imaginaries, Sea Art Festival 2023, Busan; AI: Who’s Looking After Me? with FutureEverything and Science Gallery London; Money, Ruins, and the Sea, NeMe, Limassol, Cyprus; [Digital] Transmissions with FutureEverything and Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan; Plásmata: Bodies, Dreams, and Data, Onassis Stegi, Athens; You and AI: Through the Algorithmic Lens, Onassis Stegi, Athens; Artificially Intelligent, V&A London. Irini is a co-founder of Maker Assembly, a critical gathering about maker culture, and she has been a co-curator for the Arts & Culture experience at Mozilla Festival, including the 2019 exhibition Trustworthy AI: Imagining Better Machine Decision Making. She has served as a jury member for Prix Ars Electronica, D&AD Awards, Lumen Prize, EU STARTS and ACM Siggraph.

Deborah Rey-Burns (UK/AU). Starting her career in Sydney as a banker, Deborah Rey-Burns later pivoted in London to become a cultural entrepreneur and the founder of Propela, an innovative speaking agency globally known for its commitment to frontier thinking. With a mission to bridge the gap between the creative sector and the business world, Deborah established the British agency over a decade ago. Propela’s roster features a selection of international innovators who have been keynote speakers at major conferences, Fortune 500 companies, and leading brands. Among Propela’s clients are Neil Harbisson, the world’s first Cyborg, along with Oscar-nominated set designers Katie Spencers and Sarah Greenwood (Barbie), artist and technologist James Bridle, Designer Dr. Nelly Ben Hayoun, Speculative Architect Liam Young, Bas Van Abel, the founder of Fairphone, a world leader in sustainability and ethics, and Dr. Sian Proctor, the world’s first black female spaceship pilot. Beyond Propela, Deborah has curated programs for institutions such as the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Design Council’s COP26 conference, along with organisations such as Google, Airbnb, and Spotify. Furthermore, she has founded ReDesign Business and The Future Of_, two conference brands dedicated to showcasing art, creativity, innovation, and business. 

Asako Tomura (JP) is General Manager of Content Technology & Alliance Group, Corporate Technology Strategy Division of Sony Group Corporation. After earning master’s degrees in chemistry and media arts, she began her career in advertising at Shiseido. She joined Sony Corporation in 2001 and oversaw the launch of the digital content distribution business for film and animation at Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) and Aniplex, Inc. She then served as Head of CSR Innovation at Sony headquarters, where she collaborated with international NGOs on projects using technology to address social issues. Since 2016, she has overseen advanced content development, entertainment technology promotion, and sustainability technology strategy. In addition, she served as the planning director for Ars Electronica 2021 Garden TOKYO and as a jury member for the European Commission’s STARTS Prize 2022. She is also an advisor for the Project to Support Emerging Media Arts Creators, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, 2017-2024. Since 2021, she is a Visiting Researcher at the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies at the University of Tokyo. 

Lining Yao (CN) is an Assistant Professor at the Mechanical Engineering department, the University of California, Berkeley, where she directs the Morphing Matter Lab (morphingmatter.org). Her research explores the positive impact of active and morphing materials on sustainable design across different scales and contexts. Her work focuses on discovering and studying morphing material mechanisms, as well as algorithms for computational design and fabrication pipelines. Dr. Yao has published in both computer science and physical science venues and has received nine Best Paper or Best Talk Awards and nominations from premier conferences in Human-Computer Interaction. Her journal papers have been featured as cover stories in Nature, Science Advances, and Advanced Materials Technologies. Her work has been widely featured in popular media outlets, including The New York Times, Wired, Scientific American, Fast Company, National Geographic, and BBC, among others. Dr. Yao received her Ph.D. from the MIT Media Lab in 2017. She is the co-founder of the MorphingMatter4Girls Initiative, a Wired UK fellow, and an appointed instructor in eco-design by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.