Experienced professionals meet young innovators, answer questions, give suggestions and feedback as well as insights into their own work. On Thursday, Robert Madelin (UK/BE), director general of DG Connect of the European Commission will take a seat at the table to report on the Commission’s programs and strategies.

What is the outcome if work on novel ICT – Information and Communication Technologies –is linked with artistic expression? This is the question asked by the study ICT Art Connect funded by the European Commission (DG CONNECT) and the question raised during the roundtable. Following a trend towards convergence of all domains of knowledge, the Arts are gaining prominence as a catalyst for radical transformations of R&D&I practices.

Integrating artists

Integrating artists to trigger disruptive innovation is becoming common practice, world-wide, in many innovative institutions and high-tech companies in order to convert technical skill and scientific knowledge into innovative products, make technologies more human-centered and to immerse better technology into society and culture and most importantly into human experience.

Best interaction of Arts and ICT

It is timely to analyse how these developments can be best taken up in research funded by the European Commission. The round table at the Future Innovators Summit brings together artists and eminent experts in ICT to discuss how ICT and the Arts can best interact and what the outcomes of such collaboration could be.