Web3 + 51 + 28 = FuturePast

Sept 15th 2022, it’s late evening and I’m fooling around in my loft playing with Piji, a sturdy lazy cat whose primary mission, in its rare moments of energy, is to destroy sofas…then - suddenly and unexpectedly - I receive a short Instagram message: “Hi Paolo, last weekend I attended a Web3, NFT and Metaverse event in Milan. I had the chance to see many presentations and expand my network, interacting with interesting young Italian entrepreneurs, full of energy and ideas.?Knowing how passionate and engaged you are on this topic, I’d like to talk to you and share what I saw and learnt there”.

The sender? Alessandra Romeo, 28 years old, a brilliant young woman working in my CX team, who decided to start a journey with Oracle in a program called “GenO” (“Generation Oracle”), aimed at developing and preparing young talents for different career paths.

I immediately looked at Piji who, with its cunning eyes, agreed with me: “yes, let’s go deeper”.

The following Monday we met in Zoom to talk about the experience she lived – I was really captivated and ready to absorb all she had to share.

“Paolo, the event - called ADAPT 2022 and created by the marketer Steven Lo Presti - was targeted at curious, neophytes, and passionate people, in love with innovative technological trends. ?Mirko Maccarrone, Marketing director of Web 3, hit the stage with a brilliant keynote speech on “Technology as empowerment”, guiding the audience through technological innovations that are shaping our future and that can change the world. It was a 2-day live experience, an opportunity to broaden my network and learn from great professionals giving voice to new trends, opportunities, and analyzing critical aspects of the current economic-financial revolution.

In 70’s John Lennon used to sing “Power to the people”: the title of this song in my opinion summarizes what is happening here and now, in terms of consumers shifting behavior in the decentralized technology landscape.

I had started to get familiar with these themes when I joined Oracle team and the GenO program, and now I can see first-hand how a technological dialogue can be built across generations”.

While Alessandra was speaking, I couldn’t help thinking how energizing it was for me, a 51-year-old person, to still have the chance to grow and learn thanks to a woman of 28 who was talking to me about innovative and cutting-edge topics mainly targeted at GenZ and millennials now, but that will increasingly involve and impact also other generations’ lives, mine included.

“Alessandra, tell me more”. She went on:

“Italy is allegedly lagging behind in the digital and technological transformation, but at the event I saw so many young Italian passion-driven souls who are making their way through this competitive world, in arenas like gamification, crypto, art, metaverse, nft, with the goal to enable immersive experiences for the users.

“I was born in a system that doesn't give a fuck about you nor me nor life…”: these are the lyrics of the song “Babylonia” by Adam Clay, an artist singing at the event, who decided to embrace the blockchain music ecosystem of Bitsong, “that lists artists as securities in the stock exchange”. The concept that lays behind it is “Power to fans, artists and labels” who are now involved, and can come closer and earn, getting real time royalties. With the token $BTSG, powered by Blockchain technology, people can invest on artists, trading it with fan tokens and Nft or fund music projects, participating to the governance of Bitsong, giving voice to an artist-centric vision. It was very inspiring listening to Sergio Pitrone, one of the “Forbes under 30” Italians, former brand manager and now ambassador of Bitsong, explaining how this project, created by Angelo Recca, aims to recognize artists with their own value. “This is the new humanism of music”, Adam Clay claims, far from the market driven logic, but closer to fans who became real and active investors in boosting artists’ career.

Talking about Web3, my second highlight for you, Paolo, is Knobs, a blockchain-specialized Italian company focused on creating d-app, smart contracts and nft minting. I had the chance to talk with the CEO, Vincenzo Rana, who grabbed everyone’s attention with his brilliant speech on stage. He explained me that Knobs supports the 2021 research program of the Blockchain & Distributed Ledger Observatory of the Politecnico of Milan’s School of Management. They are the best partners to explore cutting-edge technologies, creating customized projects, specialized in web-IOT applications and systems based on blockchain technology. They also started a partnership with Bcode, led by CEO Andrea Ciliberti, and Young Platform, with the goal to provide companies with strategic support, granting them the opportunity to benefit from this technology in a fast, integrated and complete way.

I also found out at the event that in Italy, namely in Milan, there are three more remarkable realities which operate in the Metaverse, web 3 and Nft universe.

Think of the Arch of Peace in Milan: it recently got dressed by a digital sculpture, signed by Reasoned Art, the first Italian innovative crypto art gallery that intends to bridge traditional art and digital world. As the philosopher Luciano Floridi nicely put it, for them there is no longer “online” or “offline”, just “ONLIFE”. It was founded by Giulio Bozzo who did contemporary arts in Genoa and Andrea Alexandre Marec, who majored in Economics and finance. They think that art can be expressed in a multidisciplinary way, with a new expression potential that only technology can provide.?They are also among the most influent “Forbes under-30” people in Italy: this reminds us that Italy is full of talents, and that the world can be changed by brilliant ideas.

They opened the first art gallery with 70 artists who create crypto art that is digital and certified by blockchain and NFT technologies and sold in different ways. They are a benefit company, so they work for-profit but with a focus on sustainable solutions that can reduce the use/cost of gas by more than 90%.

Another Italian pride is DVERSO (DVRS), the Milan-based Web3 and Metaverse studio, which I had the chance to discover thanks to one of the co-founders Armando Strofaldi.

DVRS was created by an interdisciplinary team of pluri-awarded young entrepreneurs (2 Forbes under 30, graduated at top international acceleration programs), active in web3 since 2017 and among the first users of the metaverse and buyers of NFTs.

DVRS speaks Web3 in the language of traditional businesses, helping them create engaging and immersive virtual experiences, experiment with the power of tokens and digital assets and explore new business models enabled by Web3 solutions.

To make this happen, DVRS brings to the table vertical focus and deep knowledge of the space, international exposure, and connection with the best of web3 in NY and London, with lots of use cases and creativity. The only requirement from DVRS: being ready for bold new ideas that can raise the innovation bar globally!

“Alessandra, time is running out, but didn’t you mention something else, in the metaverse space?”

“Yes Paolo, you are right. I also had the chance to attend the presentation of The Nemesis, through the eyes of Emanuele Salvo and Gianluca Zanframundo: a company who created a complete Metaverse ecosystem. In their own words: “The Nemesis reimagines the web as a common ground for shared experiences”.?They will revolutionize the worlds of gaming, social and entertainment. The platform is available and provides a glimpse into how the web will evolve in the coming years. With online interactions blending with URL, virtual reality, and 3D experiences, all coming together in an innovative product that prioritizes user experience”.

It's 4 o’ clock and, as it often happens, the next business call is starting.

“Thank you, Alessandra, you were crystal clear. Can’t wait to personally meet them all too.”

And let me add, “God save the King” but may God (and next Italian Government as well) save also the young talents like you, and all the Italian entrepreneurs who started a new business journey, infused with innovation.