A true cabinet of curiosities of the digital age, the practices presented at the end of STARTS Day create a sense of hope through their nature and focus, as well as their diversity. They become a collage of intentional, thought-through uses of digital technologies that can help us envision a deliberate digital future – one we can hope for and act on, rather than one that presents itself as inevitable.
Bios
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Photo: Ulli EnglederAlbert J. Ortig
AT
Albert Ortig is an experienced entrepreneur and visionary with over two decades in the digital industry. He founded Netural in 1998, from which he spun out successful startups like Roomle, Storyblok, and NXAI. A business administration graduate and father of two, Ortig is deeply passionate about digital solutions and innovative business models, consistently pushing boundaries to realize groundbreaking ideas. His work continues to shape the future of technology and entrepreneurship.
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Apolinário Passos
BR
With 15 years of software engineering expertise and as a pioneer in generative machine learning, Apolinário builds tooling and interactive installations directly from the research source. Apolinário is the Head of Machine Learning for Art and Creativity at Hugging Face, where he stays at the cutting edge of AI research, bridging technology and art to support artists and creatives.
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Claudio Silvestrin
DE
Claudio Silvestrin is the Head of the AI Centre of Excellence at Unilabs, one of Europe’s largest diagnostic providers. By applying innovative AI technology to healthcare over the past seven years, his work has saved lives and positioned Unilabs as a European leader in AI adoption. Silvestrin’s career spans key roles in telemedicine and healthcare strategy consulting. He holds a degree in Physics from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and an MBA from ESADE.
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Photo: Aena SchmickFrederike Kaltheuner
DE
Frederike Kaltheuner is an independent expert on emerging technology, policy, and rights. She also serves as the Europe and global governance Lead at the AI Now Institute. With a decade of experience, she has held leadership roles including Technology and Rights Director at Human Rights Watch and Special Adviser to the European Commission. Frederike regularly provides expert evidence to parliaments and comments on technology in international media. She holds an MSc from Oxford and edited Fake AI, a book on AI pseudoscience and hype.
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Photo: Isabella JöchThomas Nayer
AT
Thomas Nayer, born in Linz in 2003, graduated from AHS Contiweg in 2023. In August of the same year, he founded his first company, do-gether Services GmbH. Nayer has a keen eye for small things with a big impact. His startup is developing an app to change the way people can help each other quickly and easily in the digital world, because “things are simply better together”.
Credits
This project has been developed and is presented in the context of the STARTS in the City project. STARTS in the City has received funding from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement No. LC-01984766.
