Ten years of DigithON, the startup marathon: the AI assistant for tax consultants wins.
DigithON , the event that brings together innovative ideas perfectly integrated into the city of Bisceglie, in Puglia, where a Blue Flag sea provides the backdrop to digital themes and startup ideas, has turned ten.
On the event's stage, set up inside the Vecchie Segherie Mastrototaro (Old Mastrototaro Sawmills), where poplar logs were once processed to make fruit crates, startuppers pitched for five minutes each, competing to win a €10,000 prize for the most compelling project.
The tenth edition of DigithON was predictably infected by the fever for artificial intelligence. "Every capitalist revolution in human history has shattered patterns, transformed social behaviors, generated opportunities and, at the same time, new inequalities. It has always been up to politics to prevent profit and power from merging into an uncontrollable domain. When this hasn't happened, history has seen wars and conflicts," said DigithON's creator and founder, Francesco Boccia . "If AI becomes a tool of weapons and propaganda, we're not talking about progress: we're witnessing a decline that could threaten the very survival of humanity. Today, democracy has a historic responsibility: to prevent artificial intelligence from becoming the path to the end of the world, and instead transform it into the path of a new, human, and universal hope," he added.
During the event, Boccia himself spoke with Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi , who was connected to the Vecchie Segherie, to understand how to "remain human" in the AI era . "The more machines imitate humans, the more humans risk losing their way," Zuppi said. "We need rules for ethics in AI."
The stage also featured “ DigithON: 10 Years of Ideas ,” in which Mario Aprile, President of Confindustria Bari-BAT, Alessandra Modenese, Regional Director for Basilicata, Puglia, and Molise at Intesa Sanpaolo, and Michele Ruta, full professor at the Polytechnic University of Bari and the rector's delegate for digital transition, discussed the event and looked to the future. “It's been a long journey, but always with a clear vision: that of connecting the business world with young people, with startuppers, with institutions, with universities, and with research centers,” said Mario Aprile. “To startuppers, I say: don't be afraid to ring the bell of our companies because you bring innovation, which is synonymous with growth and the future.”
DigithON doesn't just bring together the best of Southern Italian innovation. Indeed, the tenth edition of the startup contest was ultimately won by a young Milanese company, Lexsa , which took home the first prize of €10,000, offered by Confindustria Bari-Bat.
The winning startup created an AI assistant developed by tax professionals for tax professionals , which allows for the automation of manual, repetitive tasks that no one wants to do anymore, allowing the professional to focus on clients and high-value-added activities.
La Repubblica
