“Many people perceive technology as a wall to stop at. We are transforming it into a ladder, difficult to climb but scalable by everyone, progressively”. In the words of its co-founder, Massimo banzi, there is the whole mission of Arduino, hardware and software platform born in 2003 in open source mode, where 29 million users all over the world exchange ideas, information, and ask for support to carry out their projects every day, whether they are private individuals or small entrepreneurs who have no know-how to go it alone or the means to address the big names in hi-tech: “It's about democratize the use of technology, to make it understandable and accessible to all”, explained Banzi, guest of a debate hosted by the digital energy company Sorgenia, during which he also recalled that Arduino was born in the factories of the Interaction Design Institute in Ivrea, exactly where once there were offices of Olivetti, the pioneer of innovation in Italy.
Arduino produces electronic boards for various uses: from rapid prototyping for hobby and educational purposes to enabling for more advanced technologies applicable to production processes, such as drones, robotics, 3D printers, or even smart thermostats and everything that can have a use that goes from playful to highly professional and that is not necessarily the prerogative of highly specialized engineers: "Let's imagine a future in which everyone, even the very young, even those who live far from urban centers and large universities, can become a maker, a do-it-yourself engineer, thanks to the support of our platform. What we do is totally open source, we sell cards but we also connect users with companies that already use our programs”. A domino effect capable of creating an innovative ecosystem, generating lower prices and above all new skills, where - especially in Italy - they are lacking or are struggling to take off, "and also to give a moral slap in the face to the various Google and Microsoft, which today they feel they are the masters of technology”.
Even starting from the simple game ("an American anthropologist rightly theorized that all the inventions in human history arise from children's games, from the wheel on") up to the new and most advanced frontier: Artificial Intelligence . “Our goal – explains Banzi – is to make complicated things simple. Artificial Intelligence is, so why not try to bring ordinary citizens closer to it, if only to understand it better, to have a healthier relationship with technology?”. Tomorrow, therefore, AI may no longer be exclusively in the hands of over-the-tops and governments: "I can't say, but this could happen", ventures the creator of Arduino, the "tutorial" of the almost 100-year-old tech % made in Italy: “Only a small part of our production is Chinese, the rest all in Italy, where we also organize the Maker Fair in Rome, the second most important 'nerd' event in the world for the presence of makers and visitors, behind only at the Silicon Valley Fair”.
Banzi also spoke on the latest legislation regarding copyright, approved by the European Parliament: a grain, for his community where 800.000 registered people regularly write comments and create sub-communities to exchange information and launch projects on specific topics. Not always in a workmanlike manner, as is often the case in forums. “According to the new legislation, platforms should practically close down: how is it possible to verify that every single comment does not violate copyright? It seems to me a regulation that protects large-scale publishing a lot and less the more modern realities". And Italy, what does it do for innovation? Ultimately, the role of enabler and simplifier should belong to the public: “The previous government had done a lot with Industry 4.0, and Minister Calenda's idea of centers of expertise was also very good and concrete. Now, however, I only hear keywords thrown there to give the feeling of being a state-of-the-art government. But concretely there is little”.
