Initiatives
Lugano is an evolving laboratory of ideas.
In Lugano, digital and urban life come together
The City of Lugano is actively involved in promoting various initiatives, ranging from technology to art.
An ongoing dialogue between research, technology, business, culture and society.
Discover the initiatives and innovative projects that animate Lugano.
Innovation hubs in Lugano
- AGIRE Agenzia per l’innovazione del Canton Ticino (Manno)
- ATED Associazione Ticinese Evoluzione Digitale
- Dagorà Lifestyle Innovation Hub
- ERSL – Ente Regionale per lo Sviluppo del Luganese
- Fondazione Bally
- IBSA foundation per la ricerca scientifica
- Impact Hub Ticino
- L’ideatorio
- Lugano Living Lab
- Spazio WeTube
- Startup Garage SUPSI
- Ticino Blockchain Technologies Association
- USI Startup Centre
Featured initiatives
FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2024
East Campus of the Università della Svizzera italiana, USI Lugano
Promoters: Clinical Trial Unit (CTU) EOC, the Academic Training, Research and Innovation Area (AFRI) EOC and the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). Learn more
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The International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) was first held in 1981 in Lugano, and since then it has never failed in providing an unique opportunity for the international community involved in the research and treatment of hematologic malignancies to share, debate and update their knowledge and expertise. Learn more
FTAL Conference: Circular Economy
Dates: 14-15 November 2024
Place: Campus Est, Lugano-Viganello
Hosted by the Department of Innovative Technologies (DTI) of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). Learn more
The Project Management Forum (PM Forum) is an event open to the public organised every two years by the Project Management Ticino Association and the Innovative Technologies Department of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). The Forum aims to be a meeting point for professionals from different disciplines to share and discuss the most important topics of project management.
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‘Brain Awareness Week’ is an international initiative to raise awareness of advances in brain research, treatments for neurological and psychiatric diseases and their prevention. It was founded in the United States in 1995 and was later organised by the Society for Neuroscience and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. The initiative is annual and is traditionally held in the third week of March. In Italian-speaking Switzerland, the event is coordinated by a scientific committee and organised in collaboration with the Neurocentro della Svizzera italiana of the EOC, the Organisation sociopsichiatrica cantonale (OSC) and the USI ideatorio. Learn more
Swiss acceleration programme for early-stage start-ups. The final is in Lugano at the Palazzo dei Congressi.
Organisers: Fondazione Agire | Tecnopolo Ticino. With the collaboration of USI Startup Centre. Learn more
The Möbius Lugano Foundation, established in June 2015, was created after twenty years of activity of the Möbius Prize, in order to reason about opportunities and risks in relation to the expansion of the digital society. Möbius Lugano Foundation proposes to develop initiatives aimed at the dissemination and enhancement of the major themes of digital culture in its various aspects, especially humanistic and artistic ones, which touch on issues of great relevance for social evolution.
Every year, confronti offers opportunities to meet, think and debate on Canton Ticino’s economic dynamics (their trend and their structure) in a comparative framework that includes interregional, national and cross-border realities.
For this occasion, economic and institutional actors gather together from the three perspectives: cantonal, interregional, and cross-border. The event calls for these actors’ participation not only in the production but also in the processing and fruition of the results obtained. Learn more
The Lifestyle Innovation Day is a unique opportunity to gain insights and knowledge and to create business opportunities in the lifestyle sector.
APR 22, 2024 | LAC , LUGANO
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Featured initiatives for extra-curricular skills development
USI Transfer, the strateic unit of Università della Svizzera italiana in the field of innovation and technology transfer, fosters partnerships between academia and industry, supporting in intellectual property management, and facilitating relations with companies. Learn more
The Cultura e Salute (meaning Culture and Health) project, devised as part of the three-year partnership with the City of Lugano Cultural Division, is based on a growing body of scientific and clinical evidence, taken from WHO. The project was created to promote initiatives and synergies between the worlds of the arts and health to improve the quality of life and well-being of people in care facilities, in arts spaces and in everyday life. Learn more
Voxxed Days Ticino is an annual conference focused on IT development. It was born out of the desire of developers in Ticino to bring events focused on IT development to our region that could be an opportunity for discussion, training and sharing on the same level as the most famous Northern European events.
The event is characterised by a set of presentations by a series of speakers in Italian and English who are carefully selected from some of the leading experts in the field in the Canton of Ticino. Find out more
A learning journey to discover blockchain designed for professionals interested in approaching this innovative and disruptive technology to explore its potential and possible impact on their business. The course, promoted by the City of Lugano, is jointly organized with USI, SUPSI, and Franklin University. In the advanced module of the course, students will have the opportunity to develop an entrepreneurial project and participate in a mentorship program supported by professionals from leading market companies such as Polygon Labs and Deloitte. Learn more
The idea of Digicamp is a simple one: many USI students have outstanding skills in one particular field of digitalization, from activities at university or their extracurricular experience. This knowledge should be shared. Learn more
Main Summer Schools in Lugano
Università della Svizzera italiana launched the MEM Summer Summit in 2018, in collaboration with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs that is one of the main partners. The acronym MEM stands for the extended region of the Mediterranean and the Middle East (from Morocco to Iran) and it refers to a complex and heterogenous geopolitical and cultural space that has undergone and is still undergoing profound and rapid changes. The MEM Summer Summit aims to develop new approaches, different narratives, as well as new projects that transcend physical and cultural boundaries between communities on all shores of the MEM region and beyond with the active contribution of the young participants, called young change-makers. Furthermore, the Summit aims to create a safe space for the young change-makers to meet, to exchange experiences, to collaborate and to build a common understanding. Learn more
The Summer School is organised by the Insitute of Communication and Public Policy, Università della Svizzera italiana in close cooperation with FORS, the Swiss Foundation for social science research. Every year, it offers several full-time workshops in two weekly sessions (second half of August).
Participants are PhD students, junior and senior researchers and practitioners from Switzerland and other countries working in a wide range of scientific disciplines: Psychology, Educational, Business Studies, Communication, Political Science, Sociology, Health Sciences, and many others. Learn more
Innovation hubs in Lugano
Lugano testbed: an urban laboratory to support your studies, ideas and business
Through Lugano Living Lab, the urban laboratory of the City of Lugano in partnership with USI-SUPSI and FUS, you can receive free support for your research, thesis, field project.
Some collaboration formats
– co-design of new services
– testing of new technologies in urban areas
– access to data (open data) and processes
– accompaniment to testing on public land
– citizenship workshops
– dissemination and awareness-raising events
– training and education in digital innovation
– involvement of the population through surveys, workshops and other innovative participation formats
– design of new participation experiences
Note: Lugano Living Lab does not provide financial support for the realisation of events or incentives for studies.
Initiatives of the City of Lugano dedicated to digital innovation
Lugano's Plan ₿
Lugano’s Plan ₿ is a joint initiative between the City of Lugano and Tether to accelerate the use of bitcoin technology and use it as a basis for transforming the city’s financial infrastructure.
3Achain
3Achain is the blockchain promoted by the City of Lugano and developed in Switzerland by networks of institutions, companies, universities and research institutes. Students of the local universities can use 3Achain free of charge for their research projects and studies.
eQuiD
The eQuiD project of the City of Lugano aims to collect, regenerate, valorise and distribute used computers from companies and institutions free of charge to citizens who are interested in and need a computer, but not just any computer, but a sustainable and environmentally friendly device.
Punto Digitale
An experimental project of the City of Lugano that offers free individual assistance to those unfamiliar with computers, mobile phones, tablets and the Internet. Students enrolled in the Communication Sciences Bachelor’s programme at the Università della Svizzera italiana offer assistance as digital assistants.
