Silvio Baratto, a former student of electronic engineering at the University of Trieste, has found his vocation in the world of Data Science and Scientific Computing. Thanks to his participation in Contamination Lab, he has developed an entrepreneurial vision and a passion for technological innovation, qualities that today allow him to work as a Data Scientist at the European Central Bank.

How has your participation in C-Lab influenced your educational and professional path? What skills did you gain during this experience? 

I was one of the first participants in the UniTS C-Lab. My initial idea was to develop an app that would allow you to shop in different supermarkets, solving the problem of finding products available only in some stores. Experience has taught me the basics of entrepreneurship and made me understand that it is possible to start a business even with limited resources, as long as you are committed to solving a real problem in the market. What I learned then came in handy in 2023, with my new project Nemo.AI. Overall, CLab has been instrumental in terms of training: It gave me a solid foundation and gave me the curiosity to explore the business world, helping me to see business opportunities where others may not notice them.

In addition to Nemo.AI, FantaCreator is also advertised on your website. How did the idea for these two projects come about? Where are they now?

Nemo.AI was born after watching a documentary on overfishing, an issue I felt deeply affected by. I had the opportunity to participate in a Blue Economy-themed business plan competition organised by Transform 4 Europe, and so the project was born. FantaCreator, on the other hand, was born from a shared goal among some friends: to create a custom fantasy Sanremo game (fantasanremo). The only tools we had were Excel and Notepad, and I quickly realised that there was a potential market for a more structured platform. We conducted a survey of 200 people and found that many of them were looking for similar solutions, but were relying on poorly adapted tools, confirming that there was a real market for it. Currently, Nemo.AI is a long-term project that requires time and extensive research, since predicting the behavior of the sea is extremely complex and the target market is equally as challenging. As for FantaCreator, we already have a working product (fantacreator.com) and we are focusing on finding active users, in view of a first round of investments.

Predictive algorithms are playing an increasingly important role in our society, raising numerous ethical questions. What is your opinion on this? 

I believe that predictive algorithms are extremely powerful tools that, if used ethically and with awareness, can bring great benefits in different areas, making processes more efficient and supporting better informed decisions. However, it is essential to recognise that their use is not without risks. For this reason, it is crucial to adopt a balanced approach, including transparency, the interpretability of models and the reduction of potential biases in data. The main objective should be to ensure that algorithms promote fair and equitable decisions, minimising any negative impacts.

Looking to the future, what is your long-term dream?

I would like to see Trieste become the startup capital of Italy. I know it sounds ambitious, but I believe that with our example we can inspire others to take the same path. Trieste has all the characteristics needed to become an innovation hub: there are many young people with promising ideas, but they lack the necessary resources, support and networks. In my vision, Porto Vecchio could become a dynamic centre where different startups collaborate and grow together.

silviobaratto.com

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