On November 29 GLACIATION hosted a webinar to showcase its innovative approach to addressing two pressing challenges in the digital landscape: ensuring privacy and achieving sustainability. The session highlighted the GLACIATION platform’s transformative capabilities through its four use cases, offering practical examples of how AI and metadata-driven solutions can shape the future of data movement.

Introduction

Roberta Lotti, GLACIATION Project Coordinator from the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, opened the webinar with institutional greetings, emphasising the project's role in addressing sustainability and privacy in AI and data-driven operations. Her remarks highlighted GLACIATION's innovative, ethical approach and set the tone for an insightful session.

Panel Discussion: AI-Driven Innovation for Sustainable and Privacy-Centric Data Solutions

The webinar’s panel discussion brought together distinguished experts, including Giovanna Galasso (Intellera Consulting), Aidan O’Mahony (DELL Technologies), and Ken Brown (University College Cork). The discussion tackled critical questions such as:

• What are some of the biggest sustainability and privacy challenges related to the digital transition and how does GLACIATION address them?
• What are the key challenges in terms of balancing innovation and risk management within the public sector digital transformation efforts, and how do you view GLACIATION within this context? 
• Can you share some insights into how AI-driven solutions can be used to achieve environmental and privacy objectives simultaneously, in both the public and private sector?
• What are the most pressing ethical concerns when it comes to AI’s role in sustainable data operations, and how can GLACIATION potentially contribute to tackling these risks?

The panel underscored the urgency of leveraging AI to meet environmental and privacy objectives, while also fostering collaboration across public, private, and academic sectors.

Use Case Demos

Each Use Case showcases the practical applications of GLACIATION's cutting-edge technologies to fully leverage the cloud-edge continuum across various domains and scenarios to shore up privacy and contribute to the sustainability of data operations. Below is a succinct summary of each use case demonstration: 

• Edge-Decentralized Data Management: Paolo Tartara presented the use case involving SOGEI and the Payroll system for Italian civil servants, focusing on decentralised data handling to enhance security, reduce latency, and lower energy demands.
• Data-Driven Energy-Efficient Manufacturing: Guangyuan Piao from DELL Technologies demonstrated how GLACIATION's AI-driven solution optimises energy use in manufacturing, addressing environmental challenges at DELL manufacturing site in Cork, Ireland.
• Privacy-Preserving Cross-Company Analytics: Jonas Boehler of SAP showcased how SAP can share insights securely using privacy-preserving techniques employed in the GLACIATION solution, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations, to support business intelligence.
• Smart IoT for Enhanced Grid Efficiency and Resilience: Orestis Vantzos from IPTO highlighted how the GLACIATION solution is being used to ensure the sustainability and privacy of Greece's smart grid data while Orestis also highlighted that the protection of this sensitive data is critical for national security. 

Key Takeaways

Although the webinar covered a plethora of interesting and relevant points, the key takeaways were as follows:

• The GLACIATION platform demonstrates that AI-driven solutions can be a force for sustainable and privacy-enhanced data movement.
• Cross-sector collaboration is essential for addressing global challenges such as climate change, data governance, and risks to fundamental human rights. 
• Ethical considerations, including transparency and accountability, must remain at the forefront of AI-driven digital transformation.
• Decentralised and energy-efficient solutions, like those presented by GLACIATION, offer a path forward for industries and public institutions striving to meet sustainability goals while maintaining robust privacy-preservation. 

Conclusion: 

The event concluded with final remarks by Leonardo Cherubini from the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance who emphasised the importance of solutions like GLACIATION for the green and digital transition. The webinar was not only a platform for showcasing technical innovation but also a call to action for stakeholders to prioritise privacy and sustainability in their digital strategies and transformation. 

GLACIATION’s comprehensive approach to greener, privacy-enhanced data movement sets a benchmark for how emerging technologies can address global challenges effectively. The project’s innovative use cases and collaborative ethos continue to inspire progress toward a more responsible and sustainable digital future.