Milan brings together research, industry and institutions to tackle the challenge of strategic technologies

Milan is seeking to carve out a specific niche for itself on the new map of global competition: that of strategic technologies. From quantum computing to artificial intelligence, via supercomputing and cybersecurity, the Lombard capital aims to become a permanent hub for scientific research, industry and European institutions.

This is the ambition behind the World Tech Conference 2026, scheduled to take place from 24 to 27 June at the Allianz MiCo and organised by Micromegas Comunicazione. Rather than a traditional conference, this event is intended to serve as a platform for discussion on a question set to shape the coming decade: how can Europe maintain an independent role in the global race for the technologies that will determine economic growth, productivity and even the geopolitical balance?

The agenda will include the issues that are reshaping the balance of power amongst the world’s leading economies: quantum computing, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, energy, blockchain, healthcare, finance, public administration and technological sovereignty.

The opening day on 24 June, aptly titled “The World is Changing – Legitimacy, Vision, Paradigm Shift”, will be devoted to the new geographies of technological power and the increasingly delicate relationship between innovation, regulation and competitiveness. Among the key figures are some of the leading representatives of the international scientific community, including Nobel laureates Giorgio Parisi and Alain Connes, alongside Luciano Maiani, Thibault Damour, Michele Parrinello, Gian Francesco Giudice, Alan Baratz and Viatcheslav Mukhanov.

But what is also at stake is Europe’s ability to build its own technological infrastructure at a time when dependence on the United States and China risks becoming a structural weakness.