Nicola Palmarini
Director, UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing | Ageing Intelligence | Healthy Longevity | People Insights | Data & AI | Internet of Caring Things | City of Longevity | DEI Champion | Professor | Ted Speaker
Nic Palmarini is one of the gloabal leading experts in innovation on ageing and longevity and the Director of UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA) – a global organisation supported by an initial investment from the UK Government and Newcastle University to help co-innovate – together with citizens and private and public organisations – services, technologies and products and deliver them to the market through innovative, ethical, and sustainable business models.
Its mission is to “add intelligence to ageing and longevity” by connecting and interpreting the personal, social, environmental, and economic dimensions underpinning different life stages.
Before, he was a research manager at the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, a $250 million academic-industry partnership for the responsible advancement of artificial intelligence and Head of AI for Healthy Aging at IBM Research in Cambridge, USA. Previously, he was Director of the Human Centric Innovation Centre in Paris and SmartCities Subject Matter Expert.
Trained in social and political studies, he developed deep expertise in leading heterogeneous teams and connecting dots across disciplines to bridge academic and industrial research with real-world applications to deliver return-on-community and return-on-business with a specific focus on longevity and the future effects and opportunities of the demographic revolution.
He holds a decade of experience in research on supporting older adults’ autonomy and independence, leading a global team to develop Human Activity Recognition techniques dedicated to older adults based on AI applied to IoT data. He led several programmes, including the first-of-a-kind “Living Safer” for the City of Bolzano; the “Internet of Caring Things”, and the City of Longevity. The work of his teams has been awarded the Computer Honors Award, the United Nations for Aging Initiative, and the SilverEco Global award.
He co-founded Talent Garden’s Innovation School, today’s most extensive European innovation hub, with 23 campuses in 8 Countries.
He is a professor of practice in Aging, Policy and Planning at Newcastle University and has collaborations with leading universities on the topics of innovation and aging.
He is the author of five books and several publications, a TEDx, and a keynote executive speaker. His talks and lectures have been delivered to global audiences, in private and public venues, in more than 30 countries worldwide.
He is a member of several boards, including the Scientific Advisory Committee at McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA), GIMI (Global Management Innovation Institute), the Humane Technology Lab, the Scientific Board of Political Sciences and International Relations at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan, the Laidlaw School Trust and the Longitudinal Prize on Dementia.
