Francesca Bria, world star of digital sovereignty, towards the presidency of the National Innovation Fund – Repubblica.it

There is a rising star in the Democratic Party. A person on whom the Democratic Party is preparing to make an important investment that could open up unpredictable scenarios. Is called Francesca Bria, is 42 years old and is a candidate to become president of the National Innovation Fund, which with around two billion euros for startups will be in 2020 the most important venture capital instrument to support innovation and talent. The venture capital Bria has never dealt with, but in the field of innovation it is a world star. Currently a United Nations senior advisor for digital and smart cities, she was a longtime councilor of the city of Barcelona in the Ada Colau council, where she arrived after her studies at a London college and a period of projects and research in the British think tank Nesta.In Barcelona, ​​Bria did not just manage the digital transformation of the Catalan city, putting sensors, creating open databases and platforms for participation, but it did so with a radical vision that she summarizes in the slogan "from Big Tech (big companies of Silicon Valley) to the Democratic Tech ". That is, a society in which the control of personal data returns to the hands of citizens. The digital sovereignty of people as opposed to the hegemony of Facebook and Google is a concept that often returns in his speeches and was the heart of a great event organized in early November in Turin, Decode, which was actually the stage of a broader European project that aims to mobilize innovators, startups, non-governmental organizations and communities in an alliance that overturns the current "digital order". In this battle, Bria has positions similar to those of her husband, Evgeny Morozov, highly respected intellectual and bitter enemy of Silicon Valley and the "feel-good" vision of the digital revolution.
What led Bria back to Italy? Several factors. A few months ago he declined the proposal of a new mandate as a councilor in Barcelona and put his vision at the service of the United Nations. The meeting with the Democratic Party of Zingaretti must go back to the summer, because when the formation of the second Conte government was being discussed, its name had already sprung up as a possible Minister of Innovation. That armchair was then finished with the 5 star Movement, then with Paola Pisano. But Bria remained on top of the thoughts of the Democratic Party (yesterday it was the star of a seminar of the Arel Foundation with Enrico Letta and Marianna Madia). And today it is the candidate to chair the new Innovation Fund.This is a tool, established by the previous Budget law, which for the first time allocates resources and people to support the growth of startups. Until now the launch was blocked by crossed vetoes, given that for the composition of the board of directors it provides that six members (including the managing director) are entitled to Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and three (including the president) to Invitalia. And it states that there must be mutual acceptance. In the agreement between the majority parties, the chair of the president belongs to the Pd. Who decided to focus everything on Bria. A strong choice, for at least two reasons: Bria is not a venture capital expert (as indeed the managing director chosen by Cdp, the manager Enrico Resmini) and has a very radical vision of innovation, " of left". Bria will not be a notary president and from that position she will be able to make her voice heard loudly.