Five projects for inclusive innovation

The five finalist projects for Digital4Human are ActivePark, Cfluent, Kimap, La Scuola Interattiva and PhiCube. ‘Innovation that includes’, the competition organised by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale ETS and ING Italia, as part of Job Digital Lab, in collaboration with Ausilioteca Roma and the Istituto Leonarda Vaccari. 
The five projects were selected at the end of the evaluation phase from among the 20 applications received. The list is published in alphabetical order and does not constitute a ranking of merit. The finalist solutions showcase very different approaches to inclusive innovation, united by their ability to address concrete needs and to be tested in real-world contexts.

• ActivePark, developed by Astrolab at the IRCCS Eugenio Medea, is a technologically-adaptive outdoor playground designed so that children with and without disabilities can play together. The level of challenge adapts to each child’s functional profile via an interactive totem and sensor-based installations. The playground has been operational since 2024, and the trial involved 100 children.
• Cfluent, developed by Assistive Communication LLC – Cboard, is an artificial intelligence-based conversational assistant for people who cannot rely on their natural voice. It suggests context-relevant phrases, which the user can edit, select and reproduce via text-to-speech, whilst retaining control over the communication at all times. The project also stems from the direct experience of Martín Bedouret, co-founder of Cboard and a daily user of augmentative communication systems.
• Kimap, by Kinoa Innovation Studio, tackles an often-overlooked barrier: the difficulty of finding reliable information on the accessibility of places, services and routes. An interactive map, themed guides and a conversational assistant help people with mobility difficulties to plan their journeys with greater awareness and independence. The platform now contains over two million pieces of information on accessibility.
• La Scuola Interattiva, proposed by the Italian Rett Association, is an educational and technological model aimed at girls and women with Rett syndrome. It combines virtual small-group classes with AMELIE, an assistive technology that also allows eye gaze to be used as a means of interaction when the functional use of the hands is severely impaired.
• PhiCube, developed by Rehabilia Technologies, is a portable robotic platform that transforms movement and play into learning and habilitation activities for children and young people with neurodevelopmental disorders. Sensors, computer vision and artificial intelligence enable the exercises to be adapted to the child’s abilities and allow data on their progress to be collected. The solution has already been trialled with over 160 children.

An assessment balancing innovation and impact

The applications were assessed by a multidisciplinary jury bringing together expertise from the worlds of business, research, education and social inclusion. The selection process followed the eight criteria set out in the call for entries: technological innovation, social and inclusive impact, project maturity, actual adoption and sustainability of use, scalability potential, accessibility and usability, adaptability and customisation, and the promotion of young talent. A framework designed to consider not only the quality of the technological solution, but also its ability to meet real needs, be usable by people, produce a tangible impact and grow over time.

3 December: the final in Milan
The five teams will meet on Thursday 3 December 2026, to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, for the final event hosted by the ING Italia Hub, at Viale Fulvio Testi 250 in Milan, from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm. The finalists will present their solutions and prototypes, which visitors will also be able to explore and try out in person. At the end of the event, the winning project will be announced, and it will receive the prize of 3,000 euros provided for in the competition. 
Digital4Human thus reaches its conclusion whilst maintaining the core principle that has guided the entire process: promoting technologies that are already tailored to people’s needs and capable of making a tangible contribution to independence, accessibility and participation.