When I think of digital sustainability, I don’t just think of servers, platforms or algorithms. I think of the capacity of technologies to build bridges, generate communities, create social value. To their ability to transform themselves into tools – sometimes digital, sometimes simply deeply human – capable of making us feel part of a common design.
This is what animated me for more than ten years in that part of the work – I think the best part, before the adventure of the Foundation for Digital Sustainability – that I did with the United Nations on the other side of the ocean.
And it is for this reason that today, as president of the Foundation for Digital Sustainability, I speak to you with pride and perhaps a little emotion about our partnership with Monopolele, Mediterranean Ukulele Festival: a project that fully captures the spirit of our mission.
Monopolele is not just a music festival. It is an idea. A poetic gesture born from a visionary intuition of Mauro Minenna, a dear friend and companion of a thousand reflections on sustainability, and Salvo McGraffio, a creative spirit and anarchist in the noblest sense of the term. Born when the world was re-emerging from the first phase of the pandemic, Monopolele reminded us – with the vibrant simplicity of the ukulele – that yes, we could and should play together again. That the future was not to be feared, but played in chorus.
Music is the oldest of languages. It asks for no translations, it sets no conditions. In this sense, the ukulele, small and powerful, becomes a symbol of accessibility and unity. Just as technology, if well-directed, can connect people across geographical and cultural barriers, the ukulele teaches us that no great means are needed to create authentic connection. All you need is an open heart and a string to pluck. And this is what Mauro and Salvo have been demonstrating for the past four years, bringing artists and enthusiasts from all over the world to Monopoli to meet and find themselves united by four strings that vibrate and resonate tuned by friendship and passion. Four years that, curiously enough, correspond perfectly with the life of our Foundation.
It sounds strange to say, but the ukulele is, in its own way, a sustainable form of technology. It is replicable, inclusive, democratic. It does not need electricity, it does not consume energy, and indeed generates it, even if it is not measured in kilowatts. It does not consume, but gives back. It is a technology we like, because it reminds us that sustainability is not only in materials, but above all in models: of relationship, of expression, of community. And just like the ukulele, we have a utopia for good technology that breaks down barriers in a world that needs to grow united.
The Foundation works every day with its members, partners, companies and people to support the development of inclusive digital ecosystems. Monopolele does the same, but with notes. Where we invest in infrastructure and skills, they invest in smiles and harmonies. Yet, the goal is common: to build resilience, to generate trust, to remember that unity – now more than ever – is the only possible form of genuine innovation.
Digital sustainability means facing the complexity of the present with tools that allow us not to lose our bearings for the future. Monopolele chose art, beauty, music. We chose technology and critical thinking. But deep down, the same fire moves us: the conviction that transformation – digital or musical – must serve to build a fairer, more human, more harmonious world.
This partnership is not born from a strategic calculation, but from a deep bond. It stems from friendship, esteem, and a common vision of a future where playing together is not a metaphor, but a goal. I thank Mauro, Salvo and every person who picks up a ukulele not to escape from the world, but to make it better. We, as the Foundation, are with you. And – as of today, also officially – we play together.
