On the first day of the SINFO32, which took place from February 17 to 21, INESC-ID marked its presence during the panel “Técnico’s Computer Engineering at the Forefront of Artificial Intelligence, a collaboration with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (DEI). INESC-ID researchers Arlindo Oliveira, Ana Teresa Freitas and Inês Lynce, under the moderation of INESC-ID’s Science Writer, Sara Sá, highlighted the department’s contributions in various fields, which prompted many enthusiastic questions from the audience, particularly regarding entrepreneurship.  

On the following day, our very own session, “FoodSteps: From Crypto-Currencies to Cherry-Tracking”, a presentation by INESC-ID researcher, Miguel Pardal. In a packed second stage, and following a short introduction about INESC-ID, the talk delved into the specifics of “blockchain”, and how it can be applied to the agriculture sector by keeping track of produce origins and monitoring its conditions during transport. A practical example of this food traceability is the project Blockchain.PT, which has been using blockchain technology to track the well known “cereja do Fundão” (read more about this innovative project here). 

SINFO is a free tech conference, created by students from Instituto Superior Técnico, that hosts an annual week-long event in Lisbon, where participants (students, professionals or industry leaders) can connect with each other and share their knowledge in computer science and technology. Over the five days attendees were able to attend lectures, workshops and panels in a wide range of topics, from Multimedia to AI, as well as get in touch with companies displayed around the job fair.