From Digitalisation to Artificial Intelligence: New Scenarios For Health and Medicine
Trento, 12-13 Februray 2026
STS Italia and AIS: International Conference on Health, Medicine, and Technology
STS Italia is pleased to announce the 2026 conference jointly organised with the Health and Medicine Section of the Italian Sociological Association (AIS – sezione di Sociologia della Salute e della Medicina) with the support of Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) and University of Trento. This event marks the second step after previous joint conference in 2018. Since then, the landscape of health and medicine has changed profoundly: the pandemic accelerated digital health, telemedicine, and data infrastructures, while artificial intelligence and algorithmic systems have reshaped care practices and governance.
In response to these deep transformations, this edition deliberately opens the dialogue to an international context. The strong participation of scholars from different countries and disciplines, reflected in the conference programme available within the book of abstracts, confirms the relevance and timeliness of the issues addressed. The conference programme is composed of seven sessions, which are to be held over the course of two half-days, in addition to a round table discussion. The round table discussion will feature the following participants: Giuseppe Jurman (Bruno Kessler Foundation/Humanitas University); Michele Tizzoni (University of Trento); Paolo Guarda (University of Trento); and Laura Sartori (University of Bologna).
The conference will take place from 12 to 13 February 2026 in Trento, hosted by the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Trento, and highlights the essential role of dialogue between Science and Technology Studies and the sociology of health and medicine in understanding how health, illness, and technology are co-constructed in rapidly evolving and interconnected contexts.
STS Italia extends special thanks to the Organising Committee: Alberto Ardissone (University of Macerata), Flavia Atzori (Polytechnic University of Marche), Attila Bruni (University of Trento), Stefano Crabu (University of Padua), Marta Gibin (University of Bologna), Francesco Miele (University of Trieste), Veronica Moretti (University of Bologna), Enrico Maria Piras (Bruno Kessler Foundation), and Barbara Sena (University of Bergamo).