Professor Nic Palmarini is one of the leading experts in innovation on ageing and longevity and the Director of UK's National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA) – a global organisation supported by an initial investment from the UK Government and Newcastle University to help co-innovate - together with citizens and private and public organisations - services, technologies and products and deliver them to the market through innovative, ethical, and sustainable business models. Its mission is to “add intelligence to ageing and longevity” by connecting and interpreting the personal, social, environmental, and economic dimensions underpinning different life stages.
He is also the co-founder of the Edelman-NICA Longevity Lab, the first global lab born from the partnership of the PR global giant Edelman, the CEO of VOICE Italia, the first subsidiary of VOICE outside the UK and an Affiliate at the Harvard MetaLab.
Before, he was a research manager at the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, a $250 million academic-industry partnership for the responsible advancement of artificial intelligence, and Head of AI for Healthy Aging at IBM Research in Cambridge, USA. He has also been the Director of the Human Centric Innovation Centre in Paris and a Subject Matter Expert on smart cities.
Trained in social and political studies, he developed deep expertise in leading heterogeneous teams and connecting dots across disciplines to bridge academic and industrial research with real-world applications to deliver return-on-community and return-on-business with a specific focus on longevity and the future effects and opportunities of the demographic revolution.
He has a decade of experience in research on supporting older adults’ autonomy and independence. He led a global team to develop Human Activity Recognition techniques dedicated to older adults based on AI applied to IoT data. He has also led several programmes, including the first-of-a-kind “Living Safer,” the Internet of Caring Things, and the City of Longevity.
His teams' work has been recognised with the Computer Honors Award, the United Nations for Aging Initiative, the Disability Matters—Market Place Award, the Silver Award in Patient Partnership Index, the People's Vote at the London Design Biennale, the SilverEco Global award, and the Best Collaboration in the Irish MedTech Awards.
He co-founded Talent Garden’s Innovation School, today's most extensive European innovation hub, with 23 campuses in 8 Countries.
He is a professor of practice in Ageing, policy and planning at Newcastle University.
He is the author of five books and several publications, a TEDx, and a keynote executive speaker. His talks and lectures have been delivered to global audiences in private and public venues in more than 30 countries worldwide.