MEET is the first International Center for Digital Art and Culture, founded in Milan in February 2018 through the union of two extraordinary stories: that of a prestigious and well-established institution like Fondazione Cariplo, which for 30 years has supported the growth of the Lombardy region and the well-being of its residents, and that of Meet the Media Guru, a platform for networking and knowledge exchange led by Maria Grazia Mattei who, since 2005, has been inviting leading figures and experts in international digital culture to Milan.

MEET was founded with the goal of bridging Italy’s digital divide and fostering a new understanding of technology as a resource for individual creativity and the well-being of society as a whole.

MEET is a physical and virtual space for the creation and dissemination of events, exhibitions, masterclasses, and digital experiences aimed at the Lombardy region and the entire country. At the same time, it serves as the Italian hub of a global network active across Europe and the rest of the world. MEET promotes the exchange, sharing, and development of innovative projects with national and international partners with whom it shares values, objectives, and experiences.

Believing that innovation is a cultural phenomenon, even before it is a technological one, and that the spread of digital culture fosters economic growth, opportunities, and well-being for all citizens, MEET explores and showcases people, languages, creative ideas, and innovative projects through a program of “on-life” initiatives, both online and on-site, such as events, exhibitions, educational experiences, performances, and experiences that place people at the center of technological change.

In October 2020, MEET inaugurated its headquarters in Milan’s Porta Venezia neighborhood, in an early 20th-century building redesigned by architect Carlo Ratti to serve as a “new media space.”

At MEET, digital culture is created, learned, shared, and transmitted by promoting emerging trends and models capable of improving the well-being of Italian society. Exchanges and dialogues with international experiences and realities play a key role in its program.