I was recently interviewed by a newspaper in Genoa about an idea I’ve been developing—“Turning Silver into Gold.”

Almost every developed nation in the world, with the notable exception of Israel, now has a birth rate below replacement level. Italy’s fertility rate is about 1.18 children per woman, far below the 2.1 needed to sustain population size over time. In Genoa, home to the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), the demographic shift is even more pronounced. It is the oldest major city in Italy.

The median age in Italy is 49. In the United States it is 39. In Israel it is 29. In Genoa, nearly 30% of the population is over 65. By 2050, projections suggest that Italy could have roughly one retired person for every working-age adult. An inverted population pyramid is not just a statistic—it is a structural challenge to economic growth, healthcare systems, innovation capacity, and social cohesion.

I see this not only as a demographic issue, but as an opportunity for innovation. If Genoa is one of the oldest cities in Europe, it should also become one of the most inventive when it comes to aging.

In my view, demographic inversion may pose a greater long-term threat to developed societies than climate change. Climate change is visible and urgent. Demographic decline is quieter but just as transformative.

But every structural problem contains the seeds of opportunity.

What if Genoa became a global center for rethinking aging? What if we treated longevity not as a burden, but as an innovation frontier? Robotics for elder care. AI-driven health monitoring and dealing with dementia. New financial models for retirement. Urban redesign for multi-generational living. Education systems that assume people will have second and third careers.

Turning Silver into Gold means recognizing that an aging population is not simply a cost center. It is a market, a talent pool, and a test bed for solutions the rest of the world will soon need.

As a Fellow of IIT, which is headquartered in Genoa, I believe that that city has the intellectual capital to lead this transformation.  I am hoping to act as a catalyst.

English Translation of Newspaper Article (Il Secolo XIX, 26 February 2026)

Destination Liguria

“My dream for Genoa: A center on longevity to attract new talent”

Avram Miller was at the top of Intel and innovated medicine with computers. “This city can become a leader in the study of aging.” IIT believes in it.

Taking advantage of his presence in the city, IIT has offered Avram Miller the role of IIT Fellow. A Fellow is a person who, for merits earned in the field, is elected advisor to a university or research institute. Miller, 81, is a scientist, technologist, innovator, and investor. In the 1990s he was one of the founders of Intel Capital, which became the most important corporate venture capital fund of its time. He also innovated the history of the internet, as did companies like Red Hat and VMware.

Miller and his wife Deborah fell in love with Italy and intend to stay. Before buying a home in Puglia, in Lecce, they spent nearly a year living in Genoa. “We had taken an apartment opposite the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. We were looking for a place near France, where some of our friends live, and Genoa was perfect.”

For Genoa, Miller sketched a plan for a research and technology transfer center dedicated to aging. “This city has the credentials to assume economic and scientific leadership in managing an increasingly older population. Here I think I can still make my contribution, something that in America is not taken for granted.”

In 2015, Miller was living in Israel with his wife and helped found the longevity center at Sheba Hospital of Tel Aviv University. “Longevity has increased constantly over the last century. Every year life expectancy grows by a couple of months. With artificial intelligence it will increase even more. AI will have a great impact in diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer.”

Longevity, combined with declining births, however has a serious side effect: it overturns the population pyramid. “In all developed countries the population pyramid is reversing: the elderly increase, the young decrease. In Genoa this phenomenon is even more accentuated.”

During his time in Genoa, Miller studied the phenomenon and drafted a proposal titled “Turning Silver into Gold,” where silver is also synonymous with old age. “The Genoese population is declining, 8% in the last 25 years. One third of residents are over 65 and probably retired. The birth rate is half the replacement rate needed to guarantee demographic stability. It is a problem, but also an opportunity, because it is what will happen in the world in the coming decades.”

Hence the proposal: “A research center focused on the impact of aging on the population,” where the main areas of intervention would be increasing productivity of the workforce, engaging retirees in productive life, extending healthy longevity, and addressing new challenges such as loneliness.

Miller would like to create in Genoa the conditions for the birth of an international center on the impact of aging. Among the conditions is the availability of a supercomputer to provide artificial intelligence services. Genoa has two, Davinci-1 and Franklin. These are necessary for modeling complex AI systems that can develop new drugs or robots, among other things.

He would entrust scientific coordination to the University of Genoa, which could establish a chair in longevity. Around the university a network of companies should form, focused on the center’s objectives, from pharmaceuticals to exoskeletons to improve workers’ health and working conditions. The proposal includes the creation of a venture capital fund to finance these companies in their early phase.

Miller’s life, recounted in his 2021 book “The Flight of a Wild Duck: An Improbable Journey Through Life and Technology,” has been guided by imagination — the ability to look beyond what is known, to combine what exists with what could exist, and to understand the future.

IIT Director Giorgio Metta summarized his career as “dedicated to innovation,” stating that Miller will make available to IIT his experience, knowledge, network, and visionary capacity to help transform scientific research into concrete solutions for society.

Here is the original article in Italian.