The first time I saw it, we were in the corridors of Republic in via Colombo 90 in Rome: tall, chubby, lanky, always ready with a smile and very kind ways to explain complicated things to you. It was the early 2000s and Alessandro Vento was perhaps 25. He was already a legend of digital publishing technology. And he remained until the last day of his life. He left yesterday at his home in Milan devoured by liver cancer, at the age of 45. He leaves his partner Carolina and two children: Paolo, 15 and Anna, 13 with his first wife Francesca.
But up until a few weeks ago, Alessandro was talking to everyone about newspapers, about artificial intelligence, about how to recover and perhaps relaunch the experience of Sallo! (the video-information app that he had launched with Mario Parroco and had to be suspended also due to illness). Only two or three weeks ago, perhaps, she understood that there was no hope. Then he withdrew and, perhaps for the first time in his life, he felt defeated.
It had never happened to him before: since, very young, he had begun to deal with publishing technologies at Corriere della Sera. Then to the Espresso Group and, in a short time, to some of all the Italian publishing groups with its D-Share. A legendary name in the world of information: editorial systems for the web, the first apps, including that of Guardian. He said he also made “a piece” of the editorial system of New York Times, with a Rome-New York-Rome trip in 36 hours. You thought of who knows what engineers and you found yourself in front of that cheerful, competent, enthusiastic and very kind young man. Over all the other technicians, Alessandro had an advantage: he was also a professional journalist (if it was the case, he would remind you with pride) and he knew how to see the technological problems also from the point of view of those who, then, should have used the software that he and its technicians created. So he listened, with his head slightly inclined from his height of one meter and ninety, and he said to you: “Understood… It can be done”. And you knew the answer to your problems would come within weeks.
So with Giuseppe Smorto (site director), the technicians of Republic and the general management of Pier Paolo Cervi we developed Columbus, the editorial system of Republic which, later, Alessandro managed to sell to Italian and foreign publishing groups. From time to time he would ask me to tell his American or German clients how Columbus was born and how it worked. For me it wasn’t a problem: we felt that system was ours, it was the first born from the collaboration between engineers, technicians and journalists.
Vento, known as “Wind”, was like this: a problem was only a small obstacle to overcome in order to move forward on the path of digital technology. Of Artificial Intelligence, to say, it’s not that it didn’t see the risks, but it showed you the opportunities, for example in video editing. Anyone in the publishing world with a technical problem knew that Alessandro would find a way to fix it. Conductors of the caliber of Ezio Mauro, Mario Calabresi, Ferruccio De Bortoli, Luciano Fontana, Enrico Mentana, Roberto Bernabò, Massimo Russo, Daniela Hamaui know this: from Republical Courieral Only 24 Hoursa Open.
A few years ago, Riccardo Luna asked him to create the breaking latest news editorial system by adapting Columbus to the complex needs of a large news agency. Alessandro, with D-Share, did a great job. So much so that Eni, owner of breaking latest news, decided to take over the majority of the company. Alessandro had a good economic return and an important chair.
At forty, therefore, he could be said to have arrived and satisfied, but that wasn’t enough for him. His ideas kept swirling through her head and hers Sallo! It took him and fascinated him. Also because, finally, you could have put together a technical and editorial role. Making technology for himself, publisher and for the company (Aladino srl) that he had founded with Mario Parroco and other friends. And again he involved me, Giuseppe Smorto and a group of young journalists (all legally employed) for a new publishing start-up. And he chose Sicily as a base where he was born and had (between Trapani and Palermo) very strong roots.
When we started, just over a year ago, Alessandro had already discovered nine months ago that he had a serious tumour. He rightly refused the stigma, spoke of it with confidentiality, but he was sure he could do it. And watching him work it seemed to everyone a possible undertaking: a meeting in Milan with advertisers, a plane jump to Palermo, even for friendship and some small food transgression. But between June and July his situation worsened and so did Sallo! he had to stop.
Alessandro clung (and we with him) to open projects, ideas and visions, to the hope of still having some time with his children. On a day in June he had canceled all the appointments for a basketball match with Paolo: “He tore me up – he said – But it was one of the best days of my life”.
A very beautiful and too short life. We will miss Alessandro and he will also be missed by readers, because it is people like him who make the beauty of the newspapers.