Innovation is a crucial matter for the territorial enhancement and for the
development of policies capable of responding to the rapid changes of the 21st
century.
The importance of the regional dimension of innovation is confirmed by the very
nature of the local economic fabric, powered by companies that are
interconnected in global value chains and open to the international market.
9 clusters
In the development and innovation model of a region, an important role is played
by Clusters. This aggregation of companies, universities, research centers and
other public or private entities - focused on specific areas of activity/
technology and provided with legal personality and a governance model - supports
and nourishes the
competitiveness of the regional ecosystem encouraging its innovative
processes.
In Lombardy there are 9 regional clusters
Competence Center 4.0
In addition to the aforementioned Clusters, a significant role in the innovation
process of the Italian regions is played by the 4.0 Competence Centers, which
provide a service to companies that is developed on three axes:
- orientation, in particular for SMEs, through the preparation of a series of
tools aimed at supporting companies in assessing their level of digital and
technological maturity;
- training, with the aim of promoting and disseminating skills in the Industry
4.0 sector through training in the classroom, on the production line, and on
real applications, using, for example, demonstration production lines and
development of use cases, for the purpose to support the understanding by
the companies that benefit
from concrete benefits in terms of reducing operating costs and increasing
the competitiveness of the offer;
- implementation of innovation projects, industrial research and experimental
development, proposed by companies, including those of a collaborative
nature between companies, and supply of technology transfer services in the
Industry 4.0 area, also through actions to stimulate the demand for
innovation by companies , particularly
SMEs.
-
MADE is the competence center for industry 4.0 in Lombardy.
Attended by 4 universities - headed by the Politecnico di Milano, and the
universities of Bergamo, Brescia and Pavia - it is participated by 43
companies and 1 public body. Launched in September 2019 on the Bovisa
campus, in the northwestern belt of the Lombard capital, it is strategically
located close to companies dedicated to innovation, such as the PoliHub, the
accelerator of the Milanese university that hosts 113
entrepreneurial realities, and the Joint Platform of the Politecnico di
Milano with the
Tsinghua University of Beijing.
Smart Specialization Strategy (S3)
The Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) of the Lombardy Region for the
period 2021-2027 confirms the centrality of innovation in the regional vision:
with a focus on the industrial districts and on the Lombard Technological
Clusters, the policies focused on the organic systems of competence draw
attention on flexibility,
digitization, environmental sustainability and the transition towards a circular
economy (in line with the strategic framework that is being created at national
and European level).
The development and relaunch of the economic-productive system, also following
the Covid19 pandemic, passes through guidelines such as the economic relaunch of
exports and the internationalization of Lombard companies, the attraction of
foreign investments, the reshoring of businesses and research and innovation
system as well as
qualification in terms of sustainability. In this context, the following is a
priority for the Lombardy Region:
- encourage the resettlement in Lombardy of previously relocated high
value-added activities, focusing on innovation and qualification in terms of
sustainability;
- facilitate access to credit and simplification of access and disbursement of
public contributions, favoring the relaunch and development, in an
innovative key, of companies and the Lombard research and innovation system;
- promote full employment, also through the retraining and reintegration of
people involved in corporate crises and develop and uphold the talents of
the future by focusing on inclusive education, the development of higher
technical training and fighting early school leaving, all this with
awareness of the new training needs, for
example for the development of green jobs and digital skills.
As part of the Intelligent Specialization Strategy aimed at accessing the
2014-2020 Community Programming Funds, the Lombardy Region has identified seven
main Specialization Areas, particularly strategic and priority, around which to
concentrate resources:
- Aerospace
- Agribusiness
- Eco-industry
- Creative and cultural industries
- Health industry
- Advanced manufacturing
- Sustainable mobility
Open Innovation
In the Lombardy Region there is also another tool focused on innovation:
- Open Innovation: a platform that brings together skills, ideas and
innovation projects. The Open Innovation platform promoted by the Lombardy
Region is aimed at all the protagonists of innovation, or those who - in the
context of their professional activity - put their personal skills and those
of the organizations with
which they collaborate into play to create "ecosystems of innovation ".
Discover more: www.openinnovation.regione.lombardia.it/en
Universities in
Lombardy
Lombardy boasts the best universities at an international level, as well as a highly skilled human capital according to the market needs. The close link between universities, businesses and research contributes to the acquisition of soft and technical skills, for both students and
professionals. Training and enhancement of human capital in the innovation process, the perfect combination for the future skills.
Higher technical
institutes (ITS)