Turning innovation from an isolated initiative into a structural process for Italian companies. This was one of the key messages that emerged on 28 September in Rome, at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, during the meeting bringing together Italy’s eight Competence Centers.
The event was particularly significant for START4.0, which, together with the other seven Centers, presented the results achieved in recent years and discussed the future of Italy’s technology transfer system, with a particular focus on the phase beyond the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).
The meeting also marked an important milestone with the signing of the founding agreement of the Competence Center Italia Association, formally consolidating a collaboration that has already been well established among ARTES 4.0, BI-REX, CIM4.0, CYBER 4.0, MADE Competence Center Industria 4.0, MedITech, SMACT and START4.0.
Competence Centers and technology transfer: €320 million in projects and services
The figures presented in Rome highlight the scale reached by the Competence Center network.
Since 2019, approximately €320 million worth of projects and services have been activated for Italian companies, against €180 million in public resources.
Over the same period, the Competence Centers delivered around 4,700 services to businesses, 84% of them aimed at SMEs, trained approximately 57,000 people through more than 1.1 million person-hours of training, and reached around 40,000 companies through 1,550 free orientation events.
These figures confirm the role of Competence Centers as a key link between companies, research, advanced technologies and specialist expertise.
Innovation that continues beyond individual projects
However, one of the most significant results concerns not only the volume of activities carried out, but their long-term impact.
93.3% of the companies surveyed stated that working with a Competence Center made a difference to the success of their project.
Even more importantly, 70% of the companies that worked with a Competence Center continued to independently increase their technological maturity after the project had ended.
This is one of the clearest indicators of the value of the model: technology transfer should not end when a single project or funding programme is completed.
The objective is to ensure that innovation becomes a permanent capability within companies, supported by skills, infrastructures and methodologies capable of generating value over time.
The role of Competence Centers after the NRRP
The meeting at the Ministry also provided an opportunity to look ahead.
Over the past few years, the NRRP has helped strengthen technology transfer centers and the infrastructures available to Italian businesses. The discussion in Rome confirmed the strong interest in ensuring continuity for the role of the Competence Centers also in the post-NRRP phase.
For START4.0, this represents a particularly important challenge: continuing to provide companies with expertise, technologies and infrastructures capable of supporting digital transformation and innovation processes, with a specific focus on the security and resilience of critical infrastructures.
START4.0 and Ansaldo Energia: the voice of industry
The event also gave significant space to companies and their direct experience of innovation and technology transfer.
Among the speakers was Marco Grillo of Ansaldo Energia, who took part in the discussion dedicated to the perspective of Italian companies.
The participation of Ansaldo Energia is particularly meaningful for START4.0, reflecting the strong connection between the Competence Center and a major industrial player within its ecosystem.
This relationship is a concrete example of the collaboration between large companies, SMEs, research institutions and public bodies that lies at the heart of the Competence Center model.
Competence Center Italia Association is established
The 28 September meeting also marked another important step with the establishment of the Competence Center Italia Association.
The new organisation gives a stable framework to the cooperation developed over recent years among Italy’s eight Competence Centers and strengthens their ability to operate in a coordinated and complementary way across the country.
The shared objective is to make it easier for Italian companies to access advanced expertise, technologies and infrastructures, regardless of where they are based.
For START4.0, the Rome meeting therefore represents both a milestone and a new starting point: building on what has been achieved so far and working together with the other Competence Centers to ensure that innovation and technology transfer become structural, measurable and accessible processes for Italian companies, including in the post-NRRP phase.