the event "Promoting the competitiveness of the production system" was held at MIND Milano Innovation District in Milan, organized by Federated Innovation @MIND - the public-private collaborative model born in 2021 as a driver of innovation of MIND, Milano Innovation District, and promoted by Lendlease with the contribution of Cariplo Factory.

The Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the Permanent Representation of the European Commission in Italy and the MADE Competence Center Industry 4.0 have initiated a dialogue together with representatives of the Federated Innovation network on current topics such as the challenges and opportunities of business digitalization, the implementation of the PNRR, and public-private partnership.

The conference, moderated by Fiorenza Lipparini, the Director General of Milano&Partners, the official promotion agency of the city of Milan, began with opening remarks from Valentino Valentini, Vice Minister at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, who emphasized the positive collaboration with MIND, and Fabrizio Grillo, President of Federated Innovation @MIND, who introduced the ecosystem in which the Federated Innovation experience fits. To date, it has seen the participation of around 40 companies, divided into 12 thematic areas, which in just the last year have initiated over 100 innovation initiatives related to the two main areas: "City of the Future" and "Future of Health". This is achieved through the "collaborate to compete" model, equipped with a legal structure to protect intellectual property and aimed at generating research projects, promoting technology transfer, and the cross-pollination of ideas on a platform open to collaboration from all participating companies, universities, and institutions, integrated into the European innovation ecosystem and projected towards collaboration with public institutions.

The event continued with two roundtable discussions where the speakers first discussed the public-private synergy in implementing national and European policies and financing tools. Subsequently, they focused on the theme of digitalization of businesses as a key factor for competitiveness at both national and European levels, also presenting some successful examples.

The first roundtable discussion, titled "Public-private synergy in implementing national and European policies and financing tools", focused on the current scenario and the future of competitiveness in Italy and Europe, including within the framework of the PNRR. It delved into the opportunities that companies and institutions can activate through synergistic collaboration between the public and private sectors. Among the speakers, Paolo Casalino, Director General for Industrial Policy, Industrial Conversion, Industrial Crisis, Innovation, SMEs, and Made in Italy (Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy), discussed the future of competitiveness in the EU with an overview of the state of the art of the PNRR, also in terms of revising collaboration between the public and private sectors. Fabrizio Grillo, President of Federated Innovation @MIND, explained how Federated Innovation proposes an innovation model capable of going beyond open innovation, stimulating collaboration between public and private initiatives, based on the priorities defined by the European Union and our central government, taking advantage of the tools available such as the PNRR and all those incentives to support development and digitalisation. Marco Taisch, President of the MADE Competence Center Industry 4.0, explained the importance of promoting shared strategies and open dialogue systems, resource sharing, and mutual oversight between the public sector and businesses, within the Competence Center ecosystem and its role in enhancing the Made in Italy brand. Salvatore De Vita, Economic Advisor of the Representation in Italy of the European Commission, discussed what competitiveness (including digital competitiveness) means today, where the European Union stands, and the innovative role of the PNRR in stimulating innovation.

The second roundtable discussion, titled "The digitalisation of companies as a key factor of competitiveness at national and European level: some successful examples", placed central importance to the theme of the digital transformation of companies and how this can represent added value, also presenting two innovation initiatives accelerated in the context of the Internet such as MUSA and Rethinking School Spaces. MUSA, Multilayered Urban Sustainability Action is an Innovation Ecosystem funded by the Ministry of University and Research as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and, in the context of Federated Innovation, sees Astrazeneca, Bracco, Bio4Dreams and TIM collaborate with other partners within spoke 2 "Big data and open data for life sciences" with the aim of creating a federated digital infrastructure for the secure and transparent exchange of data and health services, and was told today by Paola Testori Coggi, Ambassador Future of Health Federated Innovation @MIND. Rethinking School Spaces, outlined by Matteo Tarantino, Assistant Professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan and project manager of the initiative, proposes a new idea of educational space leveraging connectivity, artificial intelligence, and widespread sensor technology to make classrooms more sustainable, inclusive, and secure for students and teachers. The classroom, realized through collaboration between Valore Italia, WINDTRE, Cisco, and Schneider Electric, is already operational and named after Elena Lucrezia Piscopia Corner, the first woman to graduate in Italy. Throughout 2024, the project will further evolve with significant innovative contributions from Saint Gobain Italia and ELT Group, actively involving numerous schools in the area.

Among the speakers in this second panel was also Raffaele Spallone, Head of the Digitalization Division of Enterprises and Analysis of Productive Sectors (Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy), whose speech focused on the measures available also in terms of the PNRR and with particular attention towards the centers of competence, and Vincenzo Severino, Head of Competence Center Digitalization of CDP SpA, who highlighted how digitalization can be a tool to accelerate the innovation of the country system and illustrated the central role of CDP in this process.

"Italy needs to strongly continue the path of digital transition, crucial in the ongoing shift from a product-based economy to a process-based economy. In this regard, MIND - Milano Innovation District, born from a fruitful collaboration between public and private sectors, plays a leading role, - stated Valentino Valentini, Vice Minister at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy. - The government and Mimit are well aware of the importance of strengthening the Italian innovation ecosystem, and in this direction, among other things, is the allocation, through PNRR resources, of 350 million euros for the extensive network of technology transfer centers. We will continue to work, in collaboration with all stakeholders, to accompany and support businesses in innovation."

"In recent years, the Federated Innovation model has shown that significant results can be achieved when a framework and structure are created in which companies are facilitated to collaborate with each other, as well as with institutions, to jointly implement innovation projects that can effectively reach the market, both to maintain competitiveness and to bring innovation into society, - stated Fabrizio Grillo, President of Federated Innovation @MIND. - Among the challenges our country must face is the use of European funds and the PNRR in favor of the production system and innovation, especially from a sustainability perspective. To do this virtuously, it will be necessary to increasingly create opportunities for dialogue between businesses, institutions, and public administration. That's why we believe that the dialogue we have initiated in Federated Innovation with institutions is crucial to continue carrying out valuable work for the Italian ecosystem."