Digital and sustainable North West: the 9 million euro PNRR project presented in Como
A day of study and presentation of the Nodes project, «Digital and Sustainable North West»
A day of study and presentation of the Nodes Project, "Digital and Sustainable North West", was held today at the University of Insubria, in the Cloister of Sant'Abbondio in Como. The scientific manager of the Spoke is Professor Barbara Pozzo, who together with Professor Mauro Fasano, Delegate of the Rector for Innovation and Technology Transfer, illustrated the activities that will be carried out in the area to the teachers and stakeholders.
The Nodes Project, selected within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, involves seven universities with the aim of creating one of the 11 Innovation Ecosystems that the Ministry of University and Research has identified in order to support growth and the digital and ecological transition in Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta and in the westernmost provinces of Lombardy, namely Como, Varese and Pavia. Within Innovation Ecosystems, the University of Insubria will directly manage 9 million euros.
The teachers of the universities collaborating in the kick off took part today: Piercarlo Rossi of the University of Turin, Katia Premazzi, Paolo Gheda and Marco Alderighi of the University of Valle d'Aosta, Stefania Cerutti of the University of Eastern Piedmont , Sara Lucca and Elena Zaffaroni of ComoNext, Paola Negro and Davide Dellarolle of Città Studi. Present and involved for Insubria: Andrea Bellucci, Roberta Pezzetti and Andrea Vezzulli from the Department of Economics; Simone Tini of the Department of Human Sciences and Innovation for the Territory; Sebastiano Citroni, Giuseppe Colangelo, Valentina Jacometti, Roberta Minazzi, Alessandro Panno and Giuseppe Porro from the Department of Economic Law and Cultures. The mayor of Como Alessandro Rapinese and Francesca Quagliarini, councilor with responsibilities for universities and youth policies as well as an Insubria law student, took part.
The vision of the project is to help improve people's well-being through the use of all material and immaterial forms in which culture and knowledge are expressed and to forge close synergies between all the actors who collaborate to respond to these needs: schools , universities, bookshops, cinemas, creative and cultural industries, museums, libraries, archives, archaeological areas, theatres. The mission of the project is therefore to develop the culture of the territories, linking them to historical, artistic and architectural factors, to its natural beauties, as well as to other aspects that are part of the industrial fabric and which are linked to the concept of creativity, to encourage an entrepreneurial culture committed to sustainability. The research areas involved concern the legal and economic aspects of the creative industries, the digitization of tourism businesses, the introduction of the culture of sustainability in businesses, the success factors of museums and more generally of the creative industries for the development of tourism, information technology connected to the development of tourism and the valorisation of Made in Italy.
Many stakeholders present today in Sant'Abbondio: Federico Raveglia of Cooperativa Tikvà, Maurizio Moscatelli of Aquedotto Industriale, Alberto D'Errico Mantero of Seta SpA, Costanza Ferrarin of the Unesco Office, Fulvio Alvisi of the Italian Association of Textile Designers, Luca Malinverno and Franco Pigoli of Porini Srl, Edoardo Botta and Giorgio Maspero of Confartigianato companies Como, Alessandro Ventimiglia of the Silk Factory Past Students Association, Sauro Vicini of Cluster Smart Cities-Lombardy, Graziano Pagani of Confindustria Como, Alessandra Orsenigo, Luca Levrini, Graziano Brenna, Elisa Notaristefano and Claudia Striato of the Alessandro Volta Foundation, Andrea Taborelli of the Como Unesco Consulta, Livia Torterolo and Giulia Troglio of Dgs Spa and Porini Srl, Paolo Angelo Galbiati of Cna Lario Brianza, Francesca Rizzi.
The Nodes Project, as can be read in its scientific presentation, intends to strengthen and evolve the territorial Innovation Ecosystem in order to support the sustainable and inclusive growth of the reference territories, pursuing the objectives on the creation and development of research chains and industrial declined in the sectors identified in the research program, in accordance with the smart specialization strategies for regional research and innovation. Among the objectives of Nodes is also to support innovation on high-potential technological trajectories to develop new products and processes in existing small and medium-sized enterprises, stimulating research enhancement and technology transfer processes and increasing their competitiveness also at an international level.
The creation of «Deep Tech» start-ups and spin-offs will be encouraged in the identified sectors, attracting additional venture economic resources, and digital transition processes will be supported also through new collaborative innovation paths and tools between start-ups, SMEs, Large Companies and the world of research, validating scalable and replicable intervention models. It will also contribute to the training of talents, up-skilling and re-skilling of personnel employed with advanced training and through innovative teaching approaches and their inclusion in the productive world, with a focus on the involvement of women in the STEM field and the innovation of the role of PhD in Industrial Optics.