TUR-IN- a ToUR of INnovation - Workshop
The Event TUR-IN- a ToUR of INnovation ecosystem was organized by the Metropolitan City of Turin, with the support of the main actors of the Piedmont Innovation Ecosystem, who contributed actively to the organization of the event with their expertise, including OGR-Officine Grandi Riparazioni, FIP - Photonic Technologies for Industry 4.0 in Piedmont laboratory (Polytechnic University) and Environment Park.
The event was the result of the progress of two Interreg projects: ACCELERATE GDT and SKALE2CT (of which the Metropolitan City of Turin is a partner) which aims to increase the resources and capacities of public organizations to improve business acceleration (scale-up) services, particularly in emerging sectors such as health and digital.
Common themes and interests linking both projects have allowed to structure the event through one transnational public meeting and two parallel sessions specific for each project.
On the basis of a reflection on the local innovation context, the purpose of the event was to make a positive contribution to a strategic reflection aimed at identifying possible key elements for the development of a more effective and solid innovation ecosystem in the context of the European innovation perspective. The seminar brought together personalities active in the metropolitan and regional innovation ecosystem and the partners of the two Interreg projects. The aim of the meeting was to stimulate the exchange of ideas and good practices.
The Metropolitan Councilwoman Sonia Cambursano opened the transnational public meeting with the institutional greetings followed by Claudia Fassero - EU projects & programs responsible at Metropolitan City of Turin, who exposed the purpose of the meeting giving then the floor to John Hobbs - Munster Technological University – Lead Partner of Accelerate GDT and Yesenia Otamendi - San Sebastian Socio-Economic Development Agency - Lead Partner of SKALE2C, for the presentation of the two Interreg projects and their common ground.
The Event developed, at first, around the theme of the OECD Recommendation on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development, analyzed by Mara Cossu form Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security. Then, the New European Innovation Agenda adopted by European Commission, on the 5th of July 2022 was deepened. The Agenda, Massimo Gaudina - DG Research/Innovation, European Commission- explained, aims to position Europe at the forefront of the new wave of deep tech innovation.
Alessandro Sciullo from University of Turin and IRES - Piedmont Social and Economic Research Center, coordinated the round table “Presentation of the mainstream policies supporting the growth of start-ups and innovation clusters” asking speakers to reflect on the themes of executive leadership, access to infrastructure, talent management and support for national and regional cluster policies. Thanks to the contributions of the speakers Giovanni Amateis from Piedmont Region, Claudia Fassero from Metropolitan City of Turin, Cristina Marullo from Polytechnic of Turin and Elisa Rosso from University of Turin, a critical analysis on the current and future perspectives of the local innovation ecosystem and policies, was carried out.
Accelerate GDT parallel session “Regional Cluster Policy Seminar” was opened by Daniela Nepote from IRES Piedmont Social and Economic Research Center, who showed an overview of ERDF’s role in supporting clusters to achieve SDGs, followed by Giovanni Amateis from Piedmont Region which has deepened analytically the Piedmont’s Cluster Ecosystem. The mentioned keynote speeches allowed to approach, in a more analytical and critical way, the round table “Innovation and Cluster: how do clusters receive innovation support at both the national and regional levels?” coordinated by Emma Vendrell, who, firstly, described the support to clusters in Spain and especially in Catalonia. Later, through the contribution of the speakers Sara Falvo from BIOPMED, Eleonora Marino from CIM 4.0, Luigi Panza from Consorzio IBIS and Gianmarco Piola from National Cluster for Smart Communities, it was possible to identify, within the framework of clusters, SDGs and green and digital transition, the different experiences, activities and points of view on possible areas for improvement and challenges, of the of the different bodies mentioned above.
The project partners and their stakeholders had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the Piedmontese innovation ecosystem thanks to a guided visit to the OGR (Officine Grandi Riparazioni).
Subsequently, took place the sharing of project partners Good Practices related to supporting SDGs, coordinated by Claudia Soncin from TCI Network.
The event ended on the 20th of June with the learning visit at three of the Environment Park laboratories: HysyLab, Green chemistry Lab, Plasma & Nanotech Lab.
