Optimization of the Innovation System: New ways for a Network supporting Small and Medium Enterprise

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Optimization of the Innovation SystemNew ways
for a Network supporting Small and Medium
Enterprises (SME). A Bottom-Up Approach for the
East Lombardy area
http//www.provincia.mantova.it/ritts/homepage.htm
progrmn_at_tin.it
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The Area

• East Lombardy includes the provinces of Mantua,
  Brescia, Cremona and Bergamo with a significantly
  high number of SMEs
• High rates of specialization (Textile-Garment,
  Metalworking, Mechanical Equipment Manufacture,
  Electric Equipment Manifacture)
• Population 2,717,283
• Active population 1,150,000 (42.3)
• Total Firms 206,037
• Manifacturing Industries 40,839
• Employees 877,167
• Manifacturing Employees 426,830 (48.7)

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The Aims of the Ritts East Lombardy

• The revision of local infrastructure systems
  devoted to the technological innovation transfer
• The implementation of a stable network among the
  following three levels a) government and
  research centres b) local agencies (within the
  industrial clusters) and c) some very innovative
  district firms
• The organization of expert innovators inside the
  local agencies with a role of mediator between
  demand and supply
• The removal of barriers to innovation through a
  requalification of communication languages among
  the institutions
• Starting pilot project experiences through a
  chain of reaction which extends the innovation
  process to an increasingly high number of firms

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The "Interaction Junctions"
Optimized flows and interaction junctions within
the industrial clusters
Current flows of information for innovation and
technology transfer
National Research Centres (Universities,
Laboratories, etc.)
Local District Agency (Lumetel, Cril, ecc.)
TODAY
TOMORROW
INTERACTION JUNCTIONS
Innovative District Companies
DISTRICT COMPANIES (INDUSTRIAL CLUSTERS)
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The "Interaction Junctions"(Innovation Exchange
Groups)within the Ritts East Lombardy

• WORKPLAN - analysis of innovation transfer
  mechanism
• - individualization of the companies needs
• - activation of permanent "interaction
  junctions"
•  
•  WHICH OBJECTIVES ARE TO BE ACHIEVED ?
• To reorganize the flows of information among the
  economic subjects within the SME system
• To create a communicational background with the
  Research Centres, for stimulating new proposals
  coming directly from the local systems

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The "Interaction Junctions"(Innovation Exchange
Groups)within the Ritts East Lombardy

• FINAL AIMS
• Creation of a permanent network among subjects
• Continuous monitoring of the district
• - needs
• - evolution
• - trends
• Optimization of the information transfer
• Feasibility of the projects coming from the
  Groups
• Projects development
• Optimization of the Innovation and Technology
  Transfer

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Some "Interaction Junctions" within the Ritts
East Lombardy

• The Interaction Junctions
• Wood district. Bergamo.
• Button district. Bergamo.
• Agri-food district. Provinces of Cremona, Mantova
  and Bergamo.
• Diecasting firms. Brescia.
• Lumezzane district (steel). Brescia.
• Hosiery district. Mantova and Brescia.
• Domotics in the building sector. Horizontal
  Junction. 4 Provinces.
• Agricoltural Mechanics. Mantova.
• We intend to establish some new Interaction
  Junctions for creating stable "innovative
  projects producers" within the productive
  specializations, the districts and the local
  systems.

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Two projects originated from theRitts East
Lombardy

• COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE
• Application of a model of "Competitive
  Intelligence" at the "Building" Sector
• COMMUNITIES IN ON-LINE LEARNING
• Professional communities (Community of Practice)
  may represent a solution to the inability of the
  SMEs to offer their employees a continuous and
  customised training process, to the problems of
  the placement of professionals in districts, and
  to the limitations of the training currently on
  offer.

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Programming Strategic Actions. Guidelines
(Key "Axes" in the East Lombardy)

• AP1 Support and coordination Actions for a
  Network of qualified Operators in order to
  optimize the innovation infrastructures
• AP2 Development of the Interaction Junctions
  within the local districts and the productive
  specialization areas
• AP3 Promotion of Innovative Financial Services
  supporting the strategic innovation
• AP4 Support for high risk strategic innovation
  with special public funds
• AP5 Promotion of Training Activities on
  innovation within the firms

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Actions and Measures coming out from the Ritts
East Lombardy Project
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COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE
Definition of a Model of "Competitive
Intelligence" supporting Innovation and
Technology Transfer for SMEs" PARTNERS Province
of Mantova Polytechnic of Milan Chamber of
Commerce of Mantova Union of the Chambers of
Commerce of Lombardy Agenzia di Innovazione e
Sviluppo S.r.l. Centro Servizi Calza
S.r.l. Centro Ricerca Imballaggi Legno
S.r.l. Cestec Spa Industrialists Association
of Mantova - Artisans Union SMEs Association
- Italian Restorers Association Lacave Allemand
Associés ASI - Azienda Servizi Informativi
S.p.a. (Information Technology company) Cost of
the Project 800.000 Euros (Waiting to be
financed by the Region of Lombardy)
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COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE
Definition of a Model of "Competitive
Intelligence" supporting Innovation and
Technology Transfer for SMEs" Generally, the
Competitive Intelligence has been defined as an
activity for collecting, analyzing and diffusing,
sistematically, strategic informations on
competitors and the competitive environment. It
is the analytical process for transforming a lot
of disaggregated data about an economic sector,
the competitors and a market, in strategic
knowledge concerning the abilities, intentions,
results and positioning of the competitors. Substa
ntially, the model of Competitive Intelligence
may be described as a process through which raw
informations are acquired, collected,
transmetted, evaluated, analyzed and made
available as a "Final Intelligence" for
policymakers, to be used in the decisional
process and in the following action.   The
Competitive Intelligence model, for its structure
and metodology, may be universally applied to all
of the economic sectors also, in our case, to
the sector of the innovation and technology
transfer.
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COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

• Expected Results
• Creation of a "System of Subjects" able to
  integrate the Research System with the
  expectations and needs of the Entrepreneurs
  System.
• Development of a metodology of strategic
  information analysis and diffusion in the
  Research Sector.
• Creation of an international network able to
  share and exchange "best practices".
• Development of a Competitive Intelligence Model
  for the Research and Technological Innovation
  Sector as a key sector in the development of the
  Mantova territory.

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COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

• PHASES OF THE PROJECT
• Phase 1 CONTEXT AND TOOLS
• Creation of a Steering Committee highly
  representative of the partners involved.
• Appointment of the Management Unit and the
  Scientific Committee.
• Creation of an experts Workgroup in charged of
  analyzing the Research and Technological
  Innovation Sector (SWOT analysis).
• Implementation of a Competitive Intelligence
  Model in the Research Sector.

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COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

• PHASES OF THE PROJECT
• Phase 2 PILOT PROJECT IN THE BUILDING SECTOR
• To adjust the Competitive Intelligence Model to
  the Building Sector.
• Establishment of a Competitive Intelligence
  "Portal" for that sector.
• Creation of a "Community of Practice".
• Training Sessions
• Training Itinerary n. 1 "A Competitive
  Intelligence Model for the Building Sector"
  (Polytechnic of Milan).
• Training Itinerary n. 2 "Competitive Intelligence
  for the Research Sector" (Polytechnic of Milan).
• Analysis of the results of the pilot project
  Creation of a Standard Model for other economic
  sectors.

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COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

• The Builging Sector represents one of the main
  productive system of the Italian economy.
• Global turnover 10 of the Gross Domestic
  Product (GDP).
• Investments 94.000 million Euros (41 of the
  total investments.
• Employees 1.600.000 units
• We can easily notice the strategic importance of
  the building sector and the role it may have in
  the experimentation of advanced management model .

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COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

• PHASES OF THE PROJECT
• Phase 3 ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS AND DIFFUSION
• Analysis of the achieved results.
• Realization of a Planning Document for the
  development of the C.I. Model in other sectors.
• Diffusion of the results (Provincial and Regional
  level).

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COMMUNITIES IN ON-LINE LEARNING
PARTNERS Province of Mantova Venice
International University Promoimpresa (Chamber
of Commerce of Mantova) Agenzia di Innovazione e
Sviluppo S.r.l. Centro Servizi Calza
S.r.l. Centro Ricerca Imballaggi Legno
S.r.l. Cost of the Project 600.000
Euros (Waiting to be financed by the Region of
Lombardy)
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COMMUNITIES IN ON-LINE LEARNING

• Industrial districts represent the alternative
  model of Italian industrial development to mass
  production.
• The current challenge for districts is their
  ability to combine their dynamics of innovation,
  knowledge production and internal specialised
  skills with a continuous renewal of knowledge
  generated outside the local system.

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COMMUNITIES IN ON-LINE LEARNING

• The efforts made so far have been directed at the
  development of basic knowledge, through
  professional training programmes, and specific
  company knowledge, while little emphasis has been
  placed on supporting the mechanisms that spread
  contextual knowledge within the districts.
• In this scenario, professional communities
  (communities of professionals who practice the
  same profession Community of Practice) may
  represent a solution to the inability of the SME
  to offer their employees a continuous and
  customised training process, to the problems of
  the placement of professionals in districts, and
  to the limitations of the training currently on
  offer

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COMMUNITIES IN ON-LINE LEARNING
The study will occur in three separate and
sequential phases Phase 1 Identification of
professional communities Phase 2 Analysis of
professional communities Phase 3 Design and
implementation of the technological model for the
community
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COMMUNITIES IN ON-LINE LEARNING

• Phase 1 comprises
• Analysis of district production systems for the
  definition of critical professionals (key
  professionals to the districts specific
  production or process).
• Appraisal of the importance of the community
  identified (whether already existent and
  formalised or not) to the needs of the local
  system and players involved.

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COMMUNITIES IN ON-LINE LEARNING

• Phase 2 consists of
• The mapping of processes of communication,
  interaction and learning inside the communities
  identified.
• The definition of critical variables in the
  processes and practices of the professional
  communities.
• Roles (community leaders, stimulators of the
  community, certifiers, etc.).
• Professional problems.
• Knowledge or training related requirements.

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COMMUNITIES IN ON-LINE LEARNING

• Phase 3 includes
• The choice of the community software to support
  the learning process of the whole community. The
  chosen software must offer at least three
  distinct characteristics
• the application of groupware to manage the flow
  of internal work
• the means to allow distance learning
• and the means to manage chat-lines.
• The planning and creation of a system
  architecture to encourage users who participate
  in the learning community to make use of the
  benefits of the application (graphical
  interfaces, cognitive ergonomics and multimedia
  resources, etc.).