Dixet - Club of high-tech companies - Genoa, Italy

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2 Dixet - Club of high-tech companies - Genoa, Italy 1

3 Edited by Dixet Club of high-tech companies - Genoa, Italy March 2012 Graphics and layout powered by Auranet S.a.s. Dreams Lab S.r.l. This document can be downloaded on In cooperation and with the patronage of the Chamber of Commerce Genoa, Italy 2 A special thank to Genova High Tech S.p.A. Genoa, Italy

4 Table of Contents 1 Fo r e w o r d 7 2 Me t h o d o l o g y 8 PART ONE: OVERVIEW 9 1 Economic Structure of the Genoa Metropolitan Area 10 2 Development of High-Tech in Genoa Transformation of the Industrial Model The Role of High-Tech in the Economy of Genoa and Liguria Current Structure of High-Tech in Genoa Factors of competitiveness in the high-tech sector Comparison with European and World Scenarios 19 PART TWO: TECHNOLOGICAL DYNAMICS 23 1 Dynamics of the Various Sectors of Reference Survey of Technological Dynamics Identifying sectors of reference for Genoa and their dynamics in 2016 and Forecast Synthesis for 2016 and Dynamics of Infrastructures, Technologies and Research Overview University of Genoa (Polytechnic School) CNR and its centers/laboratories in the area of Genoa The Italian Institute of Technology 50 PART THREE: PROPOSALS 53 1 The Future Vision of Technological Genoa in Proposals for The Role of the Institutions The Role of Industry and Infrastructures of Research The Science and Technology Park University, Technology Parks and Creation of Business 60 3 Integration and Coordination 62 4 Ability to identify sectors for positioning on the technological leading edge 63 5 Constituting a network of regional relationships Role of the Science and Technology Park Establishing a network of national and international relationships An Innovative City Co n c l u s i o n s Proposals for Young People 68 3

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6 With this project, Dixet would like to honor the figure of Pier Giorgio Perotto who during the Sixties was, together with his team of Olivetti technicians and engineers an international precursor on a worldwide level. His revolutionary personal computer, presented in New York in 1965, remains one of the milestones in design and technological innovation. Over the coming decade, Genoa would like to plan a virtuous cycle in remembrance of this great engineer who spent the last years of his life in our city. 5

7 DIXET a club of companies was founded in Genoa in 2001 on the initiative of some of the most important technology companies present in the Genoa metropolitan area. They came together to forge a strongly representative identity in the sector of electronics and high tech. The promoters of the project were Elsag, Esaote and Marconi which had already in 1998 advanced the request to recognize a District of Industrial Electronics with its center of gravity in Sestri Ponente. That area was recognized as having a distinctive and particularly high concentration of investments in Research and Development, with a similarly high number of qualified employees and the participation of small, medium and large companies. Dixet was formally recognized by the Region of Liguria with decision n. 654 on June 13, Today Dixet brings together about 100 companies of which more than 80% are small and medium size companies operating in the sectors of electronics, robotics, mechatronics, computer science, telecommunications and biomedical. In these past ten years, Dixet was the protagonist of important initiatives that brought to light an industrial reality that was in part unknown, but that represented and represents an important part of Genoa s and Liguria s economic structure. The main objective of Dixet is to increase the critical mass that is able to produce innovation, a concentration of human resources with scientific, technological and educational capabilities. 6

8 1. Foreword Dixet s intention is to contribute to a design for the economic and social renaissance of the Genoa metropolitan area. Genoa can and must find once again a virtuous circle for development over the coming decade. The current report will show that technology can play a strategic role, taking into account the potential for development in high tech industries, but also in institutions for technical training, universities and technological research. The presence and development of the high-tech industry has positive effects on the city because it creates products, employment, incomes for families, for companies, for institutions. Moreover, the presence of high-tech creates an environment that is beneficial for the use of technology in Genoa and conditions for attracting to Genoa the national and foreign companies that produce or use technological goods and services. In particular, the Project intends to define over the next ten years a clear path for the high-tech sector in the Genoa area with the goal of consolidating a tradition that sees Genoa as one of the most important Italian locations for technological innovation. The actual strength is prevalently in electronics, computer science and automation, and the Project intents to support further developments in these areas, facing the global challenge. The project identifies a series of proposals for consolidating and developing high-tech sectors in the Genoa metropolitan area, with proposals for coordinated action that involve all the present players, from institutions of local government to institutions of teaching and technical training, to public research centers, to industry. The implementation is certainly complex. The method used is functional to demonstrate that there are favorable conditions giving a real chance and indicate a possibility of implementation of the planned indications of the study. The current local, national and worldwide difficulties are a further motivation to face the coming decade with a strategic vision assisted by a group of actions that suggest feasible solutions. A vision as strong as the one presented in this report requires large participation and continuous attention in the start-up phase. 7

9 2. Methodology The creation of the Project was promoted by the Board of Directors of Dixet, made up of: Rosalba Brizzolara (Dreams Lab), Marco Bucci, (Carestream), Luigino Caterino (Auranet), Alberto Clavarino (Soloinrete), Heidemarie Haupt (Ericsson), Aldo Loiaconi (Gruppo SIGLA), Mario Orlando (Finmeccanica), Daniela Pastorino (Datasiel), Alberto Pellissone, Enrico Pittaluga (ETTSolutions), Ettore Ropia (Neido.com), Maria Giuseppina Uccelli (Siemens), Gian Federico Vivado (OMS Ratto), in addition to Carlo Castellano (Esaote) President of Dixet. To create the Project, a Scientific Board was made, inclusive of Carlo Castellano, Giorgio Musso (industrial researcher), Guido Rey (economist), with the collaboration of Luca Bruzzone and Gabriele Moser, researchers at the Department of Engineering at the University of Genoa. Various entrepreneurs and/or managers of the following companies were interviewed: Abb, Alcatel Lucent, Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo Sts, Carestream Health, Eaa, Ericsson, Esaote, Ett, Finmeccanica, Finsa, Genova High Tech, Gruppo SIGLA, Hyla, Intecs, Oms Ratto, Selex-Elsag, Siemens, Softeco, Telecom, Telerobot. Furthermore, indications and proposals were gathered from: the Region of Liguria, Confindustria Genoa, Banca d Italia (Bank of Italy) Genoa Headquarters, University of Genoa, the Department of Engineering at the University of Genoa, IIT, CNR Genoa, ISICT, Cefriel. This study started in March 2011 and it was completed in December

10 Part One: Overview 9

11 1. Economic Structure of the Genoa Metropolitan Area Essential Characteristics At the beginning of 2011, according to the most recent ISTAT data, the population of the province of Genoa reached about 883,000 people, 1.5% of the national population and more than half of the region s inhabitants. Population density of 480 residents per square kilometer, turned out to be considerably higher than both the regional average and the national average. The province s population, after a continuous growth until 1971 thanks also to migratory flux, progressively declined over the following decades. In particular, between 1991 and 2011, the decrease was 7.8%, as compared to an increase of 6.8% for Italy. The demographic dynamic indicates even more a progressive aging of the population: at the beginning of 2011, the percentage of population over-65 (26.7 %) surpassed the national rate by six points. The Province s economy is strongly linked to the service sector: in 2007, this sector contributed 81.1% of the added value of the Province, almost eleven points more than the Italian national average. Industry in the proper sense on the other hand contributed 13.7% of the overall added value as compared to 21.4% of the national average. Industry The Province s manufacturing structure stood out historically for the prevalence of the engineering industries (steel, electro-mechanics, ship-building, plant design), with a strong presence starting in 1930 of state-owned companies. Starting in the 70s, this business model faced major difficulties. This process translated into a heavy loss of jobs: between 1981 and 2001, the number of people working in manufacturing industries was almost halved. Despite the down-sizing, the engineering-related industries continued to absorb the prevalent quota of manufacturing employment. With respect to national industry, over the past 20 years the Province of Genoa appears to be specialized especially in the areas of electronics and shipbuilding, with a significant number of workers also employed in the steel industry and plant design and engineering. Overall, the high-tech sectors, as defined by OCSE, employ a percentage of people working in the manufacturing industry that is more than double with respect to the national average. From the point of view of size, the production structure is marked by the presence of a few big companies, often belonging to Italian or foreign groups, around which numerous small companies operate. On the basis of the data coming from the last Census of 2001, 29% of workers were employed in local units with at least 250 employees (16.7% in Italy). Companies of a medium size were instead under-represented: those with a number of workers between 50 and 250 contributed 13.6% to overall employment (23.9% on a national level). 10

12 The province of Genoa, like the Region in general, shows a limited openness to foreign commerce: in 2007, exports amounted to about 9% of the added value, less than half of the national average. This characteristic depends in large part on the high involvement of the service sector in the overall commercial reality, and it was only slightly improved over the course of recent years: the percentage for the Province of Genoa of total national exports passed from 0.8% in 2000 to 1.0% in Service Sector and Maritime/Port-related Activities Starting in the second half of the Nineties, the service sector had a predominant role in the growth of the Province s added value and employment development. One of the principal specializations is the transportation and communications sector which, according to Asia data referring to 2006, concentrates almost 20% of the private service sector employment (13.4% in the national average). The port of Genoa is the number one Italian port for commercial traffic (almost 52 million tons in 2010) and the second, after Gioia Tauro which is a port of trans-shipment, for goods in containers (almost 1.8 million teus). In the same year, passengers in transit reached 4.8 million. Operators in sectors connected to port activities showed remarkable dynamism starting in the late 90s, also following privatization of the management of the docks, achieved with law 84/94. This allowed to recuperate efficiency, leading to the progressive re-acquisition of traffic that in previous years had diminished, having been diverted to other Mediterranean ports or even to Northern Europe. But starting halfway through the last decade, the evolution of traffic that benefited from the growth of commercial exchange with Asian countries started to slow down, in contrast with what was going on in the most competitive foreign ports. According to operators, the recent loss of competitiveness was in part caused by the limited operational space, congestion on the roads and highways, railways and the inadequacy of the overall integrated logistics cycle that made so difficult the movement of goods arriving and leaving for the inland areas. On the other hand, technology was performing a decisive role in maritime and port-related activities, and in logistics. Even in this sector, Genoa can play a decisive role, as emerges from the current report. There is in fact strong complementarity among the high-tech sectors and other sectors of local excellence, specifically maritime and port-related. The growth in high-tech is certainly not to the detriment of other sectors of economic activity. A Ten-Year Evaluation Over the course of the last decade, the economy in Genoa showed a further, profound transformation as industry in the strict sense in Italy experienced a modest growth between 2001 and 2007 (+ 0.9% per year), while in Liguria the corresponding dynamic was negative (- 0.2%) to 11

13 the advantage of services (+0,9%). Another interesting indicator for evaluating the position of Ligurian industry is the work productivity that goes along with the progress of added value, because the employment in Liguria has been stagnant for almost ten years now and with the current crisis it has even decreased. These few data show that getting out of the crisis cannot be granted by the traditional industry and not even by the service sector, as some have stated, unless a strict link between industry and innovative services is created, and as long as high-tech is given the task of linking the two sectors, pushing for the diffusion of innovation through enabling technologies supplied by industries and by high-tech services. A third element that characterizes the recent evolution in the local economy is the dynamic of the small and medium sized business and in the same time the difficulties that slow down the growth of big companies. These are difficult situations, present in all regions and made even worse by the crisis and the competition from big emerging countries. There is no lack of companies that have been successful in emerging; this is about medium-sized companies that pull along with them the small companies that are both suppliers and clients. and Demographic Trends T he macro-economic picture of the Genoa metropolitan area is paradoxically expressed by demographic trends. In the period the population of the Genoa area increased by over 150,000 inhabitants, reaching 850,000 inhabitants. In the twenty-year period , there was a dramatic demographic decline of over 200,000 inhabitants. Over the course of the last ten years, , the population of the metropolitan area of Genoa remained substantially unchanged, while all of the other Italian metropolitan areas (Bari, Bologna, Florence, Milan, Naples, Rome, Turin and Venice) registered positive dynamics in this decade. Genoa today counts 610,000 inhabitants. But if new factors of development do not emerge, the population of the city of Genoa on the basis of the ISTAT estimates is destined to decrease to 570,000 people by 2021, a loss therefore of an additional 40,000 inhabitants with a further increase in the rate of the population age. This is why the theme of job prospects for new generations must be central over the coming decade. Genoa therefore finds itself facing difficult challenges made even more urgent by the economic and financial crisis that has struck all industrialized nations over the past four years. Now, in our opinion, the city can either suffer a progressive decline, caused by an heavy stagnation in its economic and social scenario, or it must plan a new vision where technological activities and technology will play a crucial role. 12

14 2. Development of High-Tech in Genoa 2.1 Transformation of the Industrial Model Over the last 150 years, Genoa has been characterized by an impressive industrial development, focused mainly on developments in the heavy industry in the steel, mechanical, electromechanical and naval sectors, as well as military and telecommunications. It may be added that from the mid-1800s on, Genoa was the first big Italian industrial center for the sectors that meant modern industry: the mechanical industry. Ansaldo, up until the First World War was even in terms of employment the biggest Italian industry. Up until the end of the 19th century, Turin was a military city and there the automobile industry started, whereas in Milan and Lombardy, it was prevalently the textile industry to develop. Over the past thirty years that is, from the 70s on Genoa has faced on one side the crisis of big plants of heavy industry manufacturing, together with the crisis of the state-owned industries, but on the other side, there has been a technological jump with the use of new technologies, first electronics and then computers for the automation of processes and products. Historically this process of technological evolution started from the need to insert progressive levels of automation in products and processes of the mechanical and electromechanical industries that substantially characterized Genoa s industry more or less up until This process was present in practically all industrial sectors at that time: steel production, shipbuilding, big machines for energy, systems for railway transport, systems for defense. Initially, the process was based on electromechanical technologies, and right after on electronics for both product automation and for the production process. Along these lines, the computer was introduced in the electronic chains of automation and from this grew a strong technological pull, directly connected above all with the surprising evolution that computers registered in the last thirty years. In a few decades, what appeared as added value for traditional products and processes, typical of heavy industry manufacturing, soon became a product by itself, and new applications came about, like for example, those of discrete processes and automation of public and private services. One very relevant aspect is that this technology-driven process was so radical and profound that it also induced a profound modification in the industrial model of Genoa: the current presence and importance, even in terms of number of jobs, of the small to medium sized high-tech company with respect to the big companies, gives evidence of such a structural modification. Not only, but such a modification has also allowed for a very significant presence of small to medium-sized high-tech companies in the service sector. It should also be remembered that up until the 70s, Genoa s industrial system was characterized by the strong presence of state-owned companies. On this point it should be remembered and underscored that the innovative role 13

15 that this system had in terms of technological innovation both in processes and products gave life to a very real leadership role both on a national and even in some cases on an international level. It is enough to think of the big innovations introduced in the steel industry, in military apparatus and electrified transportation, and in industrial plant design. These skills even if in part re-inserted in various company contexts (taking into account the privatizations of the 90s) have been substantially conserved and today they are part of the high-tech structure in Genoa and of its heritage. 2.2 The role of high-tech in the economy of Genoa and Liguria It is by now well-known that high-tech is an important segment of the regional economic structure as well as of the city of Genoa s. The Ligurian specialization regards first of all the manufacturing area, in which the percentage of people working in high-tech areas is definitely greater than the national average (table 1). Ligurian industry is structurally characterized instead by smaller incidence, compared to the national data, of the sectors of low technological intensity according to the OCSE definition. table 1 People working in manufacturing by class of technological intensity (1) Year 2006 (in %) Liguria Italy High 12,1 7, 3 Medium - high 23,2 23,6 Medium - low 36,3 29,5 Low 28, 5 39,6 Source: Istat, 7th and 8th General census of Industry and services (1991 and 2001) and Statistic Archive of companies active (1) The classes of technological intensity are defined in accordance with the OCSE definition. Liguria, with respect to other regions of the Northwest, has for some time now been going through a process of progressive conversion from an industrial economy to an economy of knowledge, 1, and there are evident critical points. As illustrated by Table 2, in 2008 in Liguria, the cost for research and development (R&D) amounted to 1.2% of the GNP, in line with the national average, but it was inferior to that of the Northwest (1.4%). The difference with respect to other Northwestern regions depended on the component of expenses relevant to the companies. Among the indicators of the tendency toward innovation in the same year, the number of Ligurians working in R&D (4 for every 1000 inhabitants) appeared 1 Cfr., for ex., Consiglio italiano per le Scienze Sociali, Libro bianco per il Nord Ovest. Dall economia della manifattura all economia della conoscenza, Marsilio editore, Venezia,

16 to be in line with the national average, but inferior to that of the Northwest (5%). The number of college graduates in scientific and technological disciplines for every 1000 inhabitants of an age between 20 and 29 years old, in Liguria was 13.6, significantly above the national level (12.1). This seems to give evidence to the overall validity of the regional training and educational system in scientific and technological subjects even if under this profile a limited gap is identifiable with respect to other Northwestern regions. The number of Ligurian patents deposited in 2007 at the European Patent Office (84 for every million inhabitants), in the end, is higher than the national average, but it is still rather different from that of the Northwest (135). Principal indicators of Research and Development Activity 2008 table 2 (in percentages) Investment in R&S in % of GNP Graduates in REGION N. R&S sciences Patents Total of which workers (every (every 1000 deposited at Companies 1000 inhab.) inhab EPO (1) years) Liguria 1,2 0,7 4,0 13,6 84 Northwest 1,4 1,0 5,0 14,1 135 Italy 1,2 0,6 4,0 12,1 81 Source: Istat, Statistiche in breve; Eurostat, dati Regio; OCSE. - (1) European Patent Office, 2007; data is territorially broken down on the basis of inventor s residence. The indications related to the presence of contexts that enhance innovation and intensity of research and development activity become more unfavorable when Liguria is compared to a cluster of European regions similar for economic and business structure. What emerges from this comparison, proposed in the economic Report published by the Genoa headquarters of the Bank of Italy (Banca d Italia) in June of this year 2, is how Liguria suffers from significant negative differentials regarding the supply of qualified human capital, training and education, as well as investments in R&D and patent activity. With regards to all these aspects, evident progress may be noted in the region over the years since Nonetheless, the differentials with European economies that are structurally most similar have remained practically unaltered. In this context, the economic dynamic of Liguria has been markedly worse with respect to that of the European regions compared, both in terms of growth and productivity. 2 Bank of Italy, The Economy of Liguria, June The analysis here referred to ( Struttura, dinamica e innovazione: la Liguria nel confronto europeo, pag. 21) identifies, on the basis of statistical elaborations conducted on Eurostat data related to 131 EU-27 regions, eight homogeneous groups of regions (cluster), that at the beginning of the 2000 s showed similar characterstics in terms of economic structure. Liguria belongs to a cluster made up of 16 regions, that is marked with respect to others by a relatively high level of production per capita, for a rather limited weight of industry strictly speaking, with a very high incidence of high-tech services as well as a relatively high unemployment rate. 15

17 2.3 Current Structure of High-Tech in Genoa From the estimates related to the dynamic of the high-tech industry over the last decade, , it appears that the sector registered a considerable dynamic in the number of companies, number of employees and in revenues. table 3 High Tech Industry Genoa Metropolitan Area (Estimated values) Variazione% 2011/2001 Company Num. Employees Num. Employees Num. Employees Big companies (1) % +45% Medium-size companies (2) % +38% Small companies (3) % +15% Mini companies (4) % +32% Total companies % + 41% Revenues millions of euros % % High Tech in Manufacturing Industry % employees % revenues 18,7% 28% ,7% 43% Source : estimate Dixet Confindustria Genova (1) > 500 workers ; (2) workers; (3) workers; (4) < 10 workers Table 3 underscores the growing role of the high tech industry in Genoa s economy. Employment in the decade marked a growth of 4000 workers and the companies went from 110 to 150. But above all, the role of high-tech grew over the whole manufacturing industry both in terms of workers (up to 28% of the total) as well as revenues (today at 43%). Despite the crisis that has struck the world economy and our country, over the past three years, , the balance of the high-tech industry in Genoa is cautiously positive. From the study done by Dixet - Confindustria Genoa between the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, it is confirmed that among the different high tech sectors, there is a strong prevalence of computer science, internet, software (43%), electronics, hardware, automation, robotics (24%). 16

18 Companies Characteristics: field of activity (*more than one choice is possible) Activity (*) N. of Answers % on Total Electronics Hardware 21 10,6 Automation & Robotics 22 11,1 Components 4 2,0 Sub-total 47 23,7 Informatics-Internet 38 19,2 Software 47 23,7 Sub-total 85 42,9 Avionics 2 1,0 Biomedical 12 6,1 Energy (components, systems & technology) 12 6,1 Telecommunications 10 5,1 Transports (components, systems & technology) 12 6,1 Various 18 9,1 Total ,0 Source: Dixet Confindustria study January 2011 What emerges is an important structure for Italian high-tech, perhaps the most qualified on a national level in industrial electronics (hardware and software). This electronics-computer science matrix that comes from the processes of innovation and automation of big industry over the last thirty years of the twentieth century, is an element that strongly marks all the current high-tech industry in Genoa, from the big to the medium-small. This common technological matrix in the Genoa metropolitan area has the natural characteristics of a technology district. In eighty percent of the technology companies in Genoa, at least 80% of the total employees hold a degree. In 2010, a significant rise in the incidence of qualified employees was registered over total persons employed. These are rather peculiar statistics in the industrial panorama of Italy. The overall group of high-tech companies found in Genoa includes: 1. Companies of the Finmeccanica Group, among which Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS, Selex Elsag. This cluster is of strategic importance for Genoa s economy. 2. Companies and divisions that are part of multinational corporations, among which Ericcson, Siemens, ABB, Alcatel Lucent, CareStream. This is a cluster of great importance, considering that these divisions essentially perform research and development activities for their corporation, on a worldwide level. 3. Medium-big companies of size such as Esaote, Piaggio, Datasiel. 4. More than 100 small to medium sized companies operating in technology and high-tech. 17

19 2.4 Factors of competitiveness in the high-tech sector On the basis of different studies, the Bank of Italy (Banca d Italia), Confindustria Genoa and Dixet identified the following synthesis of factors of competitiveness for Genoa s high-tech sector: Nationally top-ranking departments of the University of Genoa and the presence of the highly qualified Laboratories of the National Council for Research ( CNR). A consolidated network of high-tech companies about 150 with a significant presence in the sectors of automation, robotics and biomedical for an overall employment of 15,000 workers. Since 2001, Dixet has been working to bring together more than one hundred high-tech companies present in the Genoa area. Administration and headquarters of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), created by the Italian government in 2004 to promote the technological development and highly qualified training, and to stimulate industrial growth in the high-tech sectors. The District of Integrated Intelligent Systems (Distretto dei Sistemi Integrati Intelligenti SIIT ) in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Education and Research, the University, the Region of Liguria, public and private institutions. The presence in Genoa of highly qualified personnel with experience in the high-tech sector, with highly competitive costs with respect to nearby metropolitan areas of Milan and Turin, and to European metropolitan areas with high density of high-tech industries. The work in progress on the Erzelli hill for the creation of the bigger Italian Science and Technology Park. Finally, the great attractiveness of the territory should be highlighted. Genoa is a coastal city where the urban context offers an extraordinary historical center (the largest medieval quarter in Europe), offering unique opportunities for free time (Genoa is not only near Portofino ), and a wonderful climate. In short, it may be said that Genoa is a people-friendly city. 18

20 2.5 Comparison with European and World Scenarios The first example of a science and technology park, as is well-known, was Silicon Valley. Here, maybe even before the term was named, a process took place that created a science and technology park of extremely important dimensions: one million three hundred thousand (1,300,000) people moved there over the years to work for Intel, Hewlett Packard, Apple, Yahoo, Alta Vista, and Oracle, just to name only the most famous ones. At the basis of this process was the idea of creating a concentration of companies, of minds, of laboratories to work and interact in the same area, exchanging knowledge and information, cooperating on common projects and in some way, multiplying the results that could be achieved both by the individual, and by the community. In the U.S., this successful model has been repeated many times with success in various American cities, such as Boston. With the contribution of great sums of money dedicated for research, Parks of Science and Technology were created in advanced countries in the Far East such as in Singapore, in Malaysia, in Taiwan and in China. In Europe, the creation of such parks began somewhat later than in the U.S., but there are many successful parks in Russia, Germany, England, France, Sweden, Spain and other European countries. Near Liguria, on the French Riviera, there is one of the Parks that most corresponds to the American concept, at Sophia Antipolis. The lack of capital invested in research, and the progressive reduction and dispersion in various headquarters, have slowed down the creation of science and technology parks in Italy, even if there were various natural technology concentrations which could have been consolidated and developed with the logic of a park. In Italy the difficulty of collaboration between industry and academic laboratories is another factor of this delay. European parks go back more or less to the 70s and 80s; in Italy, with few exceptions, the parks began in the 90s. In the high-tech sectors where, more than in others, innovation and global competition are really crucial factors, knowledge is an opportunity, an occasion for enhancing the development of the territory where one works. Knowledge and communication are, therefore, the big business of the future. In successful cases, the Science Park is created through close collaboration of small and medium-sized companies in an area. Bigger industries usually transfer to the Park either completely or in part their research laboratories, together with the laboratories of research institutes such as the University or the national institutes of research. Creating a science and technology park requires moving the companies, or a part of the companies, that work in advanced technologies to a site. One of the dangers found in the history of these parks is that of limiting the creation of a park to a simple question of real estate. In successful cases, the chain of interventions to be performed was identified and studied, and then promoted with a collaborative mentality that proves to be the vital force behind the park. 19

21 The element that characterizes Genoa with the Erzelli initiative resides in the fact that the Park was created out of the needs of the very same technology companies, with the constitution first of Dixet and then of Genova High-Tech S.p.A., a company that is creating the Park, with the contribution of new and qualified entrepreneurial and financial resources. An Example: Manchester Science Park This was founded 25 years ago with the general objective of enhancing development of the knowledge based economy within the Manchester metropolitan area that thanks to this strategic choice, managed to overcome the profound industrial crisis that had marked the place in the 70s. This general objective was achieved with the continual pursuit of links with the university and research institutes in the city, with innovation, with innovative and creative enterprise. More specifically, the Park s goals are: 1) To promote economic, creative and technological development of the City of Manchester and increase employment opportunity for residents. 2) To develop the link between local Institutions, academic institutions and other organizations to enhance the development of the local knowledge based economy. 3) To encourage, enhance and assist the placement of companies that can benefit from being near research and the Academy, as well as the context of the science park. The Manchester Science Park was created in 1984 initially in a single building. It has been developed and it is now considered the main science park in England, with four distinct sites in the metropolitan area of Manchester that also includes residences. It currently hosts about 96 companies. 20

22 Kista Science City, Stockholm Created in 1970 in an area that had been up until that time a rural area, one of the first companies hosted was Ericsson. From the beginning, next to the company buildings, residences were created. At the end of the 70s, IBM and other important companies came to Kista. In the 80s, the Royal Institute of Technology moved to Kista. In 2003, Ericsson transferred its headquarters to Kista. Over the years, many academic activities, research and industry have concentrated their efforts here, most of them innovative and creative, with a prevalence of companies in the ICT sector. Currently, 65,000 people work in Kista Science City in 8500 small, medium and large companies. Of these, 23,000 work in 1075 companies in the ICT sector. Integrated with the industrial component, the university campus at Kista has 5000 students and 1000 researchers working in a very integrated way with the industrial component. Management of the park is also involved with the construction of further housing sites at Kista. Over the coming years, another 15-20,000 residences will be built at Kista. Technology Park of Sophia Antipolis Located in a typically Mediterranean area (two-thirds of the park is green park land) and bordered by some Provencal villages, Antipolis is the center of a square bordered by the coastal cities of Cannes (15 km), Antibes (8 km), Nice (22 km) and Grasse (16 km). With more than 30,000 people employed from over 60 different countries, the Park is considered the most international place in France. It is for this reason that the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNSA) and other important institutes of management, business administration and communications like THESEUS, CERAM, and EURECOM or of standardization like ETSI, elected to make it the headquarters of their activities. The area that is not dedicated to parkland houses companies, incubators, research laboratories, schools and guest quarters. The area currently occupied measures 2300 hectares but an extension is planned in coming years to 5500 hectares. Initially there were no residences at Sophia Antipolis and this was a limit for years to the necessary cross-fertilization. 21

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24 Part Two: Technological Dynamics 23

25 1. Dynamics of the Various Sectors of Reference 1.1 Survey of Technological Dynamics I n the last 30 years, the industrial model of Genoa has profoundly changed, passing from the pre-eminence of big industry ( heavy manufacturing industry) to a scenario more characterized by the presence of many small to medium-sized companies, many of which are in the high-tech sector and with strong vocation for automation in industry and services. In this frame, the ability to follow technological dynamics is very uneven and as it is obviously linked to the individual company aptitude. We find companies that operate effectively in international competition and others that have a hard time keeping up and maintaining their market position, even on a national market. In the general context, with few exceptions, it must be noted that the overall ability to follow technological dynamics foreseeable for the next decade is not enough and above all, cannot be left only to the spontaneous will of single companies. The necessary internationalizations, links with the technological context and market, the ability to face innovative projects that overcome the possibilities of the individual company, require actions that are systematically coordinated and effective. For example, the links with local public research, working in a business-research network, dealing with big common projects, and getting into international markets should be some of the strategic ways used to deal with future developments. 1.2 Identifying sectors of reference for Genoa and their dynamics in 2016 and Foreword about criteria for identification of sectors of reference The systematic action that the current project anticipates in order to deal with developments in the worldwide context foreseeable in 2016 and in 2021, requires to make some initial strategic choices, and in particular, requires identifying some sectors that we call of reference, which for their characteristics are the main priorities of the project. This process of identification is based on some selection criteria to choose the sectors on the basis of aspects that are different for their relevance: Criterion of economic importance: relevance for revenues (national and international), number of workers, how widespread it is in the region. 24

26 Criterion of importance for continuity with tradition: historical relevance for continuity with the past, relevance for acquired characterization of territory. Criterion of importance for the existence of distinctive skills: the technological and scientific history of Genoa has consolidated sectors of skills and their concentration distinguishes the region in a national and international context; they may spur on further technological development. Criterion of strategic importance for the region: relevance by regional aptitude, by natural development of the territory (i.e., transportation, maritime). On the basis of said criteria, the following sectors of reference may be identified (not in order of importance): Electronics Hardware Industrial automation, Robotics and Bio devices Automation of services Software, Computers and Internet Healthcare and Biomedical Energy (systems, components and technologies) Telecommunications (systems, components and technologies) Transportation (systems, components and technologies) Naval Maritime In the following Table the correlation among criteria of importance and sectors of reference is reported: Criterion of importance Sectors of reference Criterion of economic importance Criterion of importance for continuity Criterion of importance for the existence of distinctive skills Criterion of strategic importance for the region Electronics Hardware X X Industrial automation, Robotics and Bio devices X X X X Automation of services X X X Software, Computers and Internet X X Healthcare and Biomedical X X X Energy (systems, components and technologies) X X X X Telecommunication (systems, components and technologies) X X X X Transportation (systems, components and technologies) X X X X Naval Maritime X X 25

27 1.2.2 Dynamics and forecasts for sectors of reference For said sectors of reference the current project found it necessary to conduct an analysis that brings to light, as much as is possible and foreseeable, the evolution trends both for the market aspects and the industrial aspects but above all for the evolution of technologies that characterize high-tech in Genoa and that are enabling for a large part of the industrial activities that are performed here and that will be performed here. For an analysis of dynamics and forecasts for the individual sectors of reference, we have tried to reconstruct a qualitative description and, where possible, a quantitative description in particular of the following aspects: Description of the innovative dynamics of the market, of products, services, processes, on a worldwide, European and local level of the sectors of reference. General trends Dynamics of product innovation Dynamics of process innovation Technological dynamics Enabling technologies (owned or external, if there are any) and their dynamics Forecast of development for enabling technologies Predictable future discontinuity in enabling technologies and the impact on the market State of research in the world, Europe, Italy What is meant by enabling technology is a methodological corpus of knowledge, experience, equipment that makes possible and above all competitive the creation both of the product and the process. With the term competitive achievement what is meant is not only factors of cost/performance but also those inherent in the singularity of the solutions adopted, through which the enabling technology also plays the role of defensive barrier (in terms of feasibility, cost and time anticipation) compared to the competition. Naturally a barrier due to enabling technologies may be owned, with a subsequent big competitive advantage, or may be not (when it is owned only by the competition), with an imaginable competitive disadvantage, which is sometimes actually enough to knock you out of the market. Necessary Strategic Actions Innovative strategic themes for the next five years Innovative strategic themes for the next ten years All such informations and forecasts were obtained through systematic contacts and interviews with a very representative group of important operators 26

28 in the various sectors, industrial, academic and institutional. The synthesis of this analysis and forecast of data gathered for the various sectors is reported schematically in the following paragraphs. 1.3 Survey of technological dynamics for various sectors Electronics Hardware In considering the state and the trends in electronics, the aspects that are related with the sectors of reference will be taken into consideration, that is specifically, with automation and telecommunications and their various applicative sectors that hold interest for Genoa: industrial automation and some services, transportation, health, communication networks. A merely technological classification, transversal to all applicative sectors, suggests that technologies using electronic devices should be distinguished from those using apparatuses and systems. The former no longer seems to be within the reach of Italian autonomous development (and perhaps not even European), with the exception of some possibilities in specific sectors, such as those of sensors of an innovative variety, including those of a biotechnological nature or based on nanotechnology. The sector of electronic devices is in fact characterized by enormous previous experiences and continuous very heavy investments in the process that have consolidated an American predominance based on equally large investments in production, generally in southeast Asia. In any case, the technological trend is oriented to obtaining even greater scale of integration through very sophisticated technologies marked by highly submicronic geometries obtained with the most advanced chemio-physic interferometric technologies. Evolution over the next ten years will face critical aspects that could even bring about important evolutionary discontinuity: the progressive and continuous increase in the scale of integration has brought us already now relatively close to the physical critical limits of feasibility. Certainly such a scaling down of the geometries cannot continue indefinitely, much less with the rates of the last twenty years. The major producers of electronic devices are very well aware of this, and for this reason they have been conducting highly strategic research in the most advanced laboratories, mostly aimed at radically changing the basic physical paradigm of classical electronics. The paths followed are substantially three: 1. adoption of (non-linear) optics as a paradigm with the construction of integrated optic devices; 2. to surpass the current limits of geometry with the entry into the domain of quantum devices; 3. adoption of biological elements and paradigms even in combined technologies with current electronic technologies. The proximity to physical limits of creation today, and the attention paid to 27

29 such alternative paths underscores the real existence of efforts to identify the leaps in technological continuity that are difficult to use for reliable forecasts. Certainly a ten-year period is a long time with respect to the speed of technological evolution and therefore with just as little certainty we could exclude in this period some absolutely discontinuous innovation with respect to the simple linear extension of the past. In the beginning, we stated that the sector of electronic devices would not appear to be within Italy s reach, and even less so in Genoa. This is absolutely confirmed by the current technologies or by the possible linear pursuit of their evolution. It is a little less true for the possible leaps in continuity, which would leave space for ideas that are not yet consolidated and therefore not protected by the insurmountable barriers on entry that characterize the state and evolution of the present. The development of electronic apparatuses and systems is instead of considerable interest for the high-tech industry in Genoa. The added value of these areas is not so much in basic electronics, that is more and more integrated with devices, but in the understanding of an applicative process and in the ability to bring together models and solutions, even very complex ones, for their automation/control and/or for the use of information that may derive from the process itself. The electronics used tend to reduce the typologies of the devices involved: on the one hand, operations and management of automation are more and more often achieved through computers and therefore through devices of a general purpose type. On the other hand, inevitably, we find the class of sensors and actuators (with their specific electronics) that in order to function maintain specs that are technologically tightly linked to the type of process on which they operate, and exactly because of this leave much more space to applicative innovation. On this aspect, we point for example to the current increasing interest in touch sensors (touch or multi-touch systems). In this sense it should be said that the technological evolution of devices referred to above induces Genoa industry toward innovation that is of a second order in apparatuses and systems (involvement in the evolution of devices use and not in evolution of the devices themselves). Among the major impacting factors and efforts to adapt, we find those inherent in the continuous updating of the process of design-planning and the ongoing training of technical personnel and project managers capable of following the evolution of the devices and identifying their specific innovative applications. Some of the collateral trends of the sector are peculiar, with possible great evolution and direct impact on the electronics systems, such as wireless connection, fiber communications, interconnection at a distance and mobile, tele-operation and tele-control, safety, in addition to the possibility of more and more advanced automation models. These lines are often the borderlines for the electronics context and almost always adhere more to the area of mod- 28

30 els and software than to that of electronics hardware in the strict sense. On the other hand, the existence of this type of evolution for Genoa industry finds confirmation in the historical analysis of the recent past, when we have seen a noticeable increase in the presence of software activity with respect to the quota dedicated to aspects of electronic hardware. A separate discussion must be made for the area identified as power electronics : this takes in the terminal parts of systems of control and regulation, those that are supposed to interact directly with physical devices of implementation (traction, lifting, propulsion, production and distribution, power supply, etc.). These sub-systems for the power involved may not follow the route of integration which is instead valid for the small power parts (signals) characterized by slower technological evolution, in addition to traditional processes of design and construction. The very strict tie with the physical object checked requires that these are usually designed ad hoc for a class of machines rather than for a generic market, so much so that some consider them more part of the machine itself than of the system of control and regulation. In this sector no important technological advances are predicted in the coming ten years. Synthesis of impact and perspectives for Genoa industry: 1) 2) 3) 4) There is no space for the sector of integrated micro-electronic devices, if not in that of design of custom circuits dedicated to specific applications, with technologies that are not very advanced, in the automation sector. There are reasonable possibilities for development in the sector of sensors, especially with attention to new areas of application such as for example, the home automation, energy savings, medical diagnosis, surveillance and security, logistics, transportation, terrain and naval vehicles. These developments are not easily imagined as linked only to sensorrelated activities in the strict sense, but more opportunely they must be developed together with the concept and systematic development of such innovative applications. There is particular interest at least at a potential level for the sector of advanced sensor systems in automation. This means those intelligent subsystems for capturing complex environmental situations, such as those based on a video camera and artificial vision (depth and motion analysis, scene recognition and understanding, area surveillance, transport safety, visual inspection, etc.) and/or on integration of sensors in commonly used objects (for example, appliances or clothing). The area of sensor development and the possibility of conceptualizing innovative applications should be evaluated together with local availability of very innovative technologies that in some cases, like that of nanotechnologies and micro-mechanics, are present in some measure in Genoa, but not sufficiently involved in a process of technological innovation in the region. 29