Città della Scienza has hosted, on Friday, October 3 and Saturday, October 4, the 14th Forum of Small and Medium Enterprises “Innovation is the Enterprise” promoted by Confindustria Campania and Industrial Union of Naples. The event took place within the “European SME Week” and in continuity with the “SME ASSEMBLY 2014” (October 1-3). On the stage, representatives of the “innovation community” have shown successful case studies of business as positive examples for Italy.
In the opening on Friday, October 3, the Chief Executive Officer of Città della Scienza, Vincenzo Lipardi, spoke about the role of science education for the cultural and economic growth of the country, declaring that “Italy can compete only by starting to have a basic education of high scientific level; scientific culture can be the basis of the new development policy for our country. Città della Scienza in this context has a threefold function: basic science education, scientific information and innovation through startups and young innovative companies”.
The second day opened on Saturday, October 4 with Paolo Minucci Bencivenga, President of Smal Industry at the Industrial Union of Naples. For Bencivenga “It’s not by chance the choice to be at Città della Scienza: Confindustria wants to keep attention focused on the area of Bagnoli, to show that innovation can start from Bagnoli”. Later, the President of the Industrial Union of Naples Ambrogio Prezioso, who illustrated some strategic assets on which start to think about the economic development of the area of Bagnoli and Naples, as a driving force for the South and for the whole country”. In particular, Mr Prezioso specified: “It’s not true that here there are no projects: there are many projects in the Campi Flegrei of which Bagnoli is the center of gravity. In this context, Città della Scienza has a very important role because it is a reality where so much things happen, as the Incubator which houses many innovative start-ups”. The Deputy Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda insisted on the role of innovation as a priority for the country and said: “The Government is well aware that there are no shortcuts to grow but for business and innovation”.
President of Confindustria Giorgio Squinzi, in his closing speech, focused on Forum’s main theme, by saying: “Innovation is expensive but always pays off. Italy competes all along thanks to quality and innovation”. Squinzi has also launched a message to the government for the innovation and the recovery of Italy based on a strategic and concrete planning: “We need 10 large-scale industrial projects, created by the intertwining of public and private sector, to point out to European and international investors”.
At the end of the event there was also a press conference of the Expo 2015 Italian Pavilion dedicated to the presence of Campanian gastronomy. In fact, an association of Campanian companies in the field of food has winned the notice of selection for the creation and management of a space dedicated to pizza and pasta in the Italian Pavilion at Expo. The President of the Italian Pavilion Diana Bracco also spoke on the role of scientific culture, on which the Italian Pavilion will devote a special attention, thanks to the Memorandum of Understanding with Città della Scienza as well as other key institutions of science popularization in Italy.
