Great success for the second and final day of the ITALY-CHINA SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION WEEK 2016, dedicated to Italy-China Innovation Forum, Europe’s largest networking and business matching event in the fields of research and innovation, which has already seen protagonists Bergamo and Bologna, to promote a continuous dialogue between Italy and China on innovation, science and technology and building technological, productive and commercial partnerships, within innovative research-enterprise contexts of the two countries.
The closing ceremony was held in Newton Hall at Città della Scienza, with a great audience composed by investors, entrepreneurs and Chinese researchers and at the presence of the Italian Minister for Research Stefania Giannini and Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang.
Vincenzo Lipardi, CEO of Città della Scienza opened the session, after the musical performance of Italian and Chinese students of the Conservatory of Naples San Pietro a Majella, with a warm welcome to the city of Naples. The CEO stressed Naples ability to combine music, art, and its long history and culture with a strong drive for innovation, as evidenced by the commitment to scientific cooperation promoted by the Città della Scienza. Lipardi gave a special thank to Minister Wan Gang, for decades of successful cooperation with Italian country, to Tian Wen – Vice President at BAST and Cao Jianye – Counsellor for Science and Technology at Chinese Ambassede in Italy. “Thanks to initiatives like Italy-China Week, Italy is now a more credible partner for China, as well as China is for Italy,” added the CEO “and both countries understand that the enhancement of their own cultures, art and historical and cultural heritage should be combined with science, innovation and technology”.
Then Aoshuang Yan, General Manager at Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, intervened on behalf of Beijing Municipality, underlining that Chinese capital has become a key center for innovation and that “to further improve there is need to engage in international cooperation projects such as the Italy-China Week, because working synergistically improves the quality of projects”.
Then intervened Valeria Fascione, Campania Region Councillor for Startup Innovation and Internationalization, who reiterated the administration’s commitment to adopt regional strategies of innovation and internationalization to improve the competitiveness of the territory. “Our great commitment with colleagues in the SIEE resulted in a considerable improvement in quality of our scientific and technological cooperation project with China” stated the Councillor, recalling the great success of the novelties of this edition, the Italy-China Best Startup Showcase, which involved 22 innovative and “market proven” startups – 11 coming from China and 11 from Italy. Engaging in cooperative projects means “to open up ourselves to the world, to research and innovation, and this is the best wish I would like to address to all our young citizens” concluded the Councillor.
Soon after there was the intervention of the Ambassador of PRC in Italy Li Ruiyu, who underlined the impressive results of cooperation processes with Italy over the past few years, underlining the commitment made by the Chinese Government in the frame of G20 to implement a strategy based on sustainable development.
The President of Young Entrepreneurs of Confindustria Marco Gay, via video link, emphasized that such initiatives are opportunities to strengthen cooperation with China, stressing the ”Confindustria’s commitment to be closer to businesses that undertake processes internationalization.”
Then followed the intervention of the Mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, who has emphasized, at a time of strong technological innovation, the need to protect and enhance human capital, “building an industry that preserves environment and territory”.
After two videos on the stages of Bergamo and Bologna, commented by the Rectors of the Universities of Bergamo and Alma Mater Studiorum, Marco Cantamessa – PNI Cube and Giuliano Noci – Vice Rector of the Polytechnic of Milan, stressed the start of cooperation on startup between Italy and China, in particular through the two initiatives launched within the Week: Italy-China Best Startups Showcase, China-Italy Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.
The session then saw the most awaited moment with the interventions of Ministers. Minister Wan Gang stressed the growing success of the Week over the years, pointing out that “it has become a reference model for Sino-Italian and Sino-European and that innovation is a necessary choice for sustainable development. China aims to strengthen international cooperation in accordance with a win-win strategy to deepen the dialogue on innovation. ” The Minister concluded by stressing that the two countries have a duty to “seize the strategic opportunities that innovation brings with it to rise to the challenges ahead.”
Minister Giannini especially wished to thank Minister Wan Gang, stressing that the countries share secular cultural and scientific relations. “Italy is ready to face global challenges, especially through the research results with a strategy that must not be a slave to the present but should envisage long-term programs.”
In his speech, Wu Jianjun, Director of 5G R & D Huawei European Innovation Institute stated the importance of “focusing on a network infrastructure of 5G for improved connectivity-oriented cloud. There’s a need to create a diversified traffic for greater control of the 5G, namely to create a unified standard to ensure greater participation of projects to ensure greater control of 5G: a technology that can be affordable for all people and a more controlled communication channel”.
Maria Cristina Russo, Director of International Cooperation – DG for Research & Innovation European Commission emphasized that “cooperation is a key element of European Union. A greater focus on research and innovation can improve Europe’s competitiveness. The global partnership generated funds and has strongly developed economy: China is an important technology partner for Europe and there is a strong Ministerial dialogue on Innovation, to launch joint projects with Italy. Cooperation leads to the creation of a relationship of trust and enhances innovation and social fundamentals, strengthening the relationships and improving access to international the programs. Italy – China Science, Technology & Innovation Week is a significant experience that allows us to draw some ideas to look at new investment at European level “.
Videos
Photos, Naples, October 26
Photos, Naples, October 27
