The PNRR's mission 4 'Education and Research' provides for the allocation of a total of EUR 33.81 billion to strengthen the conditions for the development of a knowledge-intensive, competitive and resilient economy.
The ambitious project fielded by the Ministry of Universities and Research aims to selectively implement resources to improve and strengthen education and research for business.
However, in order to prevent the scientific knowledge acquired in the academic sphere from being dispersed, there is a need for greater interaction and subsequent coordination between the world of research and business.
This is a useful means of fully realising the so-called 'technology transfer', which includes all those initiatives aimed at exploiting, in economic terms, research results that are typically developed through their protection (patenting) and their transfer to businesses.
In order to increase the innovation process, actions have been designed in two macro policy areas aimed at
- supporting investment in research and development (R&D) and innovation, with the aim of generating demand for technologies and skills, by encouraging forms of cooperation between companies;
- enhancing the dissemination of public/private partnerships such as the Public Private Partnership (PPP) instrument;
Indeed, by means of public/private partnerships, technology transfer is more suitable for directing the effective demand of businesses towards the dissemination of knowledge on technologies and their applications, compared to corporate or project forms.
The need that emerges is therefore to resize the transfer chain in territorial terms, through the creation of Technology Transfer Centres, i.e. structures equipped with research infrastructures or highly qualified skills, which are able to carry out integration activities between the (public and private) research and technological skills system and businesses.
Technological development therefore plays a pivotal role in the growth of businesses.
The purpose of the fund set up for technology transfer is to speed up innovation processes and the growth of the national production system by strengthening links with the technology and applied research system.
This will enable businesses to keep pace with the needs of a constantly changing and evolving market and, at the same time, the academic research world will have the opportunity to reinvest economic revenues in new training and research activities.
The aim is therefore to increase the level of innovation of the business system throughout the supply chain, as well as to address the problem of low growth in production.
But what concrete measures will be taken in terms of greater interaction between the world of research and businesses?
In this regard, the MUR Guidelines for System Initiatives of Mission 4 - Component 2: 'From research to enterprise', describe an earmarked investment of EUR 1.61 billion to finance 'partnerships extended to universities, research centres and companies for the funding of basic research projects'.
Therefore, with the aim of raising Italy's level of competitiveness and innovation - by raising the level of education and the ability to do research and, above all, transforming the results into economically interesting, sustainable and lasting activities - a key role will be played by strengthening the public-private partnership instrument.
As envisaged by the Ministry of Universities and Research, the extended partnerships will be dedicated to transversal fundamental and/or applied research themes, with an "interdisciplinary, holistic and problem solving" approach.
It is foreseen to create at least 10 partnerships on the following themes:
- Artificial intelligence: foundational aspects
- Energy scenarios of the future
- Environmental, natural and man-made risks
- Quantum sciences and technologies
- Humanistic culture and cultural heritage as laboratories of innovation and creativity
- Innovative diagnostics and therapies in precision medicine
- Cybersecurity, new technologies and protection of rights
- Consequences and challenges of ageing
- Economic and financial sustainability of systems and territories
- Models for sustainable nutrition
- Circular and sustainable Made-in-Italy
- Neuroscience and neuropharmacology
- Telecommunications of the future
- Space activities
As foreseen by the guidelines, the expression of interest shall be submitted by an entity supervised by the MUR and private economic operators may participate in the partnership as soon as it is established.
The active participation of the private sector in governance is based on a Hub&Spoke structure, where the hub, organised as a public-private consortium, is the implementing party and the spokes are the implementing parties involved in project implementation.
This organisation, guaranteeing the direction of developments and research and innovation strategies, allows the private parties involved to give impetus to the entire value chain, thus making them active players in the innovation process.
There are minimum size requirements for each partnership type:
- at least 250 people dedicated to research must initially be involved in the activities of the partnership;
- at least 5 spoke must be involved and must involve at least 30 people, of which at least 10 for at least 3 months/person;
- there is no maximum number of spoke. The maximum number of spokes is not foreseen, but it must be consistent with the aims of the initiative.
On the basis of the implementation times envisaged by the NRP, a duration of about 3 years is estimated for the implementation of the activities, starting from the first funding received.
In addition to the availability of investment to create the infrastructure, the real work will concern the creation of "an agile and fast network that enables projects to be shared quickly" in order to avoid dispersing funding without achieving the objective.