Research | Innovative Entrepreneurship Laboratory and Academic SPIN-OFFS

The Context

Today, even more than before, it is crucial for the growth of our country system to invest in innovation, particularly in new entrepreneurial initiatives capable of bringing disruptive technologies to the market. This is a challenge that involves centers that generate new scientific knowledge, and thus, first and foremost, universities, which are participating both directly, through the promotion of internal initiatives of new technological start-ups, and indirectly, through collaboration with local SMEs which are more open to innovation.
On the first front, initiatives to improve scientific research have multiplied in recent years through the formation of academic spin-offs. In its 2010 report, NETVAL surveyed 806 spin-offs established in Italian universities, with an average growth rate of around 20% over the previous five years. Despite this significant growth, we are still a long way from the rates of growth seen in other European countries. As a result, a gradual upward alignment of growth rates is to be expected. The growing emphasis put on the establishment of research spin-offs as a component of assessing university quality, as well as the political will to increasingly directly correlate the amount of public funding to be assigned to the achievement of adequate results in this field as well are some of the factors that lead us to trust this type of initiative.
Simultaneously, the experiences of collaboration between universities and the system of local SMEs in Italy have been strengthened, allowing them access to knowledge resources and infrastructures for research and development that would otherwise be out of reach. As a result, this collaboration represents a critical lever for local SMEs in terms of product and process innovation, intending to acquire significant sources of competitive advantage.
The presence of numerous types of operators, both public and private, who continue to face several challenges to organizing themselves in efficient supply chains in which holders of specific technological know-how can find adequate support for their projects, animates the enhancement and technology transfer activity.
The central point of this potential block in the development of innovative entrepreneurship consists in the lack of a widespread entrepreneurial culture capable of developing innovative business models and of uniting around these models resources and skills adequate for their growth.

Mission

Above all, the Laboratory wants to be a place of study and in-depth research into issues concerning the development of new innovative companies. These study activities are intended to cover a wide range of topics. First and foremost, our Department's Colleagues, but also Students, Undergraduates, and Graduates of our Degree Programs who want to be involved in the activities of the Observatory, which will thus also play the role of a Didactic laboratory in which young people can access case studies of innovative entrepreneurship and acquire knowledge and skills in the field which are useful for the development of innovative business models.

Areas of Interest

The Workshop will cover a series of topics of interest related to innovative entrepreneurship. In particular, attention will be focused on issues such as:

-Nature of business opportunities;
-Creation and development processes of new innovative companies;
-Collaboration between universities and companies for innovation;
-Open Innovation strategies and cooperation between small and large enterprises;
-Methods for generating innovative business models.

To achieve the constitutive Mission, the Observatory will promote a varied series of initiatives:

-Analysis and Writing of Innovative Entrepreneurship Cases;
-Simulations and group works for the development of innovative business models;
-Organization of Seminars and Conferences on the topics of interest of the Observatory;
-Studies and research on innovative technologies and products.
- Elaboration of a Working Paper

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