Research and innovation first of all. This is the plan of the Task Force for startups entrusted by the Minister of Economic Development Corrado Passera to Alessandro Fusacchia, present on Friday at the Ambrosetti Technology Forum in Castelbrando (TV) in the role of Government representative.
“As we all know, the economic context is an emergency – said Fusacchia -, but we are passing from a phase dedicated only to rigor to a phase, also following some changes that have been taking place in Europe in recent weeks, to a stage of reasoning about growth“. And growth, in the programs of the Task Force for innovative startups, means above all research. “It was demonstrated 70 years ago: growth is not just work and capital, but 85% is innovation”.
However, incentives and resources need to be streamlined. “This is our mission – explains the adviser to Minister Passera -, to go from the flood of laws that existed to one rational destination on three main axes, that of SMEs, internationalization and the reconversion of depressed areas“. In particular, for SMEs, Fusacchia has announced that it is aiming for "automatic tax credit as the main tool for innovation policies", putting in place incentives for 600-700 million euros which will be able to leverage investments of 2,5-3 billion euros.
The Task Force coordinated by Fusacchia counts on the contribution of 12 experts who in the coming months will seek solutions to some critical issues, including “the risk of digital illiteracy”, to be resolved by 2013 through the work of the Digital Agenda. "The measures will be both horizontal, aimed at simplification and liberation from constraints, and vertical, dedicated to supporting new startups, focusing not only on digital ones but also industrial ones - for example biotech - and social ones".
Another problem is that of timing: “We need to be clear about funding – he explained Fusacchia in the audience of the Technology Forum Ambrosetti -: if funds are requested for a project that will take months to complete, there is the risk that the project will already be born old and will not represent innovation”.
