Five thousand hours of training, 146 courses and 1.400 trained young people, 250 subjects involved in technology transfer, 12.544 samples of wines analyzed and 18 European projects launched with local businesses. These are some of the most significant numbers it boasts Treviso Tecnologia, a special company born as an operating arm of the Treviso Chamber of Commerce, which in 2011 raised resources for 3 million and 600 thousand euros by dedicating itself to research, innovation and above all, word of the President Vendemiano Sartor, "to create a system of links between the universities and research centers and the productive fabric" of the Veneto province, at the forefront in this sense on the regional and national scene.
Treviso Tecnologia, born as a public body but soon to become a consortium reality extended to the private sector and other realities of the Veneto and North-East, is in fact a unique example in Italy as point of reference for research, training and defense of intellectual property. “Culture is already changing – says Sartor – and the Ambrosetti Forum is proof of this: it is a further opportunity for a network-building process that has already begun, because for companies, research is not and should not be a cost, but an investment".
The crisis, in fact, as emerged from many contributions during the Ambrosetti Technology Forum in Castelbrando (TV), starts "from the universities: they should specialize more and more, train and select the best, and focus on application research, the one that leads directly to the creation of products, jobs and economic benefits”.
There are opportunities to move forward. Especially in a region like Veneto, which “boasts a transversal and excellent manufacturing sector, therefore an ideal outlet for applying technological inventions. Our small and medium-sized businesses are extraordinary, flexible and fast, and the proof is that one third of Veneto's GDP is represented by exports, a sign that the system works”.
It is possible to get out of the crisis, indeed for their part the companies have already done so: "Even at the beginning of the 2000s - explains the president of Treviso Tecnologia again - the companies of this area suffered terribly from the enlargement of the EU and the Chinese competition, but were saved thanks to the so-called "incremental innovation", i.e. innovation that affects both the production process, made more effective and less expensive, and the product, which is increasingly qualitative, specialized and highly technological. And thanks to this process, Veneto and the North-East in general still excel in fashion, wood-furniture, nanotechnologies, electronic engineering. The problem, however, is that while the production system has managed - continues Sartor - the university and research centers, which should form the humus of all this, have remained tremendously behind, continuing to carry out "theoretical" research on books and publications and not on industrial applications”.
If it is therefore true that companies need universities to make the leap in quality, it is also indisputable that "universities need companies and they should address their activity to make up for the lack of public resources, which no longer exist”.
Therefore, it is useless to feel sorry for yourself or to blame the government's provisions, the tax and bureaucratic regime, or competition from developing countries. “It is clear – says Sartor – that these factors have contributed and still contribute negatively. Especially the bureaucracy and public mismanagement. I'll just tell you one fact, official: it has recently been ascertained that all the incentives given to companies at a national level are exactly equal to the revenue from Irap. Tax evasion is a serious matter and must be fought, but if the money distributed all comes back, it is a problem for entrepreneurs”.
“As I believe that the government has so far done too little on public spending, which needs to be retrained, and also often got it wrong with what I call “media terrorism”. Obviously this is also the fault of the media, which do nothing but sow panic with pessimistic news", says Sartor, closing with a joke (but not too much): "I always say it, joking but not too much: let's close the newspapers and internet sites for six months and Italy recovers”. Sartor dixit.
