Terna he signed agreements with institutional partners in San Francisco to promote and enhance the Italian innovation ecosystem abroad. The agreements aim to support the development of innovative Italian startups and SMEs facilitate its entry into the US market, thus contributing to the growth of Italian innovation abroad.
Agreement with the Consul General of Italy and with Innovit
Josephine of Foggia, CEO and General Manager of Terna, together with Sergio Strozzi, Consul General of Italy in San Francisco, have signed a Letter of Intent to help Italian startups search for growth opportunities and technological partners in the United States.
Furthermore, Massimiliano Garri, Director of Innovation & Market Solutions at Terna, and Alberto Acito, Director of the Italian Innovation Center at Innovation, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which outlines the activities aimed at achieving the common objective. During this three-year partnership, will come develop joint initiatives to accelerate and support the innovative Italian companies that will come into contact with Terna, in order to facilitate relationships and business opportunities. Terna and INNOVIT will support each other in their respective open innovation initiatives.
"L 'innovation is an essential tool, because it allows us to find efficient solutions to the challenges imposed by the energy transition. Precisely for this reason, Terna looks carefully at Silicon Valley, the place with the greatest density of innovative companies in the world", he declared Josephine of Foggia, CEO and General Manager of Terna. "Today Let's strengthen our commitment in favor of startups so that they can develop their projects in the best conditions, in particular those linked to the energy transition. The agreements signed today will foster more profitable relationships between those who create Made in Italy technology and those who have the capital available to encourage ideas and make them concrete and usable for the benefit of the evolution of the electricity sector", added Di Foggia.
“The collaboration between the Consulate General, Terna and Innovit represents the instrument with which the large Italian Group fully enters the network of innovation and "disruptive technologies" of Silicon Valley. The subjects with which Terna comes into contact are numerous and very high profile: from American Big Tech to numerous startups in the energy and cleantech sector, from the network of Italian scientists and researchers in the Bay Area to universities generating research and innovation such as Stanford and Berkeley" declared ” the Consul General in San Francisco, Sergio Strozzi.
Evaluate energy transition projects
Terna will have the opportunity to evaluate possible initiatives of experimentation and investment in solutions and projects for energy transition promoted by the Italian startups that he will meet and support in California, taking advantage of his consolidated presence in San Francisco.
Terna's Innovation Antenna
Since 2020, Terna, the operator of the national transmission grid, has collaborated with the Silicon Valley ecosystem, and starting in the second half of 2022, it has expanded its presence in the Bay Area, a well-known technology hub. Terna has established an outpost in San Francisco called “Innovation Antenna” with the aim of being physically present in the innovation ecosystem in Silicon Valley and establishing direct contacts with innovative companies in the United States.
Terna's innovation team in San Francisco not only seeks innovative projects to address the challenges of the energy transition, but it also creates effective relationships with startups and other innovation actors in the United States, including large companies, including Italian ones, sharing experiences and knowledge. Terna is already experimenting in Italy projects related to robotics, drones and augmented reality based on ideas born in California.
What is Innovit
Innovit, promoted by the General Directorate of Country System of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and managed with the support of ICE - Agency for the promotion abroad and internationalization of Italian companies - and the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco , aims to act as engine for ideas and entrepreneurial initiatives innovative, facilitating innovative cross-border projects and accelerating their international development, allowing Italian actors to have a stable presence in Silicon Valley and in the United States.
The initiative represents a strategy of the Italian Government to promote innovation in the country system in the United States. Starting from October 2022, the management of the Italian Innovation Center at Innovit has been entrusted to the Giacomo Brodolini Foundation and Entopan Innovation.
“The agreement between Innovit and Terna marks a step of great importance for the promotion of Italian innovation in the energy sector, a crucial dimension for the sustainable future of our planet. Terna, at the forefront of the energy transition, is an ideal partner for our programs that support Italian startups to enter the US market and connect with the Silicon Valley ecosystem. This collaboration adds to other significant partnerships already established by Innovit with large companies and government institutions, and confirms our ambition to be a strategic asset at the service of the country system" he underlined Alberto Acito, Director of the Italian Innovation Center at Innovation.
