Transport Research and Innovation Portal

Background & policy context

Since the mid-1990s the world economy has undergone a deep transformation due to globalisation, technological revolution and, in Europe, by the Monetary Union of the European Union.

The ever increasing levels of international competition have induced industrialised countries to concentrate their efforts in high value-added service industries and to focus on advanced technology sectors less subject to competition.

Italy has faced this new phase in the world economy hindered by a structure that is not well suited to innovation and by unfavourable conditions (inadequate infrastructures, energy costs, excessive regulation). This led to a loss of competitiveness that affects Italian industry in particular. This course can be only changed by greater investment in research and development, a widespread diffusion of new digital technologies (particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises), and by investing in training human resources.

Strategic Objectives

The general objective of Industria 2015 is to help the Italian economy to emerge from the recession by defining strategic lines for the development and competitiveness of the Italian manufacturing system on the basis of an analysis of future economic and production scenarios in the medium and long term (up to 2015).

In particular it aims to centralise the role of industry in the context of a new attitude towards the real economy, which combines traditional manufacturing production with the development of new services and technologies, exploiting the synergies between manufacturing companies, service companies, and industrial research.

The two specific objectives of Industria 2015 are:

1. to develop industrial activities in the field of high technology;
2. to upgrade and strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through research and technical development, reduction of costs, promotion of investments, and increases in size.

Programme organisation

The programme makes use of the following three innovative instruments:

1. Projects for industrial innovation
2. Networks of enterprises
3. Innovative finance.

1) Projects for industrial innovation (PII).
Projects for industrial innovation are the main and more innovative instrument introduced by Industria 2015. They are tailored incentives for specific strategic objectives which identify technological and productive areas that have a strong impact on the economic development. Each PII must have the following characteristics:

• it must focus on the objectives identified by the strategic lines (defined in an official document);
• it must have an impact on industry in terms of new processes, products, or services;
• it must integrates instruments supporting enterprises, measures for regulating and streamlining the administration processes;
• it must involve large enterprises, SMEs, and research centres;
• it must encourage the development of enterprises founded by young people.

The Italian Financial Act of 2007 has identified the following five technological areas for PII:

1. Energetic efficiency, which includes:
   • industrial investments in the area of renewable energy sources (e.g. solar collectors for heating water in houses, small biomass-fuelled cogenration electric plants, fotovoltaic solar cells, eolic plants, technologies for the production, storage, and use of hydrogen, high temperature solar plants, biofuels);
   • investments for upgrading existing industrial divisions and manufacture low environmental impact products capable of saving energy (e.g. high thermal insulation bricks, class A+ home refrigerators, low thermal emission glass)
   • industrial investments for innovating manufacturing processes in order to reduce the use of energy (e.g. electric motors with inverter, techniques for reusing waste heat in manufacturing processes).
2. Sustainable mobility, which funds projects for the development and manufacturing of products, manufacturing processes, methodologies and innovative services which have a significant impact on:
   • the eco-compatibility of the surface transport systems and their corresponding manufacturing processes;
   • reducing the level of congestion of surface transport, intermodality, and logistics network;
   • sustainable urban mobility;
   • safety and security of people and goods in surface transport;
   • competitiveness of surface transport systems and corresponding processes.
3. New technologies for life, which funds projects for:
   • enhancing the competitiveness of the productive chain of the new technologies for life, bio-medic technologies, and technologies for advances therapies;
   • developing and spreading technological innovation and industrial research in the above mentioned productive chain and corresponding activities.
4. New technologies for the “made in Italy”, which aims at enhancing the competitiveness of the Italian SME system, strengthening their position in the international markets. Two kind of enterprises are involved: those which manufacture or produce goods marked “made in Italy”, and those which provides the former with technologies for innovating products and processes.
5. Innovative technologies for the Cultural Heritage and Cultural and Tourist Activities, which aim at better exploiting the Italian cultural heritage by:
   • promoting an integrated management of the Italian heritage not only preserving, but also exploiting it;
   • favouring technologies which have significant impacts on other areas;
   • favouring the conditions for attracting foreign investments.

2) Networks of enterprises.

This instrument has been developed for those enterprises that want to increase their power without necessarily merging with other enterprises or being controlled by a single subject.

The Ministry of the Economic Development has been entrusted with the task of defining these new forms of aggregations. More specifically, it must:

• define the stability requirements of the networks of enterprises and the new forms of coordination and management;
• define the legal aspects;
• consider the involvement of foreign enterprises, and develop regulations for trans-national networks both European and extra-European.

3) Innovative finance.

Industria 2015 has created two new public funding mechanisms to support industrial innovation and the development of the Italian industry:

• The fund for the competitiveness and the development. This fund will finance PII and other supporting interventions. Previously the financial instruments were strictly related to the specific credit facility. This new fund permits to choose each time the credit facility which is more suitable to pursue the objectives of the enterprises.
• The fund for the Corporate Finance. It has been created to rationalize the mechanisms of public funding for risk capital guarantee and participation, in order to facilitate the access of enterprises to credits and the financial market.

Leading institution(s)

Public institution:

Institute for Promoting Industrial Activities (IPI) – Ministry of Economic Development

Type of funding

Public (national/regional/local)

Programme funding arrangements and funding conditions

Currently, for the five technological areas of the programme the following resources have been made available:

• €990 million have been allocated by FCS (Fondo Competitività e Sviluppo – Fund for Competitivity and Development created by the Financial Act 2007 for the years 2007-2009).
• €3000 million from PON (Programma Operativo Nazionale Ricerca e Competitività – National Operational Programme Research and Competitivity) and FAS (Fondo per le Aree Sottoutilizzate – Fund for under-used areas).

A fundamental aspect of the programme is the collaboration between the Ministry for the Economic Development, Ministry of the University and Research, and Ministry for Innovation, which financially results in the coordination of funds for research and funds for development which together will finance the implementation of the projects.

In general, besides the state's public funding, there will be other funds from regions and other involved public and private subjects.

Participating countries

Italy

Projects covered

A temporary list of projects that have already been financed includes:

1. Autobus urbano 12 metri a trazione ibrida a minimo impatto ambientale (Urban 12 metre bus with hybrid traction and minimum environmental impact)
2. Flexible security vehicle, Veicolo multiuso per rotaie e strade, flessibile e altamente tecnologico, per applicazioni di protezione civile nelle aree di crisi (Multi-use vehicle for rail and road, flexible and highly technological, for civil protection applications in crisis areas)
3. Sistemi navali innovativi, efficienti ed ecologici per innovare la sistemistica e l’impiantistica di bordo (Innovative ship systems which are efficient and ecological to innovate on-board systems and plants)
4. CAMP - Context Aware Mobility Platform, Sistema innovativo per il riconoscimento/localizzazione degli attori principali del trasporto pubblico (Innovative system for recognition/location of principal actors of public transport)
5. CARITAS - Carrozza ferroviaria a due piani innovativa, rivolta al trasporto di persone affette da disabilità motorie, sensoriali o psichiche (Innovative two-floor rail car, for persons with motion, sensory and psychic disabilities)
6. EASY RIDER - Sistema per l’integrazione di infrastrutture stradali, veicoli e servizi per il miglioramento dell’infomobilità e della sicurezza stradale a supporto della mobilità sostenibile (System for the integration of road infrastructures, vehicles and services to improve infomobility and road safety as a support to sustainable mobility)
7. ECO-DESMO - Nuova famiglia di motori termici motociclistici ad alte prestazioni e a basso consumo e a basse emissioni (New family of motorcycle combustion engines with high performance and low consumption and emissions)
8. IMPULSO - Sistema per la gestione e il controllo del trasporto e della logistica delle merci (System for management and control of freight transport and logistics)
9. IQMMTM - Quadriciclo stradale multimodale e multifunzione per il trasporto sostenibile di merci nei centri storici (Four-wheeled road multimodal and multifunction vehicle, for sustainable transport of goods in historic centres)
10. LOG ON - Piattaforma innovativa per la gestione mista, tra pubblica amministrazione e soggetti privati, di servizi pubblici locali per la logistica in aree metropolitane (Innovative platform for mixed management, between public administration and private subjects, of local public services for logistics in metropolitan areas)
11. MECCANO - Navetta configurabile a uso privato o di tipo car sharing per mobilità urbana ecocompatibile (Shuttle for private or car sharing use for urban eco-compatible mobility)
12. MUSS - Mobilità urbana e infraurbana sostenibile e sicura. Veicolo a due ruote di nuova generazione ecocompatibile e sicuro (Urban and infra-urban sustainable and safe mobility. New-generation two-wheel eco-compatible and safe vehicle)
13. PBI - Piattaforma bus innovativi. Sistema bus basato su sottosistemi innovative standardizzati ecocompatibili e sicuri (Innovative bus platform. Bus system based on innovative, standardised eco-compatible and safe sub-systems)
14. PEGASUS - Progetto per la gestione della mobilità attraverso sistemi infotelematici per l’ambito urbano, per la sicurezza passeggeri, veicoli e merci (Project for the management of mobility with info-telematic systems for urban context, aimed at passenger, vehicle and goods safety)
15. POSTRAIN - Veicolo bimodale bitensione innovativo in configurazione costituita da due motrici (Bimodal, bi-voltage innovative vehicle with two locomotive configuration)
16. SIFEG - Sistemi integrati per trasporto merci intermodale su strada e ferrovia, a medio e lungo raggio (Integrated systems for road and rail freight intermodal transport, on medium- and long-distance)
17. SIS-TEMA - Sistema per la gestione integrata, sicura ed intermodale dell’intera filiera (attori, mezzi e attività) dell’ultimo miglio marittimo, del porto e del primo miglio terrestre (System for integrated, safe and intermodal management of full chain - actors, means and activities - of last maritime mile, of port and of first land mile)
18. SITMAR - Sistema integrato per il trasporto marittimo di merci nel contesto intermodale (Integrated system for freight maritime transport in intermodal context)
19. SITRAM - Sistema trasporto tramvario innovativo (Innovative tramway transport system)
20. SLIMPORT - Sistema per la gestione integrata di logistica e sicurezza per l’intermodalità portuale (System for the integrated management of logistics and safety for port intermodality)
21. VECTOR 2015 - Veicolo eco-compatibile per il trasporto urbano ottimizzato e multiruolo (Ecocompatible vehicle for optimised and multi-role urban transport)
22. VISION - Vaporetto di Venezia innovativo, con sistema ibrido di generazione energia a celle a combustibile alimentate a idrogeno, fotovoltaico e accumulatori, e propulsione elettrica azimutale, per migliore rispetto dell’ambiente e comfort passeggeri (Innovative ferryboat of Venice, with hybrid system for energy generation with hydrogen fuel cells, photovoltaic and accumulators, and azimuth electric propulsion, for a better environmental protection and passenger comfort)

Project Profiles (22)

Browse project descriptions for this programme

Contact for further information

Istituto per la Promozione Industriale (IPI) – Agenzia Tecnica del Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico (Institute for Promoting Industrial Activities (IPI) – Technical Agency of the Ministry of the Economic Development)
Viale M. Pilsudski, 124
00197  Rome
Italy

Tel: +39 06 80 97 21
Fax: +39 06 80 72 898