«Innovation is a difficult phenomenon to study – explains Raffaella Manzini – and a purely quantitative analysis can be incomplete. With the Innovation patent index we try to capture aspects of innovative activity that represent potential for the future. It will be interesting to verify, with the next analyzes, whether these potentials have actually been exploited, also with particular reference to the challenges posed by the pandemic ».
The performance of Umbria and Tuscany
As for Umbria, for example, the work of the Observatory highlights how the region excels by virtue of high quality patents, ie new inventions that develop from a “strong, rich and rigorous base” of previous knowledge. The prevailing technological area of patenting is that of medical or veterinary sciences.
Behind the “case of Umbria”, the IPI ranking is located in Tuscany, “which also thanks to centers of excellence such as the Normale di Pisa, the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and the Imt di Lucca, shows a high innovative capacity of its patents, with high values in terms of internationalization and time invested in the patenting of innovation »explain the researchers. In this region, patents mainly concern medical or veterinary sciences and ground vehicles.
Lombardy stands out in number
Lombardy is on the third step of the podium of the Innovation patent index. At a purely quantitative level, the region is first in Italy, followed by Emilia Romagna and Veneto, however in terms of IPIs it is only third. «Lombardy excels in terms of internationalization (it is in fact the Italian region that extends each patent the most to other countries) – reads the note from the Observatory -, but not compared to the other dimensions of the IPI. The most important technological areas are the medical field, like a large part of the Italian regions, and the chemical one ».
Among the other regions that stand out in the IPI ranking, Emilia-Romagna (fourth place), which shows high efficiency, i.e. a high number of patents per employee in the area. Particular importance in patenting is covered by the technological area of containers and packaging, which is of primary importance in the Italian context.