«This competence center will be the beating heart of the innovation hub that Padua is creating. Today we are inaugurating something extremely concrete, because it exalts when business and training know how to communicate in a propulsive way in a virtuous model of public and private partnership “. This is the premise of Leopoldo Destro, president of Assindustria Venetocentro, during the inauguration of Live Demo, the largest 4.0 technology demonstrator in Italy hosted in the Smact Competence Center built at the exhibition center of the capital. A wide-ranging project that sees companies and academic realities in the forefront of which the University of Padua is the leader, involving all the universities of the Triveneto and numerous companies. “Padua is the spearhead of the ambitious network of Live Demo Smact, a network of school factories available to businesses, research and students to advance in practice the innovative skills needed by the productive fabric, a project that continues at full speed in its implementation and dissemination in all regions of the Northeast – comments Professor Fabrizio Dughiero, chairman of the management board of the Competence Center -. The Live Demo also fully fits into the path of the Boulevard of Innovation which sees the Fair, the School of Engineering, Smact, the Galileo Science Park, Le Village become a whole and a true hub of innovation at the service of companies. Smact thus confirms its commitment to connect innovators who work in business and research with each other, not in words but with structures and practices that work, that is, with facts. And the facts, after the first three years, show us that the path is the right one, because today companies contact Smact to find a reliable partner to guide them in the digitization process by offering the most innovative technologies, from a systemic and non-systemic perspective. biased “. Smact leverages over 11 thousand researchers and the great wealth of skills and experiences of industrial and technological partners, which it makes available to companies to implement industrial research and experimental development projects. In the first two years of activity, it initiated and co-financed 30 projects of this type, for a total of € 6.5 million, involving 50 research groups, thus uniting university laboratories and factories and crossing the partners’ needs for innovation and skills. For her part, Anna Ascani, Undersecretary of the Mise, emphasizes the role of competence centers. «We need places where research meets companies, that is the real demand for technology that SMEs cannot face independently.
In the competence centers this information is available to the company. Especially of SMEs that have to make that digital transition, for which competence centers become central. The financial commitment of the Mise towards the competence centers will continue. All 8 gave great results. Therefore the competence centers are fundamental cornerstones in the success of the PNNR. This is how planning arrives in the daily life of people and businesses – said the Undersecretary -. Now the competence centers have to dialogue with universities and ITS, but also to provide training aimed at those who are and who do business. Often the entrepreneur does not know the technology that applies to his production model. These centers serve to help him get to know a place where tailoring solutions are structured for businesses in the area. Right here today there is great synergy between all the worlds that must meet ». The inauguration ceremony took place in the Sala Mantegna of Padova Congress, a recently inaugurated center which is part of the Smact project. «It is an architectural jewel designed by Kengo Kuma, a multifunctional and flexible container equipped with the most advanced technologies and it is the largest structure dedicated to events in the Veneto, capable of hosting approximately 3,400 congressmen. Thanks to this new structure, Padua, a city of art and science, is thus a candidate to become one of the Italian congress capitals ”adds Antonio Santocono, president of the Padua and Padua Hall Chamber of Commerce.
The Live Demo is an innovation laboratory spread over an area of 3 thousand square meters dedicated to digital technologies. The project is «From farm to fork» and is the last Live Demo in chronological order created by Smact Competence Center with the scientific support of the University of Padua. It is a 4.0 school-factory where to experiment with technologies to manage and monitor sustainable primary production. Inside, the entire production cycle, from the greenhouse cultivation of raw materials, to the production of bread, beer and dishes in pots, is entirely digitized with sensors that collect data on climate management, on the control of production parameters, on the monitoring of water and energy consumption and quality control, analyze them through artificial intelligence and transmit them to the cloud. All this to arrive at a more efficient and sustainable management of the “factory 4.0”, but also to create a sensory experience for the visitor, who can then consume the products in a shared way in a “shared kitchen”. Many technical partners linked to the hospitality industry and Ho.Re.Ca. including Electrolux Professional, Sottoriva, Gruppo Della Toffola, Schneider Electric with an IoT platform for data collection and a control tower for the production lines to finish with Work Crossing (Forcellini Restauration), a social cooperative that develops its activity in the catering sector , employing disadvantaged groups and promoting their recovery and rehabilitation in society. The project had the support of AD Serre, Planum architecture and integrated design studio, Impredil, Techne and the “Luce in Veneto” consortium. “Seeing how digitalization allows not only to make production more efficient but also products, and touching the potential of innovation first hand helps persuade small entrepreneurs to undertake innovation paths and train staff with practical examples rather than theoretical lessons – he concludes. Matteo Faggin, general manager of Smact -. A fundamental step to remain competitive on the market and fully enter the innovation ecosystem that today sees the world of research and business allies, with over 60 partners actively participating in the Competence Center “.