Milan is the Lombard province with the highest innovative capacity: a result that emerges from the latest report produced by the IP Cube Observatory, active within the Center for Technological Innovation and Circular Economy of the Liuc Business School of Castellanza.
Behind the Lombard capital – which is also first in the ranking relative to the number of patent families and in that on total innovative capacity – are Como and Lecco.
To draw up the rankings, the Observatory relied on the Innovation Patent Index, which is an indicator that takes into account five sets of patent data: diversification, quality, internationalization, time, efficiency. The patent data examined relate to the 2014-19 period (this is because the patents filed in the last 18 months are not yet available because they are covered by legal secrecy).
According to Raffaella Manzini, director of the Observatory and of the Liuc School of Industrial Engineering, «Milan is confirmed as a bulwark of innovation in Lombardy and in our country. However, the strictly quantitative aspect remains decisive for the good results, while the territory does not yet stand out for the other factors, which contribute to the generation of value. The high concentration of universities and research facilities in this province is a starting point for a significant “step forward”. An innovation of already excellent value, therefore, yet still with room for improvement »for Manzini.
As regards the podium behind the capital, among the reasons for Como’s second place, the presence on the territory of realities such as Sviluppo Como – ComoNExT, an innovation hub and startup incubator certified by the Ministry of Economic Development, is identified by the Ip Cube Observatory. . A reality that wants to attract innovative companies, transfer innovation to the territory and encourage the development of new entrepreneurship thanks to the incubation of startups. “More generally – explains Raffaella Manzini -, the” Como case “demonstrates how important, indeed fundamental, is not only the presence of a lively entrepreneurial fabric, but of propulsion centers, which are concretely alongside companies and also working on training and updating of skills ».