Vision Group, a large optical distribution network in Italy with about 2,700 centers of which 200 are directly owned, another 300 franchises and more than 2,200 operating as a purchasing group, has founded the Study Center of the International School of Optics and Optometry to respond to the challenges of the world of health and visual well-being. The Observatory will produce scientific research and market analyzes on the main topics of interest in collaboration with some of the most prestigious Italian public and private universities, addressing both public opinion as well as entrepreneurs and operators in the sector. The project is part of a broader plan of Vision Group which, already in 2017, aware of the importance of research and training in the field of visual well-being, created the Vision Group Academy, one of the most authoritative secondary schools in Italy for the training of opticians and optometrists, today the flagship of the company. The Observatory’s first survey will be launched in June and will be carried out together with Ipsos, a leader in market research.
The study will address the issue of well-being at 360 degrees, with a focus on the changes in the habits of Italians towards health and prevention after Covid-19, following a transformation in lifestyles due to the pandemic. “The Study Center wants to become an attractive pole and a point of reference for the main stakeholders in the sector and for Italian universities that invest in the excellence of their students, also in light of the relationships already established by our Group with prestigious Italian faculties in the scope of the activities of the Vision Group Academy – explains Marco Procacciante, CEO of Vision Group -. The idea is to create, and above all to spread, a more solid culture of visual well-being that rests its foundations on scientific research and correct information, through a constant dialogue with the productive world and the operators of the sector, in particular the ophthalmologists, developing new proposals on increasingly topical issues such as, for example, the use of the latest technologies, sustainability and experimentation in the health field ». An innovative all-round approach that has obtained the support of the International School of Optics and Optometry (SIOO) of Florence. “We are equipping ourselves with authoritative collaborators from the academic world and the professions to set up a scientific committee, which will be responsible for validating the investigations carried out by the Study Center – adds Andrea Cappellini, managing director of SIOO -. We are proud to be able to contribute together with Vision Group to spreading greater knowledge, also among institutions, of everything that revolves around the well-being of sight ».