Downstream services, i.e. with high added value, with a strong territorial value and developed by supply chains small and medium enterprises with highly qualified personnel; miniaturization of satellites, development of materials and products for space. But also cybersecurity and traditional security, simulation and real-time control.
After the early 2023 call dedicated more generally to research, the Emilia Romagna region now puts in place five million euros to support projects in two specific sectors already identified by the Smart specialization strategy: the aerospace economy (space economy) and the design of critical infrastructures, both considered to have high potential.
This is a new allocation which gives substance to the recent institutional mission a Houston (USA), the world heart of the aerospace economy, together with universities, clusters and enterprises. Mission strongly desired by the Region to start collaborations in a highly strategic sector and where the participation of four regional companies has been defined (Barilla, Dallara automobiles, Tecnogym and GVM Care & Research) at the first private orbiting stationto which the US company is involved Axiom Space with the scientific collaboration of Nasa.
Emilia-Romagna companies in space
Four national excellences of Made in Emilia-Romagna, leaders in their respective sectors, who will be able to use this extraordinary experience – in extreme and microgravity conditions – to research and develop new technologies in areas of great interest: food systems in space and food in critical situations; innovative materials and resistant composites in orbit; optimal management and training of the human body in space and remote control of the state of health. Sectors with important repercussions in some strategic sectors of Emilia-Romagna such as automotive, packaging, biomedical, wellness, automation and Ict, food. Various regional production chains will therefore be involved: it is no coincidence that numerous Emilia-Romagna companies active in the aerospace sector were present in the regional mission to Houston.
“The objective of the call is to encourage and support investments in one of the most innovative sectors of the world economy in the coming decades. To which consolidated companies, small and large, from Emilia-Romagna, as well as promising startups, look with great interest – underline the president of the Region, Stefano Bonacciniand the Councilor for Economic Development, Vincenzo Colla-. In fact, Emilia-Romagna can boast an already highly specialized sector, which integrates high capacity in terms of infrastructure for research and higher education with the strong vocation for research and internationalization of our companies. We want hold up increasingly an area with high added value and with important scientific and industrial spin-offs: acquisition of satellite data for agriculture, the environment, the weather, the study of new materials, health, food, pharmaceuticals and life sciences. Finally, it is important to give a concrete follow-up to institutional missions that we do as a Region together with companies, universities, clusters and research bodies to increasingly create the conditions for good employment and sustainable development, strengthening collaboration with the most advanced territories. We are planning and consolidating – conclude president and councilor – a new technology platform at an international level in sectors with the highest growth in the coming years”.
The tender: resources, beneficiaries and modalities
Approved by the Regional Council, the tender completes the offer of support to the world of research after that of the beginning of the year, with which, with 14 million euros from the 2021-2027 ERDF program, the Region had promoted 61 projects in 15 cross-sectoral areas of the S3 Strategy. The new tender has a budget of 5 million euros, two of which come from funds ERDF and three from Cohesion Fund. The latter resources can be used to support projects presented by large companies, excluded from the ERDF funds. Applications can be made by individual companies, consortia with external activity, legal entities registered in the Rea (Administrative Economic Register), business combinations.
The minimum size of the projects and the contribution percentage are the same as for the first call, including the types of expenditure. So these are projects from minimum size of 250 thousand euros and the maximum contribution of 700 thousand. The support will be non-refundable and will start from a base of 45% for investment in research and 20% for costs related to experimental development. These percentages can both be increased by 5% if the project includes collaboration contracts with laboratories belonging to the High-tech network of Emilia-Romagna.
For the small and medium enterprises it will also be possible to obtain an additional 10% if the permanent hiring of new researchers is envisaged, or if the company has its local headquarters in an area affected by the recent flood.
The platform for submitting applications, via the application Sfinge 2020, will open on 25 July 2023 (1 pm) and will close on 26 September (1 pm). A presentation webinar is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday 19 July, at 2.30 pm: this one the link to register.
For more information on the sectors, here are the links to the two publications on aerospace e critical infrastructure in Emilia-Romagna just made by Art-ER.
> File on the space economy in Emilia-Romagna (16.92 KB)