There is an Italy that experiments, builds networks, and seeks to transform research into a driver of development. It is the Italy of the 11 innovation ecosystems funded by the PNRR, a widespread laboratory that, between 2022 and 2026, will invest around €1.5 billion to bring universities, businesses, and territories closer together.
At the heart of this architecture is the hub & spoke model: an organization that entrusts a central hub (often a university or a consortium led by universities) with the task of coordinating dozens of spokes, i.e., local nodes made up of departments, research centers, companies, and institutions. This choice was imposed by the government—to be applied mandatorily for the first time on a national scale—but it has opened up unprecedented scenarios for collaboration between the academic world and local organizations.
Two years after the ecosystems were established, a scientific study was launched to understand the opportunities and challenges common to ecosystems, proposing a selection of best practices to support ecosystem actions.
The study is the result of collaboration between professors Lorenzo Compagnucci, Francesca Spigarelli (University of Macerata, Department of Law), Donato Iacobucci, Francesco Perugini (Marche Polytechnic University), and Fabrizio Cobis (Ministry of University and Research).
A national map of innovation
The ecosystems cover the entire country, touching on strategic sectors: from green transition to life sciences, from aerospace to the silver economy, to cultural heritage and sustainable mobility. The ecosystems are VITALITY, of which the University of Macerata is a partner, MUSA, RAISE, Rome Technopole, Samothrace, ECOSISTER, THE, eINS, NODES, INEST, and Tech4You.
The study identifies three forms of application of the hub & spoke model: there are urban, regional, and interregional ecosystems, with hubs acting as “control rooms” and spokes spreading skills and innovation throughout the territory.
Opportunities and challenges
These ecosystems have already improved university-business collaboration, opening up new avenues for knowledge transfer and local economic growth.
A look to the future
The PNRR ecosystems are unique in Europe: a national experiment that attempts to systematize the relationship between public research and the productive and social system. The stakes are high: not only technological innovation but also economic resilience, territorial cohesion, and social sustainability.
