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The Database presented here forms part of the programme pertaining to Action 4.1 of the Objective 2 Single Programming Document "Diffusion and Transfer of Innovation", the implementation of which was entrusted by the Regione Liguria to the Science and Technology Park of Liguria.
The Science and Technology Park has planed during the next two years to bring up to date the database.
The main purpose of this publication - compiled and edited by the World Trade Centre Genoa for the Provinces of Genoa and Savona, and by Spedia, under the co-ordination of SCAM, for the Province of La Spezia - is to provide research, industrial and public administration personnel with an up-to-date and accurate overview of the technology "resources" existing in our Region.
The conditions currently besetting Liguria, marked by phenomena of downsizing and, in certain instances, by the all out dismantling of sites in steel, machine and shipbuilding industries, which for nearly a century represented cornerstones of the Region's economy, demand that the problems inherent to the development of the small and medium size enterprise (SME) system be faced in a methodical, fact-based and objective manner, also through the introduction of new technologies.
The transfer of technologies and know-how from universities and public and private research centres to the enterprise system is likely one of the most pressing issues in the productive development of so-called "ripe" areas such as Europe, and assumes near "emergency" proportions in Italy, burdened as it is with structural drawbacks in the quantity and quality of funding for applied research. The last few years have seen an increased availability of funding earmarked for the stimulation of technology diffusion and transfer, also in Italy, thanks in part to the more coherent integration of European Union policies with those of Member States.
However, owing to the considerable fragmentation of funding agencies and to the poor interaction between research and enterprise systems, difficulties arise in matching technology offer with demand. This is particularly evident in Liguria, traditionally characterised by the fragmented and uneven territorial distribution of small and micro-enterprises.
The publication of this Database (undertaken simultaneously to the distribution of a paper-based catalogue and a CD-Rom) was conceived taking into full account the above-mentioned difficulties. Its specific purpose is to respond to the demands of those who, starting from a definite productive need, seek solutions to the problems posed by the necessity to improve the technological level of their products and productive processes.
The nearly 350 technological files contained herein appertain to eleven technological clusters singled out by the Regional programme submitted to the European Union. These technologies were all selected according to specific inclusion criteria, namely, innovativeness, potential short-term industrial application, and possible interest to SMEs.
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