One Page Summary

30% of companies in Reggio Emilia areas does not produce any innovation at all. Only 11% realizes radical innovation (a market changer technology), while 24% of R&D process is addressing incremental innovation (day by day improvements) (Source: Report on innovation on Reggio Emilia area, 2014, Osservatorio sull’innovazione Camera di Commercio Reggio Emilia).
Factor enabling innovation are:
• Collaboration with customers;
• Internal know how from personnel skills
• Internal R&D activity
• Technology transfer from local research centers
Factor considered as obstacles for innovation are:
• High taxes
• Difficulties in defining he right positioning on the market;
• Problems in enrolling people with the right skills.
The challenge “Welcome to Reggio Emilia” focuses on the development of an innovative system to facilitate relations between local productive and research ecosystem and foreign students, researchers, professionals interested in studying and researching, to stimulate innovation in enterprises and to attract talents.
Our proposal has the purpose to remove obstacles to innovation, while enhancing enabling factors. We propose a combination of an Open Source tool already tested in a wide environment (Lombardy Region, Italy) and networking and innovation facilitation services to fine tune and launch the local Welcome to Reggio Emilia initiative.
Tool. Open 2.0 is an open source application made available by the Lombardy Region (Italy) for the creation of collaborative tools. A set of ready-to-use and customisable software solutions for those looking for a solution for optimising resources, sharing experiences and responding to strategic challenges of growth and competitiveness.
Open 2.0 is the ideal tool to efficiently address the organisational and management needs of government entities and complex organisations.
Promoting dialogue and participation is the guiding principle behind the design of this platform: the main players behind Open Innovation are people. For this reason, particular attention is paid to the profiles of users (who are asked to indicate skills and interests) and the relations/relationships between different entities.
Our facilitation service will enclose:
- Launch of international calls for ideas from local companies through the open innovation platform
- Identification of best solutions and most promising students, PHD, professionals…
- Organisation of “innovation design sprint weeks” in which will involve team from local companies and students, for the design and prototyping of solutions submitted through the platform
-  Involvement of local R&D groups to complement skills of “innovations sprint team
Our methodologies will enclose: design thinking, design sprint, lean startup, Lego serious play.

Others similar projects have often failed due to lack of proper definition of processes: Erasmus programmes, students exchange activities often lacked of the proper endorsement by local companies, that should be in the condition to better exploit benefits from international networking.
In our experience (collaboration with different roles in over 30EU collaborative projects, projects with local associations, SME, startups, etc..) networking can be effectively exploited only if both parties involved find a mutual benefits. it is then important to involve all stakeholders at local level (i.e. industrial leaders, association, universities and local government institutions) and key contact person in universities abroad (we can rely upon direct contact with over 20 universities and R&D center in Europe, such as CEA, Fraunhofer Institute and VTT).
• The solution has been already tested and deployed in another context (geographical or sectorial)? If so, what are the strengths and weaknesses you identify that could help you in scaling it into a new context?
Open 2.0 was inspired by the experience of www.openinnovation.regione.lombardia.it: the collaborative platform promoted by the Lombardy Region to improve the competitiveness of the Lombard knowledge system.
The platform is on-line since 2015 and main results are:
- +2000 profiled competence centers
- +100 communities
- 225 project ideas
- +200 replies to collab. proposals
- +7000 participants
- +2500 news & discussions
Open 2.0 has been already implemented by Manageritalia (manager association), ANCI Lombardia (association of Local Municipalities) and Campania Region. Ida-re took part to the launch of the project, supporting the team in Regione Lombardia (Finlimbarda) for the initial phase of population and animation of the platform: idea-re owns the skills to manager the early deployment launch of the platform, both from a technological and strategic perspective.