L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 T he Las V egas C o n s u m e r Electronic Show has been more than a window on high s treet electronics : it went well beyond state of the art hi-tech propos als and innovations inconceivable only a handful of years ago. The most famous hi-tech fair in the world is a preview of new technological trends and directions, and is certainly better known in the US than in Italy, where only experts of the field are probably aware of it. However, this year it found space on Italian media thanks to the ingenious ideas of some of our fellow Italians, and ended up being an instrument to remind international markets that "Italy's here, too." Yes, because we are much more than cuisine, art and fashion. Italy is also protagonist of the scientific and technological progress we've all been benefiting from in modern days. Italians themselves should remember it more often and be proud of it. But first and foremost, more space should be given to this reality, so that also abroad, finally, the image labelling us - an image that make us recognizable yet penalizes us at once, because it limits our country to opera, pizza, sun and dolce vita - can change. Point number two. What's usually considered the weakest link in Italy's industry and productive patterns, that is, being largely based on small and medium enterprises, with the appearance of only a handful of multinationals, demonstrated to have some advantages. CES 2018 brought to the fore how the leading sector of global markets is that of start-ups, which means that innovation is created by smaller businesses, born from a simple idea and grown thanks to sacrifice and dedication, not huge capitals and large factories. This is because, today, it's the tertiary sector, logistics, software that make a difference, not production. Here it is: if we only learned how to be a team and treasure this typical feature of our industry - even with all its dimensional defects, especially when it comes to international commerce - we would probably make several steps forwards. It's not a case to find, among the objectives of Italy's first "mission" in Las Vegas, the intention of making our technological industries' More than sea, good food and dolce vita: Italy means hi-tech From the director ecosystem known, and that of presenting ourselves to international investors as "the Italian delegation." Teorema Incubation Lab Trieste, a digital hub conceived for the development of IT start-ups, directly sponsored by the Italian Ministry for Technological Development in collaboration with the Institute for International Commerce, was born thanks to a difference. Even better, it was born because it noticed a difference: all other countries participated to CES as a delegation, whereas Italians businesses presented themselves individually. We all know, in the end, that there's strength in numbers. Or at least, that one feels a bit stronger and a bit less Don Quixote in facing Goliath as a team. Especially when thinking about how 50 Italian start- ups plucked the courage to go in against international business giants on their own. Abroad, Italian IT is not seen as a unified and weighty group, able to compete on the market, but rather as a series of strategic pawns to be bought and this because, more often than not, we lack cohesion, support and strategy. If we point the finger at our businesses' isolation on global markets, then the only way to change is not only to demonstrate we are good at IT, at developing digital products and artificial intelligence, at creating virtual and augmented realities, but also to show we can enter the market (160 countries participate to the CES) as a joint venture between businesses and the countrywide system. That's easier said than done, if we had to wait until the 2018 edition of the CES to finally see ourselves as mission "Made in Italy, the Art of Technology," a savvy marketing definition that brings together technology and the typical creative verve of Italy. However, it is true that Teorema Incubation Lab Trieste, Italy's first digital hub for the development of IT start-ups, has just been created, so maybe our mentality has been changing. And if our national technology rises interest internationally, we're on the path to success, especially because it's the rest of the world to tell us so, to confirm we have great cards to play. There is more: making an impact, with a product or a service, on the automotive, biotechnological, fashion, food and food-tech sectors means to largely invest back, at a higher level, on our classical economic and commercial clusters, like cars, design and the food and wine industry. It's simple, then: let's not waste, but rather value our strongest assets, renewing them from within with digital technologies able to make our traditional businesses more competitive on today's global markets. Simone Schiavinato, Director NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

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