Nurturing IT investments through cohesive innovation policy: Smart Cities and Social Innovation at the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research

The Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research has largely invested, mainly through industrial research and cohesion funding, in innovation projects. 1.2B Euro in “Smart Cities & Communities” of which 72M Euro in “Social Innovation”. Both investments belong to a rising trend of “dual” innovation policy, concerned with generating, measuring and extracting social value/impact from each euro of technological and financial investment. To do so, investments must be supported by a clear and cohesive vision the role of ICTs in society and, thus, about what is needed to support and nurture innovation policy.
After a brief introduction on the main innovations introduced in the past 14 months of activity at the Ministry of Education, University and Research, including policy related to IT in education and the development of e-skills, the talk will overview through inside and assess two of the most important innovation policy initiatives ever conducted by the Italian government and promoted in Europe in the past recent years: the development and governance of a framework supporting 1.2B Euro investments in “Smart Cities & Communities” and the shared development, together with 85 stakeholders, of the first Social Innovation Agenda, a policy framework supporting Social innovation across 5 areas: public policy, social impact measurement, impact finance, innovative and participatory methods, acceleration.