Business support programme Basilicata Open LAB is back

Joule is continuing its work in the Basilicata region. The second year of the Basilicata Open Lab programme  in support of innovation and entrepreneurship in the area is now underway. Its aim is to create concrete value for this region of Southern Italy, boosting opportunities for collaboration between the region’s companies and startups. The initiative was developed by Eni, through Joule, with the support of Shell Italia E&P.

Antonietta De Sanctis, Head of Startup Acceleration Program at Joule, commented: "This project is a source of pride for us and aims to create concrete value for the local area through building an ecosystem to strengthen the competitive advantage of companies from Basilicata and Italian startups. Participation rates in the first edition and the quality of the projects have given us further encouragement to continue working synergistically on the ground and with the local area, pursuing continuous and open dialogue with stakeholders on initiatives and services to support innovative regional companies."
 

Basilicata Open LAB encompasses four major strategic subject areas to develop the economy, innovation and sustainability in the region, as last year's edition also demonstrated

• Agritech: adopting innovative technologies to improve productivity and promote sustainability in agriculture.
• Sustainable mobility: promoting ecological transport and safeguarding the environment, optimising travel efficiency in the local area.
• Bioenergy: encouraging the use of renewable energy and the recovery of raw materials, critical factors in the transition from a linear to a circular economy.
• Local development: promoting the social and economic growth of the area, through the involvement of local communities and public and private institutions, driving joint sustainable development.

In implementing the initiative, Joule is supported by two technical partners – PoliHub and Consorzio Elis – who lead on the two highly synergistic project areas.

PoliHub, specifically, will work on Call4lnnovation, with the aim of stimulating innovation and sustainable development in Basilicata. It seeks to identify and support innovative projects from the region’s companies and national startups and is divided into two main strands:

• the Co-Innovation Award, targeted at startups from all over Italy interested in collaborating with companies from Basilicata to develop a joint PoC (Proof of Concept);
• the Entrepreneurship Award, targeted solely at companies from Basilicata with innovative projects they wish to implement internally.

The end result will be support for 15 local companies and 12 national startups through training and mentoring activities. Three grants will be awarded for entrepreneurial projects put forward by companies from Basilicata and six for the development of co-innovation projects involving regional companies and national startups.

Another award programme has been introduced this year for some of the very youngest innovative students from Basilicata (open also to those who have not set up startups) who wish to get involved and propose ideas and solutions that respond to specific challenges in the region and beyond.

Elis, meanwhile, will be responsible for the physical and digital hub (platform), a point of reference for developing innovation in Basilicata and for everyone in the region seeking to play an active part in the ecosystem – from young people, companies and startups to institutional and non-institutional local stakeholders – providing support, training and information services and initiatives to drive innovative forms of doing business.

The project phase will alternate training and discussion with participants in the call and companies in the region willing to integrate innovative models into their production processes. There will also be in-depth workshops on the four project areas to share experiences and perspectives.