Session 1 - 25/11/25 - By E-novia

• Programme opening and introduction
• Open innovation for SMEs – What, Why, and How
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speaker: Elisa Gretter & Federico Moro

Description: The workshop explores different innovation models — from Venture Capital to Venture Studios — and how they empower researchers, startups, and industrial players to turn research into market-ready solutions. Through the experience of e-Novia Venture Studio and real cases , participants will gain insights into building a deep-tech startup, from technical validation to go-to-market execution, including key lessons learned from past challenges.

Biographies

Elisa Gretter: Elisa Gretter is the Head of Marketing at e-Novia, where she leads the Group’s communication and positioning strategy. With a career spanning established corporations and fast-growing ventures, she has developed strong expertise in defining and implementing innovation strategies that leverage technology as a key enabler for creating new value propositions and expanding into new markets.

Federico Moro: With over 10 years of experience in innovation and technology transfer, at e-Novia he holds the position of Head of Venture Studio with responsibility for scouting and due diligence (technical, corporate, and business) of entrepreneurial initiatives mainly in the pre-seed and seed phases, relations with the academic network, negotiation of investment contracts, and R&D program management (support for entrepreneurial initiatives in the early stage), as well as the acquisition of public funding and management of the IP portfolio.
His solid educational background includes a double degree in Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Illinois at Chicago and a PhD in robotics from the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa, followed by a period as a researcher in advanced robotics and AI at the IIT and the CNR.

Session 2 - 27/11/25 - By FBK

• How SMEs can leverage cutting-edge research
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speaker: Giuliano Muzio

Description: Startups and SMEs often find some difficulties to leverage on cutting edge research for a number of reasons, starting from lack of competencies, shortage of resources and absence of long range perspectives. But the times are changing and today there are different promising paths through which they are allowed to engage with research organizations. In this workshop some case studies are presented to confirm this hypothesis.

Biography

Giuliano Muzio: Graduated in physics, after his doctorate he worked for years in consulting companies (Etnoteam, Gartner) dealing with issues related to innovation management, process reengineering and market research in the technological field. Since 2008 he has joined the Bruno Kessler Foundation where he covers various roles, first Head of the e-government area, then Head of the Innovation and Local Relations Area, currently he is Chief Corporate Relationship Officer.

Session 2 - 4/12/25 - By PoliMi – Osservatorio Open Innovation

• From Fragmentation to Impact: Mapping and Evolving the Italian Innovation Ecosystem (2010–2025) with Insights from Polimi Open Innovation Lookout
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speaker: Stefano Mizio

Description: Gain a foundational understanding of Italy’s innovation ecosystem and why it matters for competitiveness, drawing on Politecnico di Milano’s Open Innovation Lookout insights about who the core actors are and how they collaborate across regions and industries. Explore how the ecosystem evolved from 2010 to 2025, and examine evidence on adoption of open innovation, corporate venturing, and venture building in the Italian context. Learn to map the main players (startups, corporates, universities, accelerators, investors, venture builders, and public actors).

Biography

Stefano Mizio: With over 30 years of experience in strategic management and technology innovation, he is the General Manager at Polimi Innovation, Strategy & Family Business. He leads initiatives focused on open innovation, strategy, and AI projects. Previously, he managed Startup Acceleration Programs and International Projects at Politecnico di Milano Polihub, with technology scouting experience in Silicon Valley and the UK. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at Vodafone Italy, overseeing IT and mobile internet services, and contributed to Omnitel Pronto Italia’s network rollout as the head of the Radiofrequency department for Southern Italy. He holds a degree in Electronic Engineering and an Executive MBA from Politecnico di Milano's GSOM.

Session 4 - 9/12/25 - By Netval

• Platforms & Marketplaces for Innovation: Knowledge Share Platform & How to Use It
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speaker: Federico Novembrini

Description: During this workshop we’ll deep dive in the knowledge exchange ecosystem learning how tools like the Knowledge Share platform can help SME’s and innovators boosting the creation of new collaboration opportunities with academia, matching innovation demand with innovation offer.

Biography

Federico Novembrini: Graduated in Management Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino, with a master's degree in "Leading digital transformation" and "IP valorization for Knowledge Exchange and Impact".  I'm passionate in innovation and I've been working within the knowledge exchange ecosystem since 2018. I've also concrete experience in startup creation. To date I'm playing the role of head of Knowledge-Share project at Netval, stated from OECD as a best practice for IP valorization since 2022.

Session 5 - 11/12/25 - By Jacobacci

• How to structure IP and research agreements with Universities​
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speakers: Luca Ghedina & Valerio Verdecchia

Description: A practical seminar on how to structure effective agreements with universities for intellectual property management. Learn how to read a patent and evaluate ownership, providing the essential technical and legal tools to reduce risks and optimise investments in innovation.

Biographies

Luca Ghedina: Luca Ghedina is a Partner at Jacobacci Avvocati in Turin, serving as the founding partner and head of the German Desk. He specializes in intellectual property and unfair competition, managing judicial and extrajudicial matters concerning patents, trademarks, and copyright. He also holds significant expertise in contractual law (licensing/distribution) and IP policy. 

Valerio Verdecchia: Valerio Verdecchia is an Italian and European Patent Attorney, operating from Jacobacci & Partners in Turin since 2017, and now is the patent lead for the firm's Start-up Desk. He specializes in mechanical, aerospace, and automotive industries. His professional focus includes managing prior art searches and drafting and prosecuting patent applications.

Session 6 - 16/12/25 - By Jacobacci

• Building long-term partnerships for research and IP
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speakers: Luca Ghedina & Valerio Verdecchia

Description: Dive into the legal and managerial aspects of building and maintaining lasting and profitable collaborations between companies and universities. We will analyse joint ownership of intangible assets (IP) and contractual clauses for managing know-how and trade secrets. An essential focus for transforming collaboration from occasional to strategic partnership.

Biographies

Luca Ghedina: Luca Ghedina is a Partner at Jacobacci Avvocati in Turin, serving as the founding partner and head of the German Desk. He specializes in intellectual property and unfair competition, managing judicial and extrajudicial matters concerning patents, trademarks, and copyright. He also holds significant expertise in contractual law (licensing/distribution) and IP policy. 

Valerio Verdecchia: Valerio Verdecchia is an Italian and European Patent Attorney, operating from Jacobacci & Partners in Turin since 2017, and now is the patent lead for the firm's Start-up Desk. He specializes in mechanical, aerospace, and automotive industries. His professional focus includes managing prior art searches and drafting and prosecuting patent applications.

Session 7 - 18/12/25 - By PoliMI TTO

• Understanding University-Industry Collaboration: How Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) Work
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speaker: Nicola Soloperto

Description: Technology transfer made simple: gain practical insights into how to move research results from university to market. This step-by-step guide, featuring real examples, will help you discover the technology transfer process and demystify common beliefs about university TTOs. It’s not rocket science—just a matter of balancing interests and aligning goals.

Biography

Nicola Soloperto: Nicola represents the business side of the Technology Transfer Office at Politecnico di Milano. He currently leads licensing and industry relations, with a focus on the ICT and electronics sectors. He assists researchers in identifying market opportunities for their technologies and manages the network of industrial partners interested in supporting the technology transfer process.

Session 8 - 13/1/26 - By TIM

• Corporate Funding: Venture innovation capital
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speaker: Emanuele Zingale

Description: Learn how open innovation, venture innovation capital, and corporate funding accelerate business impact by enabling companies to adopt mature startup solutions. Explore the evolution from corporate accelerator programs to venture client models, with insights from TIM on how investments, experimentation, and go-to-market initiatives drive scalable innovation. Walk away with practical guidance on how to activate strategic collaborations across the startup ecosystem.

Biography

Emanuele Zingale: Emanuele Zingale is the Head of Open Innovation at TIM, where he drives business development initiatives through an open innovation approach, fostering partnerships with startups and innovative companies to expand the company’s enterprise and consumer portfolio. With more than ten years of experience in the ICT sector, he has managed TIM WCAP—one of the first corporate accelerators in Italy—and led major transformation programs across OSS and Network domains. He has also contributed to standardization work within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). He is passionate about emerging technologies, open-source culture, and agile development

Session 9 - 15/1/26 - By UIIN

• Scaling Open Innovation: From Research Collaboration to Market Impact
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speaker: Arno Meerman

Description: This session explores how organisations can move beyond ad-hoc research collaborations to build scalable, impact-driven innovation partnerships. Drawing on global examples and UIIN’s research on university–industry engagement, participants will learn how to structure collaborations for strategic alignment, value creation, and long-term success.

Biography

Arno Meerman: As Founder and CEO of UIIN, Arno Meerman helps higher education institutions and businesses worldwide reimagine collaboration. His work advances innovation, engagement, and impact through research, training, and community building.

Session 10 - 20/1/26 - By APRE

• Innovating with the EIC: Unlocking Funding Opportunities and Support Mechanisms
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speaker: Alessia Rotolo

Description: Gain a clear and comprehensive understanding of the European Innovation Council (EIC) funding instruments designed to accelerate breakthrough innovations. Explore the full range of EIC grants and blended finance options, including Pathfinder, Transition, Advanced Innovation Challenges, and Accelerator schemes. Discover tailored opportunities for deep-tech ventures and learn how to maximize the impact of your project within Europe’s dynamic innovation ecosystem.

Biography

Alessia Rotolo: Alessia Rotolo is National Contact Point for the European Innovation Council (EIC), Legal and Financial aspects, EIT, and the Digital Europe Programme at APRE. She is also the coordinator of  the EIC NCP network Access2EIC. With degrees in Law and Economics, Innovation and Management from Sapienza University of Rome and a Master’s in International Business from Università Cattolica of Milan, Alessia has extensive experience in EU research and innovation programmes, focusing on deep tech, technology development, exploitation strategies, and business planning. At APRE, she supports universities, research centers, and companies in preparing innovation projects under Horizon Europe.

Session 11 - 22/1/26 - By Invitalia

• Invitalia's key incentive schemes and facilities for innovative startups and small companies
• 12:30 - 14:00

Speaker: Susanna Zuccarini

Description: Launching and Scaling Tech-Ventures in the Italian Ecosystem: Lessons learnt and Opportunities 

Biography

Susanna Zuccarini: Susanna Zuccarini is a Business Development specialist of Invitalia – the National Agency for inward investment and economic development.
Susanna has been working for 25 years in the area of ​​ national funds for SME’s, evaluating more than 500 business projects and is professional skilled in Business Planning, Entrepreneurship, Business Coaching and Project Management. Susanna supports the creation and growth of innovative startups and promotional activities of Italian incentives managed by Invitalia

Session 12 - 27/1/26

Exploring the ecosystem: build connections and gain insights from practical case studies.

Agenda:

• 14:00: Welcome remarks by 28DIGITAL
• 14:15: Speech by Stefano Mizio e Francesca Cappella, PoliMi
• 14:45: Breakout sessions with fireside chat, by TIM and ENI
• 16:15: Break
• 16:30: Discussion and final conclusions

Breakout sessions with:

• Emanuele Zingale (Head of Open Innovation, TIM) and Tommaso Occhipinti (CEO and Co-Founder, QTI), who will share first-hand testimony about his research experience and their collaboration with TIM.
• Andrea Bernardi (Venture Builder, EniVerse) will provide an introduction to the EniVerse ecosystem; Marco Marino (Managing Director of EniVibes) will share his experience about the venture building process at ENI.