InnovAction: results and new horizons for the Twin Transition of SMEs

InnovAction, the three-year EDIH-SoE project funded by MIMIT under the PNRR, which has supported eleven SMEs on a concrete path of digital and sustainable innovation, is concluding in these weeks. The initiative is the result of a collaboration between Cefriel (coordinator), Links Foundation, the University of Naples Federico II, Intesa Sanpaolo, and the Bruno Kessler Foundation.

A concrete impact serving the local areas

In its role as a European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) – Seal of Excellence, InnovAction has successfully supported eleven companies in their Twin Transition, promoting the integration of digital innovation and sustainability into production processes.

Thanks to the overnment aid mechanism, the project has enabled participating companies to access consulting and technology transfer services on favorable terms, lowering barriers to green and digital innovation.  The companies involved—active across diverse sectors ranging from energy to robotics, from construction to training—have benefited from a catalog of services aimed at:

• digitizing core processes, optimizing resources, and significantly reducing waste and inefficiencies;
• integrating enabling technologies, leveraging the potential of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for predictive and intelligent production;
• increasing cybersecurity levels, protecting company information assets and ensuring maximum resilience against cyber threats.

The strength of applied research

The success of the initiative lies in its hands-on approach: researchers from FBK’s Center for Digital Industry and Center for Cybersecurity worked side by side with companies and their technical teams. Starting from the analysis of the real, day-to-day challenges of SMEs, digital and sustainable solutions capable of generating immediate competitive advantages in the market were co-developed.

This experience has fostered the creation of new collaboration networks and the development of strategic tools to ensure continuity and support for innovation across Italy.

Among the collaborations developed as part of InnovAction, several experiences stand out as clear examples of the value of applied research.

With CherryChain, a startup developing digital solutions for loyalty cards and loyalty programs, researchers from FBK’s Center for Cybersecurity helped strengthen platform security, improving data protection and system resilience.

A second example involves Clastix, a company active in the cloud, data center, and edge sectors. In collaboration with FBK’s Center for Digital Industry, the company developed an optimization algorithm for GPU usage in cloud computing for artificial intelligence applications, demonstrating improved efficiency.

Another example is RailEvo, a company active in the railway sector, with which innovative solutions were developed to improve system efficiency and reliability, helping bring research closer to the market and strengthen the company’s competitiveness.

These experiences confirm the role of collaboration between research and industry in transforming technological innovation into concrete solutions for the Twin Transition of SMEs.

Let’s stay in touch to build your next innovation project.  To explore new collaboration opportunities and available technological services, please contact our team ([email protected]) and visit the innovation section of the FBK portal.