The Accelerator of business dedicato a progetti Space è stato presentato a Matera in anteprima nazionale.
“SPARKme This is an important project to bring new life to the Italian space sector. The emergence of small companies with innovative business ideas is a necessary condition for the growth of the Italian space economy.
The fact that this is happening in Matera, near our Space Geodesy Centre, is an important sign of the space sector's rooting in the South, an excellence of Made in Italy destined to be increasingly strategic for the development of our country.". As Roberto Battiston, president of the Italian Space Agency, comments on the birth of SPARKme, the first European business accelerator dedicated to the Space Economy.
The initiative is promoted by Openet Technologies SpA and co-financed theItalian Space Agency (ASI) e dall’European Space Agency (ESA).
Openet It has invested approximately €4 million in renovation and restoration projects, infrastructure development, and the creation of service networks, transforming a mechanical workshop into a hub for digital innovation, designed to host companies selected through an international call for proposals.
SPARKme It was presented during a day of discussions aimed at describing, from different perspectives, the crucial impact that space research and investments have on our daily lives, and in particular on the country's industrial and manufacturing sectors. The discussion was Roberto Battiston, President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), Carlo des Dorides, Direttore dell’European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency (GNSS), Francesco Feliciani, of theEuropean Space Agency (ESA), together with representatives of the team of companies and institutions that actively participated in the initiative. The presentations will be dedicated to framing the theme of Space Adventure in a context of programming and research, such as that conducted in major space research centers, ESA, ASI, GNSS Agency, then going on to verify the impact on the research sector in Italy, thanks to the presence of the CNR.
Openet has a twenty-year history of research and development activities in collaboration with ASI ed ESA, and is confirmed as an integral part of the project to enhance the Lucanian aerospace sector, which is today enriched with design, development and content thanks to initiatives such as SPARKme, which has been able to intercept, and in some ways anticipate, the great ferment of innovation expressed by the area.
“It's important that the aerospace development program in Basilicata, and throughout Southern Italy, be supported and encouraged. Our commitment is precisely in this direction.” commenta Vito Gaudiano, Amministratore di Openet “è quello di facilitare la nascita di nuovi progetti imprenditoriali dedicati al tema dello Spazio, diffondere e creare nuovi progetti imprenditoriali, creare contaminazione, perché possa realizzarsi lo sviluppo, concreto, di nuove aziende Space oriented“.
Since the 1980s, Basilicata has been recognized as a strategic region in the aerospace industry, a role that is now also being leveraged in the business sector and the development of a local industry with potential national and international implications.