The Italian economy has grown fat on excessive bureaucracy and corporatism, but its brain remains agile thanks to the adrenaline of its internationally successful manufacturing industry. The “Made in Italy” knowledge maps mastered by Italian pocket multinationals are so detailed that they can identify paths to stay ahead of their rivals in international markets. Strengthened by significant manufacturing attainments in the Peninsula, a wind of creative emulation is blowing in the direction of Germany. ‘We can catch up with you and, one day, we may even overtake you,’ is the message blowing in this Italian wind. Shadows loom over the contribution of manufacturing to GDP, down 5 points since 2000, and now standing at 15.5%. But light emanates from the new industrial specializations in medium to high technology, from the automated mechanical to the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, which, according to estimates by economist Marco Fortis, jumped from 41% of the Italian foreign trade surplus in manufacturing in 2000 to 71% in 2012.
Image Courtesy of Pixomar / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Meanwhile, the field of creativity is expanding day by day. Driven by the convergence of scientific and humanistic cultures, Internet of Things technologies contribute to the cultivation of that field. In Italy, following the popularity of the Arduino microcontroller (used to develop interactive objects), Massimo Banzi is opening up for manufacturing companies untrodden paths via the incubator “Officine Arduino” (Arduino Workshops). “It came into my mind,’ says Banzi, ‘that Arduino could serve as an incubator of new ideas: the machines are there as is the desire to create a space where talents are gathered together to develop new products.” Yet more new paths could be created if Italy would give credit to the business opportunities brought to light by the serendipity of young people. Unfortunately, their accidental sagacity is not rewarded. This neglect prevents ‘Made in Italy’ from achieving growth through a ‘grand unification’ of its two great forces of manufacturing and culture. By contrast, in Berlin digital-technology experts in manufacturing and rock artists serendipitously find common ground for that ‘unification’ – as reported by Jeevan Vasagar in the Financial Times (“When punk meet geek in Berlin”, 9 April 2014).
The courage of its industry to innovate brings Italy close to the German shores, but its reluctance to promote and give voice to innovative start-ups causes it to drift back again. Yet, although Germany occupies a high-ranking position in the world championship of innovation, it falls short in another major competition – that of innovative entrepreneurship with high expectations and strong growth potential. Italy, however, performs worse than Germany. Developed by Zoltan Acs and Laszlo Szerb, the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index that measures entrepreneurial performance in over 70 countries shows Italy eleven positions behind Germany. Ranking higher than Germany when it comes to perceiving opportunities for new ventures, Italy clearly loses ground when that perception has to be translated into implementation: achievements supported by venture capital seem very meagre, as evidenced by the mere 100 million euro invested in innovative start-ups in 2013.
The success of Italian manufacturing abroad shows that export-oriented SMEs and companies going international improve production processes, reduce the costs of components, enrich existing products with new versions and introduce new models. There are strong and relentless pressures for innovation that will meet customers’ demands today, but not for innovations that can break through the wall behind which the latent needs of the customers of the future are concealed. In short, Italy suffers from a deficit of disruptive innovations – those innovations that are associated with start-ups and the generation of new products and services that did not previously exist. Companies already well-established in the markets face a dilemma: if they put their foot down on the accelerator of efficiency, the rush to innovation slows. The drive to do better what the company already does properly constrains innovation within the boundaries of the visible horizon rather than leaving it open to what lies beyond. Effecting disruptive innovation in an existing business is a tough and controversial task.
When it comes to acting for the future and having the power to make it happen, most people recognize that they are replete with past knowledge but devoid of the creative ignorance that follows knowledge and is coupled with serendipitous discoveries. Innovative start-ups are powered by creative ignorance and serendipity, discovering something they were not looking for and then immediately recognizing its value and potential. It has been estimated that such accidental discoveries produce 13 times more successes than failures. There is no better card than creative ignorance that the imagination of the ‘flexible’ Italians could play against the perfect knowledge of the ‘rigorous’ Germans. It is, then, imperative that Italian manufacturers provide support to their homines novi, entrepreneurs of disruptive innovation in the Internet of things.
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