The Italian Industrial Renaissance: science parks and their role in cluster creation

Being an economic model driven directly by the production, dissemination and use of knowledge, knowledge-driven economy requires a high level of interaction between all actors involved. In this model, innovation (be it technological innovation, business model innovation, innovation in work organisation or innovation in the relationship between the research system and the production system) has a central role in economic development, well-being and quality of life. The European Union considers the dimension of territorial clusters a key element in enforcing policies and actions supporting the development of sectors linked to Life Sciences. Such an approach has guided the take-up, over the last decade, of several actions aimed at raising awareness, on a European level, on the need to develop innovative and competitive clusters in the world, and at identifying shared tools, actions and initiatives to support both the development of the management and animation mechanisms of excellence clusters and the sharing of infrastructures, experiences and synergic services for the growth of enterprises, particularly SME. In Italy we can find examples of success both at regional and national level in particular in the Life Science sector; with this paper we would like to focus on them in order to reinforce the concept that industrial innovation is key for the economic development of any country in Europe.