Innovation, Italy lags behind but the quality of scientists excels

Well but not very well, to use a well-known expression. The new photograph taken by the Teha Global Innosystem Index 2025 - previewed in Il Sole 24Ore and illustrated at the Technology Forum in Stresa - sees Italy in thirtieth position in the ranking that maps the 47 most advanced countries in the world in terms of innovation. We are in the quadrant with medium-low performance according to the five areas of analysis: human capital, financial resources, innovativeness, attractiveness and ecosystem effectiveness. Compared to 2022, we have lost two positions. But there is more.

All European realities perform better. Even Spain, which is in the same quadrant, has a higher score. Meanwhile, the podium of the most virtuous is occupied by Israel, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Areas of improvement for Italy include spending on education: only 4.2% of GDP, Sweden is first with 7.6%. "To turn the tide on human capital, a key asset for creating innovation, Italy needs to increase spending on education. If we reach the level of spending of the five European countries that lead the ranking, up to USD 96.8 billion of additional GDP could be generated. In terms of training, it is necessary to increase the presence of profiles with technical skills, involving companies, universities and territories,' says Corrado Panzeri, partner and head of the InnoTech Hub at Teha Group.

Even in research investment, there is a gap to be bridged: we are in 25th place for R& D expenditure with 0.77% of the gross domestic product. The winning key lies in that neglected combination of simplification and partnership. "Strengthening the public-private alliance requires a medium- to long-term strategic vision that precisely defines the direction. It is essential to establish a governance system to monitor results. Italy must be made attractive for experimentation by creating a single body for authorisations that simplifies procedures, and in parallel, collaboration with universities must be strengthened, enhancing industrial doctorates and incentivising continuous training and joint research,' Panzeri points out. Meanwhile, even in the area of research, the capacity for innovation is severely limited by the scarce presence of software developers and the number of unicorns, which are few and far between: we are at 0.2% of GDP compared to Estonia's 24%, first in this parameter.

"To unleash the potential for innovation, we must act on two fronts. Firstly, by introducing coding as a basic subject from primary school onwards, integrating it throughout education with progressive programmes, measurement metrics and teacher training. In addition, it is crucial to simplify the bureaucracy for start-ups and to support increased investment, which today is half of what is invested in Spain and twelve times less than in the UK,' says Panzeri.

Yet in a gloomy picture, some indicators in which we excel stand out, such as those related to scientific research, exports and computational capacity. We are seventh in the world and second in Europe for the number of scientists most cited. In short, when the game of competitiveness is played on people rather than technology, we know how to distinguish ourselves in a global competition. "The winning recipe lies in an education system that, despite limited resources, manages to train world-class talent. To grow further, we need to retain this excellence and attract others from abroad. We must change our tendency to import human capital with low training and professionalisation and export that with high training'. From the world to those districts with high specialisation. For the second time, the analysis maps 242 European regions, including the Italian ones. "The territories remain central to innovation: they are the engine that translates the national vision into concrete results. In Italy, regions such as Lombardy, Lazio and Emilia-Romagna lead the transformation thanks to their ability to integrate local excellence with global dynamics. Districts such as Motor Valley show how territorial specialisation can become international leadership,' Panzeri concludes. So the hi-tech map still passes through those anti-crisis districts that try to rethink worn-out formulas of extended globalisation, necessarily starting with people.