Young entrepreneurs in the North East: creating an intelligent hub

Create an intelligent hub for the North East, where companies, IT partners, energy players, institutions and the world of finance can dialogue. The aim is to create a network of edge data centres integrated into the production fabric, because relying on infrastructure abroad is tantamount to ceding production sovereignty. This project was the focus of the 36th meeting of the Young Entrepreneurs of the North East (Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino Alto Adige), starting from the consideration that digital independence and energy independence are two essential components of industrial competitiveness.

"The real challenge today is that of artificial intelligence, which by its very nature is highly energy-intensive. Proposals such as that of an intelligent hub for the North East, based on edge data centres integrated into the production fabric, can be a concrete solution. If Europe is lagging behind in the production of AI technology, it can play a role in its application. We must be the first to adopt it and integrate it in our companies, particularly in the manufacturing sector,' said the president of the Young Entrepreneurs of Confindustria, Maria Anghileri.

A challenge relaunched by Riccardo Fornasier, president of Giovani di Confindustria Veneto and Leonardo Figna, president of the regional Young Entrepreneurs Committee of Confindustria Emilia Romagna. "The calculation must take place where the action is. North-eastern manufacturing needs edge data centres integrated into the industrial fabric, bringing computing power to milliseconds away from the machinery,' said Fornasier.

For Figna, 'without cheap energy it is impossible to think of attracting investment and without skills it is not possible to use the tools that are already radically changing our lives. What is needed therefore is a supply chain alliance, is the message of the Young People, an ecosystem that includes companies and all the other players in the economy.