Alfonso Fuggetta, Amministratore Delegato CEFRIEL

Five questions and answers by Alfonso Fuggetta to become international players

At the General Meeting, which this year is dedicated to internationalisation, we get together to listen, understand and learn, to discuss and contribute, to broaden our contacts and to renew our enthusiasm. I would like to address the topic of internationalisation with 5 questions.

Who are we and what do we want to achieve? CEFRIEL does not only want to be the driver of ICT innovation, butalso the enabler of research and innovation even in non ICT productsmade in Italy. I would like to hear entrepreneurs saying: "We are more competitive thanks to innovation, thanks to CEFRIEL". In Italy we are well aware of the challenges of bringing innovation to the market and transmitting the results of research to the industry. Universitieshave long been attempting to approach the industry and to conceive practical applications of their research, but this is definitely not enough. To understand the market requirements, we need an organisation that is multidisciplinary and complementary to university. We further have to develop the technology scouting and our professional ability to anticipate the market needs and turn them into winning projects. Advanced education requires new models to build a true culture of innovation and technology; it must be complementary to the innovation process and must stimulate its development. If the current courses do not reflect these needs, they must be changed. The ICT of the future won't be a place for plain technicians, but rather for technologists who master the technologies and leverage them for products and industries innovation.

Why do we want to do all this? We use a lot of goods that are made abroad: cars, electronics, software, everything. What does this country produce? For which markets and what is the value it generates? To create value our country must develop innovative products and services. In this process CEFRIEL can and mustmake its part.

With whom must we do all this? Multisectorial problems should receive multidisciplinary answers. We therefore collaborate with universities, industries and institutions, everyone with their own competence and without being a hindrance one to another. CEFRIEL must be the place for synergy and not for fragmentation. We will more and more deal with transversal projects in which academic discipline and industrial know-how must merge.

Where do we carry out these projects? This is a key question since during this General Meeting we are speaking about internationalisation. We want to be competitive on an international level, innovating within ICT and with ICT, which is one of the most difficult and complicated sectors. This is not about merely creating commercial subsidiaries abroad. We must think as the international big players in order to be successful everywhere including the domesticmarket.

How do we want to do this? Excellence is not enough. We must be the best and achieve the most in each detail. Only in this way can we guarantee ourselves a space in a more and more competitive market. This is already happening. Just one example: CEFRIELwas an official supplier for the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games and it wasnotjust a coincidence that, for the first time ever, an applied research company was selected as an official supplier of the Olympics. I would like this General Meeting, which sees the participation of many experienced and valued speakers, be an opportunity to learn new ideas and new instruments, so to further fuel our growth process. We do it for ourselves, to enhance and increase the value of our know-how and, above all, to contribute to the development of our country.