We publish an extract from the study "The Italian aeronautical industry and Covid between resilience and transformation" carried out by the National Aerospace Technology Cluster ( Ctna ).

The gravity of the situation created by Covid-19 must not jeopardize this sector of excellence or affect its ability to rebound in view of the next phase of acceleration of the technological transition. To do this, it is necessary to invest in skills, know-how, innovation and improvement of the competitiveness of the supply chain.

STRATEGIC SECTOR DECLARATION

In all respects, the aeronautics sector should be recognized as strategic, as a prerequisite for a series of structural actions. This should be connected to:

• better coordination for civil aeronautics, with functions of prioritizing the development of the sector;

• a public funding plan for research and innovations specifically aimed at civil aeronautics, with particular regard to those with the best growth prospects.

This plan is even more urgent considering that several countries have launched extraordinary investment plans in aeronautical research to allow their industry to accelerate in technology and improve competitive positioning in the medium term (eg France and UK).

GOVERNANCE INSTRUMENTS

To make the most of the potential of law 808/85 and other financing instruments, it is necessary:

• align the time span of resource planning with that of the main European reference programs, to strengthen the investment planning capacity of businesses;

• increase the financial resources of the instrument and simplify procedures by reducing the time between the presentation of project proposals and the decrees for the granting of funds to businesses;

• modernize the regulation implementing law 808/85, making full use of the opportunities granted by the European rules on state aid and adopting a one-stop-shop procedure to replace tenders;

• define a new sector plan for aeronautics that provides industrial policy guidelines in the medium and long term;

• simplify administrative steps and procedures to avoid the delays reported in other recent experiences.

NATIONAL STRATEGIC INITIATIVE FOR SUSTAINABLE AVIATION

Regardless of the current crisis, the aviation industry faces the global challenge of decarbonising air traffic. The PNRR must be an opportunity to position the Italian aeronautical sector among the most advanced in "green" technologies and acquire a competitive advantage in view of the next phase of acceleration of the technological transition towards a new aviation system with green aircraft, engines and systems that will dominate the aviation market in the coming decades. To preserve and relaunch engineering capabilities in design, the PNRR must accept the CTNA proposal for a flagship program of technological innovation for aeronautics (Sustainable Aviation), aimed at developing the enabling technologies of products for the market of the future.

By adopting the model of the European Joint Undertaking (JU) for the management of innovation programs, it is possible to establish a public-private partnership between the MISE and the CTNA and launch a strategic research and development initiative that favors participation as a protagonist in the transformation green and digital of the global market. The CTNA proposal envisages a development path consistent with the European and global one, placing as a priority the start of the innovation process necessary for the country system to face the challenges dictated by the climate neutrality and competitiveness objectives. For this reason it is necessary to create, in line with what is happening in other competing countries, a flagship project of technological innovation in the field of sustainable aeronautics.

In the vision of the CTNA, this project will have to be structured through a Work Program (program of activities, WP) in which the priority objectives and guidelines will be declined, such as:

• the vocations and distinctiveness of the Italian aeronautical chain;

• national and regional excellence;

• smart territorial specialization strategies;

• the importance of enhancing technology transfer, through cooperation between universities, research centers and large, medium and small industries.

In particular, the plan will provide for the maturation of technologies and solutions to be incorporated in a subsequent product development over an estimated period of 6-8 years. To do this, it will be important to plan activities such as

• identification of the enabling technologies;

• feasibility studies;

• realization of technological demonstrators.

The WP for the Sustainable Aviation flag program, agreed within the public-private partnership between the MISE and the CTNA, will be the reference for generating subsequent calls for proposals open to business proposals. Assuming to involve companies, universities and research centers, the resources necessary to finance the activities of the WP in the next 6 years are estimated at 1 billion euros, a figure that in relation to the size of the sector is comparable with the amount allocated in other countries of reference. At a later stage, the experiences thus realized will be transferred to a flagship program of an industrial nature.

TOOLS FOR RESILIENCE

To strengthen the sector, incentive tools should aim at fostering greater collaboration between businesses and between businesses and the university, but also at rationalizing areas and themes. Among the priorities are the following guidelines:

• analyze the research and innovation trends with the greatest impact and integrate them into university courses and plans for industrial doctorates and continuing education;

• encourage collaboration between large companies, SMEs, Districts, research centers, universities and the related technology transfer through rewarding;

• involve the Aerospace Technological Districts as actors capable of coordinating initiatives on the territory.

WHAT OTHER COUNTRIES WILL DO

The crisis has led several countries to intervene in support of their aviation industry, albeit with different philosophies.

France initially earmarked € 15 billion for the aeronautics sector, including loan guarantees, wage subsidies for redundant workers and an investment fund for small and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, it has adopted the anticipation or acceleration of orders already planned as a support tool. Recently, it has allocated an additional 1.5 billion euros for aeronautical research, focusing strongly on hydrogen propulsion.

Spain said it has agreed with Airbus to invest 185 million euros to strengthen its aerospace sector and minimize job cuts by the European aircraft manufacturer in the country, in order to protect and develop skills, know -how and key skills. The investment plan will be funded by the Next Generation EU.

The UK has chosen to focus on developing climate neutral technologies for air transport. Through the establishment of a public-private control room for the sector (JetZero), the launch of a feasibility study entirely paid for by the State with the involvement of 100 people seconded from the participating companies (FlyZero) and the allocation of 400 million pounds for the development of new technologies.

CONCLUSIONS

1. The CTNA reaffirms the strategic importance of the aviation industry for the country. Italy has a strong and broad industrial capacity and a knowledge base in the aeronautics field, but has a fragmented supply chain. The ambition to participate as protagonists in a global market of enormous economic dimensions and strategic technological value requires a clear choice of industrial policy.

2. The CTNA supports the definition of a sector plan and enhanced governance for the sector. Industrial policies must favor the innovation of engineering and industrial skills which in less than a decade will have to adapt and adopt technologies radically different from current ones and improve competitiveness.

3. Research and technological development for the aeronautics sector must be further encouraged and facilitated. Funding should be given priority to technological development activities capable of increasing competitiveness and structurally strengthening the national industry in view of the future recovery. It is necessary to give companies the opportunity to emerge in a position of advantage from the profound transformations that will be implemented during the ecological and digital transition, to support excellence and allow them to compete in international markets.

4. This study highlights the absolute need for short-term interventions through an allocation of 500 million euros in the three-year period 2021-2023 for the "Investment Fund for the development of SMEs in the aeronautics sector and the Green Economy" to safeguard skills and competences peculiar to Italy in civil aeronautics, often represented also by SMEs with specific know-how but also particularly fragile in financial terms. The goal is to promote both their resilience to the current crisis and the ability to face the investments necessary for their competitive positioning in the future market.

5. To consolidate the national role in the medium-long term, it is essential that the PNRR allocates resources for a minimum total value of 1 billion euro in the period 2021-2026, on the model of the European Clean Sky JU, to the Sustainable Aviation flag program. The aim is to prepare all components of the supply chain for the green aviation revolution.

6. Collaboration and aggregation tools must be promoted, also in order to mitigate and possibly overcome our characteristic fragmentation, creating horizontal and vertical networks of specialized SMEs.

7. It is essential to invest in enabling technologies and digital transformation (eg Cloud, High Performance Computing, Big Data, 5G, Artificial Intelligence, Additive Manufacturing, advanced materials, propulsion).

8. Financing must be accompanied by legislative and regulatory measures capable of ensuring its full exploitation, with particular attention to simplifying the instruments.

9. Education and training contribute significantly to the development of the sector. The inclusion in the aeronautical job market of people with studies in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, STEM) and industrial doctorates will be of fundamental importance for the development of the sector.

10. The CTNA asks to use the resources of the PNRR to support industry and aeronautical research, as the sector has as its development objective the eco-sustainability with the reduction of CO2 from air transport, a goal perfectly in line with the European Green Deal.

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This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/report-ctna/ on Fri, 25 Dec 2020 06:02:51 +0000.