What Intesa Sanpaolo and Cariplo will do with Microsoft
Intesa and Cariplo with Microsoft create "Circularity goes digital" to accelerate the adoption of the circular economy by Italian companies, through digital technologies
“Circularity goes digital” starts, an initiative that aims to launch acceleration processes for the adoption of the circular economy by Italian companies, through digital technologies and open innovation.
Circularity goes digital is promoted by Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, a company of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group dedicated to the frontier of innovation, Cariplo Factory, the innovation hub created by the Cariplo Foundation, and Microsoft, a leading company in the technology sector, and will be implemented by the Circular Economy Lab (CE Lab), the laboratory of Cariplo Factory and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center created to support circular business models and accompany companies towards the new economic-production model.
THE OBJECTIVE OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
The circular economy aims to untie the development of businesses and territories from the consumption of exhaustible natural resources, for the protection of a planet that in 2050 will host 10 billion individuals. Digitization represents an enabling factor for the transition to the circular model: digital platforms, artificial intelligence, internet of things and blockchain are already optimizing the design, production, consumption, reuse, repair, regeneration, recovery and end-of-life management of products.
WHAT CIRCULARITY GOES DIGITAL WILL DO
The objective of Circularity goes digital – reads a press release from Intesa and Cariplo – “is to create an open innovation ecosystem, thanks to which the opportunities offered by technological and financial tools for the diffusion of the circular economy can be better exploited. Circularity goes digital will develop over the next 12 months with the selection of projects carried out by innovative digital startups and dedicated to the development of zero waste products and processes based on renewable sources, to the optimization of circular business models from an integrated supply chain perspective. and the lengthening of the period of use of products and materials ".
THE WANTED STARTUPS
They will be sought – write Intesa, Cariplo and Microsoft – startups capable of enabling circular approaches in the processes of already mature companies in a logic of circular open innovation, with the aim of creating partnerships. The first phase of Circularity goes digital will be held between September and December with the selection of startups, which can be participated in via the website https://trace.cariplofactory.it/.
The startups that will be chosen will have the opportunity to access the second phase, which includes an introductory workshop on open innovation methodologies and match making meetings with interested companies.
With the third phase, in the first six months of 2021, collaborations between companies and startups will be activated, with the launch of any pilot projects and a development path coordinated by the CE Lab.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF MICROSOFT AND INTESA SANPAOLO
Microsoft will ensure technological support and access to Microsoft for Startups programs, while Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center will evaluate the merit and feasibility of projects for possible access to the 2018-2021 Intesa Sanpaolo ceiling dedicated to the circular economy, up to 5 billion euros available to companies that undertake to embrace the circular model. Circularity goes digital will end with the definition of a roadmap between startups and companies for the development of industrial and commercial relations.
"Intesa Sanpaolo was one of the first banks in Europe to embrace the theme of the circular economy, supporting the vision and initiatives of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and becoming its first financial services global partner" – says Guido de Vecchi , General Manager of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center. “The launch of an open innovation program, in collaboration with a company like Microsoft, already a member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation network, is synonymous with a common ambition to direct the business towards more competitive and resilient models. Through this initiative, the best digital startups will have the opportunity to meet and propose themselves to corporate companies and SMEs that seize the strategic opportunity of the circular economy ".
"RETHINKING THE ECONOMIC CYCLE IN TERMS OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY"
"The Coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fragility of our economic development model" – explains Carlo Mango, CEO of Cariplo Factory. "Now more than ever, it is essential to rethink the economic cycle in terms of circular economy: a system designed to be able to regenerate itself, based on the enhancement of waste, the extension of the life cycle of products, the sharing of resources, the use of raw materials from recycling and energy from renewable sources. But a change of course of this magnitude cannot weigh on the shoulders of individual companies. The ability to bring the paradigm of open innovation also into the circular economy is needed, so that companies that need to renew themselves can come into contact with realities capable of providing them with the tools to do so. This project, carried out by two partners such as Microsoft and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, goes exactly in this direction ”.
"Ecosystem partnerships between large companies, start-ups and innovative SMEs can play a key role in the recovery phase from the emergency, supporting individuals and companies not only in managing the delicate phase of returning to normality, but aiming for new sustainable growth. and equitable to build a more inclusive and green society all together ”- comments Barbara Cominelli, COO and Marketing and Operations Lead of Microsoft Italy. "Technology represents a key lever for rethinking processes and relationships in this area and we are committed to making the latest digital innovations available to the players in the sector, from traditional ones to emerging companies, to allow the identification of new ideas with open innovation models, perspectives and projects to grow sustainably ".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/circular-economy/che-cosa-faranno-intesa-sanpaolo-e-cariplo-con-microsoft/ on Thu, 03 Sep 2020 03:27:16 +0000.