Telecom Italia and the Sant’Anna High School of Pisa have launched a collaborative initiative which will lead to the creation of the “Joint Open Lab” by autumn. The Open Lab aims to create a new relationship model between industry and university, where research and academic knowledge fuse with know-how and industrial experience. The announcement was given today by Rector Maria Chiara Carrozza and the COO of Telecom Italia, Marco Patuano.
The initiative is part of the larger project started by Telecom Italia in collaboration with the Sant’Anna High School set up to provide seven PhD scholarships, apprenticeship contracts for higher learning, as well as launch a Level II Master’s. The initiative will also see the partners involved in national and international funding projects related to the development of the national territory.
The “Joint Open Lab” marks the birth of a new University Centre in Pisa, capable of aggregating highly transversal skills around one central nucleus. The new centre shall focus on research and didactic projects, with the aim of activating new providers and transforming those already in existence. The final objective is to accelerate the process of innovation and, transfer the results of the research actively across the nation, creating and developing future talent.
The research activity of the “Joint Open Lab” of Pisa will focus on the subject of Assisted Living and digital health with the objective of developing the study advanced technology in sensors, robotics and distributed communication, for example motion capture in rehabilitative processes, and the definition of new tele-health management processes enabled by new technology, through experimentation in the field, for a new model of sustainable tele-health.
The “Joint Open Lab” of Pisa is one of six innovative centres of research Telecom Italia is creating throughout the country, in accordance with the most qualified Italian universities with the objective of reviving and transforming relations between the world of industry, and that of university research and teaching in the field of technological innovation. This collaboration aims to give impetus to transfer of the knowledge typical of the academic world towards the industrial field, transforming new ideas into tangible opportunities for the socio-economic system.
Through the creation of a stimulating environment characterized by spaces dedicated to the sharing of know-how and high flexibility of workstations, the research centre of Pisa stands as a central element in the activity of development and demonstrations capable of attracting young talent and promoting in the field application of new ideas and solutions, thereby generating new value for shared research and innovation.
According to the agreements Telecom Italia will contribute to the Joint Open Lab with its own research personnel, laboratory equipment, service platforms; while the Sant’Anna High School of Pisa will provide the laboratory with research personnel, fellows, interns and graduates. Furthermore the laboratory will be able to participate in competitions for access to research funding at regional, national and European level.
"Telecom Italia has decided to invest with conviction in university research and higher education by applying for one of the most prestigious higher learning institutions, such as the Sant’Anna High School of Pisa” declared Marco Patuano, COO of Telecom Italia, “the relationship established between the Sant’Anna High School and Telecom Italia aims to develop a new model of teaching and research that has an immediate positive effect on the industrial world. Patuano added that “Telecom Italia intends to continue along this path which becomes more solid with today’s announcement regarding the creation of a truly shared research laboratory, and which is a part of the Group’s wider project to radically transform the model of relationships between the academic and the industrial worlds to create value and nurture industry with innovative ideas from the national territory.”
“I am particularly proud of the fact that Telecom Italia has chosen us for this project that combines technology and innovation and will have important social benefits, as well entirely reinforce historical alliance between the engineering and management sectors” affirmed Maria Chiara Carrozza, Rector of the Sant’Anna High School. “This initiative shows how a multi-discipline approach leads to more fruitful results compared to sector specialization. The creation of the “joint lab” is a new chapter in collaboration between companies interested in initiating shared journeys with a long term goal, which with know-how to combine the needs for training with high level research.” Rector Carrozza added “in a moment of crisis like this, the Sant’Anna high school wishes to serve Italy and its productive system to support its growth and the progress of the technological content of products and services which companies like Telecom Italia offer our country. This agreement is reinforced by the flexibility shown in the development of the scientific research lines, which in turn enhance the competencies and professionalism of the students making the educational offer even more competitive”
Pisa, 25 July 2012
