IT4LIA AI Factory is supporting Italian and European SMEs and large companies in their innovation journey, which is radically changing the landscape of agriculture, manufacturing, environmental sustainability, and logistics. In this context, the Open Innovation Scouting 2026 project was born: an initiative aimed at accelerating technology transfer through the use of artificial intelligence, in collaboration with ART-ER, a partner of IT4LIA AI Factory.
What is Open Innovation Scouting 2026?
The goal of Open Innovation Scouting 2026 is to connect companies with innovative ideas, technologies, and services developed by regional researchers. This program is designed for companies in manufacturing, environmental sustainability, and logistics that wish to explore innovative solutions in the Digital & AI fields.
The program aims to break the “closed” innovation model, where companies search for solutions internally, and instead promote openness, encouraging collaboration between the business world and academia. This approach allows companies to integrate directly with the scientific research ecosystem and adopt cutting-edge AI solutions, bridging the gap between the lab and the market.
How Does the Open Innovation Scouting Path Work?
The program is structured in various phases that will guide companies in discovering innovative technologies and evaluating AI solutions suitable for their needs.
- Listening Phase and Demo Day: Companies will have the opportunity to listen to pitches from researchers on technologies, products, and services of potential industrial interest.
- Business Analysis and Priorities: Companies will identify the most relevant technologies and assess how to integrate them into their processes.
- One-to-One Meetings: In-depth sessions between researchers and companies to discuss collaboration opportunities.
- Integration with IT4LIA AI Factory Services: Evaluation of how the proposed technologies can be tested and implemented using IT4LIA’s infrastructure.
- Follow-up and Monitoring: Follow-up activities to ensure collaborations are effective and that results are tangible.
Who Can Participate?
The program is free and open to up to 20 selected companies, focusing on SMEs and large enterprises in the fields of manufacturing, logistics, and environmental sustainability. The deadline for applications is June 16, 2026.
To apply, companies must fill out a registration form available on ART-ER’s website. Once selected, the companies will be guided through a process that facilitates the adoption of highly innovative digital and AI solutions.
The Main Objectives of IT4LIA AI Factory
In a context of growing digital transformation needs, IT4LIA aims to bring regional research excellence directly to companies through personalized services and a technology matchmaking process that helps companies identify and implement AI solutions.
The initiative’s goal is to accelerate technology transfer and enable companies to adopt scalable AI solutions that can improve their competitiveness and address daily challenges. Some of the key services offered by IT4LIA AI Factory in this process include:
- Access to advanced computational resources
- Predictive models
- Data management support
- Consulting services for AI adoption in businesses
