Recently, the official confirmation of Italy & Partners’ inclusion among the service providers of Start 4.0 has been received, the competence center established to offer companies incentives for digitalization.
But what exactly is it? Here it is described below, along with a practical explanation of how to take advantage of it to obtain digital services at zero cost.
What is Start 4.0?
As mentioned earlier, Start 4.0 is a competence center born in Genoa in 2019 and refinanced in 2023 by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, thanks to funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
The goal of START 4.0 is straightforward: to provide companies choosing to embark on a path of digitalization with a series of consultations and services for free, thanks to the direct subsidy from the competence center.
Companies can directly approach the START 4.0 competence center to receive support in developing their digital skills and, consequently, their potential. The aim is to provide businesses with a tool to improve various technological skills, from strengthening cybersecurity systems to consulting for accessing contributions from public tenders.
How Start 4.0 Works
Companies that want to invest in digitalization can turn to the START 4.0 competence center by listing their needs through an online expression of interest form. Based on the evaluation of the submitted documentation, they will be directed to the most experienced entities in the field. Italy & Partners is also included in this list.
At this point, the company can express its need for support. However, the cost of the service will not be entirely borne by the company but will be partially covered by START 4.0. It will be the Competence Center that, through PNRR funds, will cover part of the service provided by the partner affiliated with the competence center, thus covering some of the expected expenses.
Opportunities Offered by Start 4.0
The operation of START 4.0 aims to provide assistance to all businesses that want to achieve “digital maturity.” To guide them toward achieving this goal, agreements have been made with specialized partners in six different areas.
The services offered by START 4.0 are divided into these categories:
- Assessment: Mainly designed to assess the state of digital maturity with a specific focus on cybersecurity. It is the key step to evaluate the real needs of a company and the means to satisfy them.
- Test before invest: To experiment with the potential of a service before its adoption.
- Training on Industry 4.0 technologies and cybersecurity: Through customizable courses based on individual needs.
- Protection of intellectual property: Which may involve consultations on patent filing or the management of commercial management and transfer agreements.
- Innovation consulting: Again, with a strong focus on cybersecurity to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber attacks, as well as to restore activities following a cyber intrusion.
- Access to funding: To provide support in researching and submitting their application to tenders.
Within this framework, Italy & Partners has been included as an expert operator in the fields of Assessment, Training, and Innovation Consulting in the smart city sector. By applying through the competence center, you can access our smart education, advisory, and especially assessment services. In particular, for the latter, City Badge is already available, a specific tool capable of measuring smart city development levels to initiate a growth path that also involves communities.
To submit your expression of interest and access funds, it is sufficient to fill out the form on the START 4.0 website to take advantage of the opportunity immediately offered.