“Breaking rules and taking risks” To risk going over the rules, customs, resignation. In one word: innovation. And ‘the heart of the business philosophy of Mimmo Costanzo, entrepreneur Catania, founder and director of Cogipower and Tecnis, construction giant with dozens of large construction sites in Italy and one abroad. A philosophy applied to the company with openings to the world, the social, the new phenomena, to new businesses. With initiatives which build on the merits, in absolute discriminating area of the country, like the South and especially Sicily, where there seems to be constant alliance to build what the economist Catania Elita Schillaci with a felicitous called the “chains of demerit.”
With the foundation of merit, created a few years ago, Costanzo launched this summer the “call for ideas” within the project “Power2Innovate” and in collaboration with The European House-Ambrosetti, to rally the best energies of the South, focusing on three areas: energy, agribusiness and ICT. A Call for Ideas, which closes on October 31, to identify the best business ideas in what are considered key areas for the development of the South: the three winners will receive a prize of ten thousand euro, with the participation in the program in 2016 “Leader future “of The European House-Ambrosetti and mentoring managers Cogipower.
Mimmo Costanzo
What is the current sense of the word innovation?
In the Italian ‘ Innovation is among the topics “hottest” of recent years, to the point that however you may lose the contours of the phenomenon, labeling each “new” as innovation. To talk of innovation I like to remember how the Americans define: breaking rules and taking risks. There is no innovation without the ability to go beyond the rules and, therefore, take risks. Innovate in business and institutions means introducing new products and services, as well as new methods to produce them and make them available to users. Here is the ability to break the rules.
What are the problems that prevent the spread of innovation in Italian companies?
There are three main. One concerns the statistical methods that innovation is photographed, based more in fees in Germany and France and minimize the Italian mode. The criteria, in fact, favor the large aggregates of innovative products and underestimate the innovation process, where instead we Italians are the strongest. Not otherwise explain the export growth of our industries, about a third of which have less than ten employees.
The second problem concerns the size of the company: a high percentage of business is too small to invest in innovation; definitely need some incentives from other market players: the banking system should reward those who innovate and encourage those who do not, choosing innovation as one of the paradigms of evaluation. The policy, for its part, must reward innovators in companies with incentives and tax breaks.
In addition, the latest problem is the lack of “dialogue” between large and small. The first, which are those that are especially technological innovation, have become “enablers” against the other taking on the role as driver of innovation. Large companies, despite delays historians Pa, the digital divide, and all the bureaucratic problems, etc., Must come up with strategies for growth in small businesses, multiplying the productive offer that offer to their customers. This will benefit them in economic development, but also contribute to the spread enabler for SMEs. Often the policy, rather than encourage them, puts them spoke in the wheels, unfortunately. The great multipliers of technological innovation should be allowed to run, instead of being harassed and hindered.
Let’s talk about Power2Innovate: What concretely What are the goals?
This project began with an idea often expressed by Ambrosetti and in particular by Valerio De Molli and that is that if there are businesses and entrepreneurs, therefore, there is no growth and no future. As? Creating jobs, helping young people to create work and not to give in to the logic of “looking for work”. So we decided to give voice to the many energies that give value to the South, because we see so many entrepreneurs missed and we would like more and more managed to achieve their dream. What then, it is everyone’s dream: to make a contribution to jump-start the economy. Our project aims to rally youth energies best of the South who are passionate about innovation, focusing on three areas: energy, agribusiness and ICT. The first Call for Ideas to Power2Innovate targets young aspiring entrepreneurs or groups under 35 years old residing mainly in southern Italy. We are looking for innovative projects that have a strong social impact and contribute to the development and welfare of the civil and economic regions of Southern Italy. We believe in strong economic and social value of entrepreneurship and why we want to support and encourage this at a time when the gap between North and South is increasingly evident.
You seem animated by what we could define the optimism of the will (the reason especially today would lead us to pessimism) but is really convinced that innovation today may be the turning point for the economy of the South?
My confidence in the extreme south, in its resources and in its ability to raise at this very moment in history are founded on the belief that economic, social and sometimes cultural that have weighed down for centuries are those who today are giving way to new needs. To date we have experienced a time when the economy was moving according mechanisms top down or dropped from above: large investors chose the sectors considered strategic and focused production, pushing the marketing of the product. Today, this economic model, as demonstrated amply numbers and stories, no longer holds. The economy is moving towards a bottom-up, that has its origin in the pressure from below: a model in which the idea arises from the detection and study of a need, a problem, a real lack. Here is the opportunity: where something is missing and the process fluid flows, there the new entrepreneur builds an idea and makes product.
Just think of the greatest ideas of recent years: the famous case Uber, who was born to solving global needs of efficient mobility and low cost, has the strength of its effectiveness undermined existing models for decades; or even the energy sector, where energy needs of each user have become particular case study for those who want to do business. Or the food sector, where many startups have emerged that deal, for example, sharing of food.
And what are the characteristics of these new economic subjects?
Easy to say, because they are those that characterize the startup: before the specialization, the ability to be a problem solver. This is not a specific skill, but an approach with which we deal with all the challenges, personal and professional, that confront us. It means being able to move from problem to solution because the crisis is perceived as an opportunity. This approach allows us to overcome obstacles with persistence and passion. Another important requirement is the soft skills, or those administrative and managerial skills such as leadership, teamwork skills, the ability to schedule and delegate, the possibilities of communication, the time schedule and results. And yet the ability to be tailored: the company that innovates is an enterprise that knows how to cope with proposals tailored to its customers.
If we look at the South according to this new model economy mentioned she did not see some positive signs.
Not so. I think the South, because of the difficulties that has been debated and continues to struggle, has accumulated these capabilities in a natural and effective: I see it in the passion and hunger for knowledge that our young people demonstrate in creativity that has always distinguishes, in the tenacity and willingness to confront the issues of social moments as important to the community.
This new economy is one that can open up a new phase for the South. The South can succeed: I see many young people with passion and commitment to study, innovate, dare. It is as if the South was a concentrated yeast incredible, but, alas, too often lacked flour: that those conditions through which to act to make the potential of real resources. Unfortunately very often good ideas, even when there are, are faced with a shortage of capital. But there are thousands of small businesses very visible and well known, but who have invested in innovation and restructuring of business processes. Sicily tourism and hi-tech are confirmed as the leading sectors of the economy, because starting from the real needs of consumers, have reinvented with new languages and new business proposals, addressing the global market that can respond to their offers.
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