Industries and institutions dialoguing on mathematics and innovation at SIMAI 2025
The iNEST Consortium has been involved in a round table about territories and innovation ecosystems
Trieste, 4th September 2025
An afternoon dedicated to innovation took place today at SISSA: politicians, academics, representatives of local companies, and innovation hubs were the protagonists of two industrial sessions organized as part of SIMAI 2025—the seventeenth edition of the biennial conference of the Italian Society for Applied and Industrial Mathematics (SIMAI), held with the support of iNEST Spoke 9.
The two sessions—Territories and Ecosystems and Industries and Start-ups—highlighted the transformative role of mathematics for industry and society, showing how research and visionary thinking can translate into concrete solutions to real-world problems. By sharing stories of success and reflections on how to foster collaboration between research and industry, participants illustrated the key factors for innovation-driven growth and sustainable development.
Territories and ecosystems
The first session, focused on the relationship between innovation ecosystems and the territory, began with a talk by Prof. Franco Bonollo (President of iNEST), who introduced the Consortium and highlighted the importance of funding opportunities for companies: “One of the best results within iNEST concerns cascade funding, through which we have worked with companies that drive innovation and, in turn, have developed projects tailored to the needs of the territory,” he stated. Alongside him, Prof. Angelo Montanari (President of the iNEST Scientific Committee) presented the main initiatives of iNEST involving applied and industrial mathematics—among them, in particular, the TCube platform, developed within Cross-Cutting Activity 2.
Next, Matteo Faggin (SMACT Competence Center) provided an overview of the Digital Twin Live Demos, projects carried out in collaboration with SISSA with the aim of creating advanced digital twin applications in the industrial sector. “We have invested many resources in these demos, which have the great merit of bringing the topic of digital twins to the table of companies,” Faggin stated. In the following talk, Line Fredslund Volkers (ERC) emphasized the impact of applied mathematics on innovation in Europe, focusing on the ERC Proof-of-Concept and EIC Transition programs, which “have proven to be a powerful catalyst towards industrial realization.”
The first session was concluded by Ketty Segatti (Director of the specialist operational unit for research, innovation, the European Social Fund Plus, and other EU funds for the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region). Her contribution first focused on Hydrogen Valley and AgorAI Innovation Hub, among whose founding members is SISSA. “AgorAI transforms research into innovation and has a strong impact on the economy, as it connects different sectors: finance, manufacturing, and agri-food,” Segatti stated.
Industries and start-ups
The second session was dedicated to the world of companies and start-ups. Speakers included Marco Dal Ferro (Bio4Dreams), Carlo Beltrami (Lombardi Ingegneria), Andrea Martini (FAST Computing), Gianfranco Marconi (Danieli), and Francesco Biasiol (Rachael, SWG). Each of them highlighted how applied mathematics—and in particular technologies such as digital twins, big data, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing—are crucial to their companies’ initiatives. According to Dal Ferro, “Datasets are able to provide a great amount of information, which is why it is important to have tools capable of analyzing them.” “Finding value in datasets is our mission,” added Biasiol. “The application of high-performance computing is a great opportunity to optimize work in the engineering field,” stated Beltrami. “Artificial intelligence and machine learning are of fundamental help in the development of sustainable technologies,” Marconi noted. Finally, Martini explained that “applied mathematics can be used in many sectors: from the maritime and marine industries to manufacturing, from automotive to healthcare. This is why we are developing a wide range of diverse applications.”
