An intelligent manhole cover capable of preventing floods, a lamppost connected to the municipal police station which reports traffic and road accidents. Only two of the projects made possible by the Por-Fesr funds (Regional operational programs financed with the European Regional Development Fund) managed between 2014 and 2020 by Sardegna Ricerche.
Over the course of seven years, the agency has focused on cutting-edge sectors without forgetting the traditional ones, with the clear intention of relaunching the island's economy: more than 550 companies were financed, for a total of 98 million euros invested in innovation. «It's not just a question of financing practices», explains the general manager of Sardegna Ricerche Maria Assunta Serra, «but of following projects from idea to implementation. Our support is constant: we make the knowledge of our professionals, as well as laboratories and structures, available to companies and public administrations. We also offer support on the bureaucratic front for the management of non-simple reporting. We are organizing ourselves to better face the challenges that will come from the new Por-Fesr 2021-27 funds".
The largest portion of the funds went to complex projects, therefore agro-industry, aerospace, ICT, biomedicine, bioeconomy and smart grids: the studies carried out in the midst of the pandemic stand out regarding virus-repellent materials, the tools for rapid detection of positivity to Covid and the anti-virus nasal spray. To be helped also the public administrations, which have found efficient solutions to use in technology: an example is that of the Areus, in search of a system to ensure safe flight and landing for helicopter rescue even in the event of adverse weather conditions, or that of the Municipality of Pula, which obtained smart barriers to protect the Nora lagoon.
Important support was also offered to micro, small and medium enterprises, with 23 million in funding, and start-ups, which obtained another 9 million. An additional 3 million went to innovative start-ups.
(Unioneonline/L.Ne.)
