Open Innovative PMI is a multidisciplinary project concerning SMEs and innovation, aimed to develop skills and increase awareness among Italian innovative SMEs.

Conceived by Grant Thornton, it is the first Italian project entirely dedicated to innovative SMEs, which is constantly monitored through an observatory that analyses their demographic, management, and economic characteristics.

The Open Innovative PMI project is an “open” container that constantly evolves and is made up by different activities structured into six different actions linked to each other: Award, Conference, Observatory, Academy, Incubator, and News.

In order to fulfil its multidisciplinary and popular nature, the project is based on a web platform (openinnovativepmi.it), where information and updates on innovative SMEs are available. This is an information website on everything concerning SMEs and innovation, from the management best practice, to the tax regulation, from industrial property to Open Innovation.

The Award

The fifth edition of the Open Innovative PMI Award has officially opened at the beginning of September. The Award is the first national prize entirely dedicated to innovative SMEs that are able to grow and modernize, conceived and organized by Grant Thornton.

The aim of the Award is to monitor, promote the best Italian innovation, fostering enterprises with a high growth potential, aware that small and young companies, driven by a great entrepreneurial culture and by a high technological content – such as start-ups and innovative SMEs, can considerably contribute to the innovation process in Italy, proposing new ideas and focusing on research and development, creating new business opportunities and creating employment opportunities.

Over the last years before the pandemic, the results reached by innovative enterprises were clear and outstanding, not only in terms of new employees but also and mainly of economic performance.

In fact, these entities have gradually acquired an increasing relevance in the Italian industrial system, to such an extent that they are now considered a pillar in our economic system.

However, in the first months of 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic represented an unexpected and unparalleled challenge for Italy, but over 2020 and in the first months of 2021, despite the crisis had not yet been overcome, the number of companies registered with the special section of the Companies Registered continued to increase and this proves the high resilience and adaptation capacity of innovative SMEs.

The resilience of these enterprises is related to their peculiar strengths: strong aptitude for digital and smart working, speed and flexibility in responding to new needs, high technical and IT skills.

However, the crisis did not leave anyone unhurt and the support measures introduced to help strengthening the whole innovative entrepreneurial system were crucial.

The Open Innovative PMI Award is therefore aimed mainly to spread and promote the innovation entrepreneurial culture, pushing the economic and special development of our country and fostering collaboration between large companies and SMEs, in order to favour “open innovation” processes.

This year’s competition categories are three:

• “Research, innovation and digital”, dedicated to all innovative SMEs, whose economic and/or operational component is mainly dependent on their Research & Development activity and/or from technological applications;
• “Internationalization”, specifically dedicated to all innovative SMEs that started developing their business abroad;
• “Millennials”, exclusively dedicated to all SMEs founded before 2010.

Applications for the Open Innovative PMI Award are free and accessible by all SMEs registered with the proper section of the Chamber of Commerce Companies’ Register dedicated to innovative SMEs, as well as to those that are going to register, provided that they have the requirements provided by law to obtain the status as innovative SME at 19 October 2021.

Applications can be submitted by registering on the website www.openinnovativepmi.it/premio/ and filling in the online form by 30 September 2021.

Among the many activities and initiatives related to the Award, we can mention the second edition of the Open Innovative PMI Golf Race, taking place on 17 October at La Pinetina Golf Club, in Appiano Gentile (CO).

The panel, made up of eminent representatives of the institutional community, will act as an independent board and will meet on 19 October to examine applications and select the finalist businesses, among which a winner for each category will be elected.

Chair of the panel will be Federica De Santis, lecturer at the Economics and Management Department at the University of Pisa and scientific director of the Open Innovative PMI Observatory.

The awarding ceremony will take place on 11 November in Rome at Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) and will be preceded by a conference, during which Grant Thornton will disclose, in collaboration with the University of Pisa, the results of the analysis carried out by the Open Innovative PMI Observatory.

Thanks to its nature, Open Innovative PMI has obtained over years wide consensus by public entities and institutions, which have supported the initiative by providing their sponsorship and strategic support.

Sponsorship

Thanks to the success of previous editions, the award is sponsored by MAECI, CNR, AIFI, and ANDAF this year, too.

Grant Thornton has been supporting Italian companies for over fifty years and will continue to commit itself to deal with the important current challenges, favouring innovation as a key factor for a virtuous and durable growth, which innovative SMEs are an active and integral part of.