As is known, science is marking a new, economic and technological, revolution that needs to be exploited as much as possible for development. Science has historically contributed in a decisive way to progress, but more and more project clarity is needed as to timing, ways and beneficiaries. A primary beneficiary is certainly industry, which, in turn, has given its contribution to scientific-technological progress, with an interdependence, that, though not exhaustive, has been of great importance for economic growth and social welfare.

This conviction led the Meeting organizers to search the co-operation of physical, mathematical and natural science on the one hand, and of the moral, historical and philological sciences on the other, the latter being what the Lincei Academy is based on.

For this reason the Meeting will start with a philosophical and historical analysis for a clear idea of the path scientific revolutions and economic dynamics have been moving along over the time. Then the current science dynamics will be addressed (both from the modeling and sectoral viewpoints) as well as universityindustry collaboration, financing and intellectual property. A further step will be addressing the complex problems of the EU, which has concentrated its efforts on the goal of growth centered on science, knowledge and innovation, but still finds difficulties to these ends, also from the viewpoint of its economic policy.

Finally, consideration will be given to a few emblematic industrial cases, typical of the strength of the Italian industrial panorama, which, on the contrary, is characterized by moderate weakness in Europe. The "Pillars, districts, laboratories" paradigm will also be reverted to here, i.e. the approach the Edison Foundation has been concentrating on for years and which was also the subject of the 2003 Lincei Academy-Edison Foundation Meeting.

Conference Programme
( PDF, 148KB)

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