Politician

Soft economy and free access to knowledge

Putting together conservation and innovation, traditions and new technologies. Marrying past and future. This is the challenge now facing the Italian restoration industry called upon to carry out an ever more important and indispensable role in the uprating of the vast artistic heritage that Italy is brimming with. One sector in which Italy boasts a very long tradition and if properly empowered through a scientific and
technological support, it could become a driving force for the economy of the country.

The history of restoration in Italy sinks its roots in that heritage of hand-crafted decorative techniques born in the shade of many regional workshops. Quality craftsmanship with strong links to the territory that has had a fundamental role in the delicate sector of conservation of historical buildings in the city and at the same time has contributed and contributed with its skills, its capacity to intervene, with the
extent of its processes to recovering the link with the past and bringing out the best in our identity.
We are in front of an example of that know-how culture that is typically Italian. Soft-economy, an economy based on knowledge and innovation, but also on the identity, the history, the creativity and the quality wants to promote such culture.

This Italy of soft-economy certainly values memory, but it does not want to embalm the past, it maintains its traditional identity, but interweaves it with modernity to create a springboard to the future. One just needs to look around to understand that much is moving this direction. Outstanding examples are to be found in various companies, universities and research centres. An unexpected vitality that touches various fields – public and private - and that attempts to marry local knowledges with innovation.

To stay in the cultural assets field it is enough to consider the Central Restoration
Institute and the Opificio (OPD hard stone works) in Florence. Two research centres where technological research aimed at innovation and excellence goes hand in hand
with the development of their own exclusive expertise.

It is however necessary to ensure the transfer of knowledge between the various structures, establish an open and co-operative dialogue, facilitate the exchange of knowledge for the purpose of creating new projects for the design and application of innovative methodologies. In a word: free the knowledge and transfer it into the economy and society.
The growth and competitiveness of the sector in fact requires continuous investment in research and innovation that is able to uprate this technical and scientific culture and its applications in the artistic sphere.

Ermete Realacci