Practice · since 2014

Learning through enterprise

Since 2014, Italia Innovation has brought international students and scholars into conversation with entrepreneurs and civic leaders. We have developed learning programs, built a corporate joint venture, worked on product development and business initiatives, and convened public discussions about the future of firms and communities.

This experience informs our research in law and economics today. It gives us direct knowledge of how organizations work, relationships across industries and places, and questions developed through practical engagement.

A practice developed over time

Italia Innovation began with a desire to connect academic learning more closely with the surrounding economy and society. Between 2013 and 2014, we assembled the first coalition of scholars and businesses for the program’s prototype edition. The encounters and collaborations that followed became the foundation of our wider work.

Programs

Our programs connect academic inquiry with direct encounters inside firms. Participants meet the people responsible for decisions, examine production processes and work on questions presented by businesses. International perspectives enter into dialogue with the knowledge of specific places.

Founded 2014Italy

The Italia Innovation Program

Founded in 2014, the Italia Innovation Program brings together undergraduate and graduate students from international universities to explore Italian enterprise through company visits, discussions and collaborative projects. Faculty and guests contribute perspectives from business, law, design and public life.

The experience draws attention to the choices behind production: the pursuit of quality, the organization of skills, and the relationships between businesses and their territories. Participants encounter both the achievements of Italian enterprise and the questions its future raises.

The 2024 edition · six regions, more than ten cities

Visits · Marchesi Frescobaldi, Technogym, Tenuta Vannulo, Pepe in Grani, Poltrona Frau, Pasta Mancini, Distillerie Nardini, Benetton, Ratti.

Faculty and guests · John Paul Rollert, William Peduto, Amy Goldstein, Romano Prodi, Peter Boatwright, Elizabeth Segran, Bill Emmott, Riccardo Illy.

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[PHOTOGRAPH — CALIFORNIA INNOVATION PROGRAM, 2019]

TAV —[Caption and date to be checked]

2019San Francisco

California Innovation Program

In 2019, the California Innovation Program took 25 international students into California’s manufacturing economy. Based at PCH International in San Francisco, the program ran from 22 July to 9 August, combining company visits with mentorship and project work.

Participants explored food, wine, apparel and design through encounters with businesses including Patagonia, Dandelion Chocolate, Charles Krug Winery, Verve Coffee Roasters and Tartine Bakery. The program brought Italian and Californian approaches to quality and production into conversation.

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For universities

University journeys

Drawing on the program experience, Italia Innovation has also developed academic field journeys for universities and graduate schools. These combine preparation and case materials with company encounters, lectures and cultural experiences. Academic content and the practical details of the journey are designed together.

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Ventures and projects

Our practical work has included a corporate joint venture, product experiments and collaborations on business development. The projects below record what we worked on and who contributed. Together, they show experience in turning ideas into organizational and production choices.

Joint venture · from 2015

illy Foundry

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Product development · with Stanford and Barilla

Conversational Company

A collaboration with Stanford University and Barilla on product development. Italia Innovation jointly funded a two-month student fellowship to explore rapid prototyping through design thinking, Sprint methods and predictive analytics. Bill Burnett mentored the fellows, and Jake Knapp led a management seminar. The team used ethnographic research, interviews and data collection, working with Barilla’s R&D department to prototype biscuits and pasta for customer testing. A separate brand identity supported experimentation and feedback.

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Prototype · 250 panettone

West Coast Panettone

A prototype connecting Italian baking expertise with a West Coast ingredient network. We produced a batch of 250 panettone, coordinating ingredients, baking, packaging and the product experience. Davide Longoni, Mauro Iannantuoni and Matteo Piffer led the baking work. Contributors included Cairnspring Mills, Straus Family Creamery, Clover Sonoma, Bi-Rite Market, Michael Recchiuti, Dandelion Chocolate and Verve Coffee Roasters. Arabeschi di Latte collaborated on design, while KitchenTown provided production facilities in San Mateo.

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Business development · with Simone Padoan

De Construct

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Convenings and editorial projects

Italia Innovation has brought scholars, entrepreneurs and civic actors together to discuss industrial change and the future of communities. The archive connects public events with the initiatives and conversations that gave them context.

A public meeting in the Valdagno auditorium

Participatory initiativeValdagno

Una nuova stagione

A participatory initiative for the future of Valdagno. The project brought the town’s industrial history and prospects for social and economic development into public discussion. Open meetings invited citizens to compare experiences from other places with local circumstances. Publishing and communication activities supported the discussions, including articles, maps and polls intended to help ideas develop into projects.

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Selected town halls and field events

11 July 2024Valdagno, città post industriale

3 July 2024Italy, a view from the foothills

15 April 2023Where do we go from here?

15 June 2020Are we headed toward a regionalized globalization?

26 June 2019Imprese globali e comunità locali

15 January 2019Il futuro dell’economia tessile

21–22 May 2016Google I/O Hackathon

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ConversationLos Angeles · July 2019

On the Future of Bread and Coffee

In Los Angeles in July 2019, Alexandra Fattal moderated a conversation with Chad Robertson, Christopher Jordan, Daria Illy and Davide Longoni. The discussion examined sourcing, craft, growth and the relationships between producers and farmers.

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Editorial projectWith Riccardo Illy

Disruptive Quality

A project developed with Riccardo Illy around quality as a source of industrial innovation. It examined perception, raw materials, production processes and sustainability, drawing on Italian manufacturing examples. The work informed The Art of Excellent Products, published in 2022.

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Connection to research

Working with firms and communities has given us a foundation for asking how private initiative shapes institutions and economic development. Our current research examines these questions through explicit methods and evidence, informed by the practical experience documented here.

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