Milan, 13 June 2018 – The Regional Committee for Small Industry of Confindustria Lombardia has today unanimously elected Alvise Biffi as President of the regional Small Industry division for the 2018-2022 four-year term, succeeding Gianluigi Viscardi, who has reached the end of his mandate.

Biffi has worked in strategic consulting since 1999, primarily in the digital sector. Over the years, in addition to his own companies, he has managed the commercial launch of several start-ups in the Milan area. He is the CEO and co-founder of Secure Network Srl, Director of Secure Network UK Ltd, Managing Director and co-founder of 18Months Srl, and President and co-founder of the innovative start-up FutureNext S.r.l. During his extensive experience with Confindustria, he served as President of the Small Industry division of Assolombarda from 2013 to 2016, and he currently serves as its Vice President for Cybersecurity and Start-ups, a role he has also held at a national level within Confindustria’s Small Industry division since 2017.

“I would like to thank the Regional Small Industry Committee for the trust they have placed in me, and Gianluigi Viscardi for the excellent work he has done over these years,” declared the newly elected president Alvise Biffi upon his election, outlining the guidelines on which Confindustria Lombardia’s Small Industry division will focus during his term.

“Simplification, the reduction of bureaucracy, and digital infrastructure are the primary issues we intend to address first. For SMEs, the annual cost of bureaucracy is equivalent to 4% of their turnover: a process of de-bureaucratisation through the widespread digitisation of administrative procedures can no longer be postponed. Our main points of contact will be the Lombardy Region and the local associations of Confindustria Lombardia, with whom we will constantly monitor the level of digital infrastructure deployment and support local institutions in implementing and ensuring its uniform distribution,” stated the new President of the Small Industry division of Confindustria Lombardia.

REGIONAL SIMPLIFICATION OBSERVATORY – Among the tools deployed by the Small Industry division of Confindustria Lombardia will be the Regional Simplification Observatory, a tool already used successfully by some local entities. The observatory will aim to monitor the time and costs of a series of procedures, defining the annual measurement of the results achieved through simplification and digitisation efforts.

SME INSTRUMENT – Particular attention will be paid to raising awareness within the business community to promote SME access to tools provided by the European Union, by encouraging the use of the Enterprise Europe Network assistance service, of which Confindustria Lombardia is a member, with the goal of fostering increasingly broad participation in the SME Instrument. The latest call in February saw Italy rank first at a European level: of the 65 companies awarded, 9 are Italian, with a total of 12 million euros in Horizon 2020 funds raised to finance innovative projects.

PROMOTING BEST PRACTICE – The action of the regional Small Industry division will naturally be aimed at promoting the best practices, initiatives, and projects implemented by Confindustria Lombardia’s associations, to ensure increasingly better integration and dissemination of local achievements for the benefit of SME growth and development.

Attachments

• 180613_CS_Elezione_AlviseBiffi.pdf