On 27 and 28 September in Cernobbio, industry leaders and international institutions will discuss innovations in manufacturing

The press conference to present the World Manufacturing Forum - annual meeting 2018, the international event that has now established its home in Lombardy, was held today at Palazzo Lombardia in Milan. WMF 2018, titled 'Manufacturing Revolution to Promote Global Resilience', will bring together 30 international speakers in Cernobbio (Como) on 27 and 28 September, including leaders from the manufacturing and digital industries, institutions, policymakers, and sector experts from over 40 countries. More than 800 participants are expected at Villa Erba, the spectacular villa on Lake Como.

During the first day of the World Manufacturing Forum, the Global Report on manufacturing will be presented. This study, produced by the Scientific Committee of the World Manufacturing Foundation and chaired by Prof. Marco Taisch of the Politecnico di Milano, will offer recommendations for addressing the future challenges and innovations of the global manufacturing industry.

The President of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, stated during the press conference that “the Lombardy region – with over 100,000 active businesses in the sector and 1 million employees – is a leader in manufacturing in Italy and Europe. In 2017, Lombardy’s manufacturing companies generated a turnover of 250 billion euros and a value added of 60 billion, an increase of approximately 5% in recent years (ISTAT data)”. Fontana further remarked that “the Lombardy Region is committed to further promoting the growth of manufacturing. We intend to do this by investing in research, innovation, and the quality of human capital. We currently invest 3.9% of GDP in research and innovation, combining public and private resources. This commitment can grow further through an alliance between all the stakeholders operating in our territory. The Three-Year Strategic Programme for research, innovation, and technology transfer, which will be approved by the Regional Council and Executive by the end of the year, aims to foster structural interventions, focusing efforts on those factors with the potential to trigger lasting transformations and enable a qualitative leap in responding to the needs and expectations of businesses and individuals alike,” concluded Fontana.

The President of the World Manufacturing Foundation, Alberto Ribolla, outlined the objectives and ambitions of the WMF: "The Foundation, based in Lombardy – the cradle of the manufacturing sector since the 18th century – is a perfect example of collaboration between businesses, academia, institutions, and associations. It was created with the intent to generate and disseminate knowledge globally about the manufacturing sector, the primary generator of wealth and a social balancer, as a means for the further development of advanced economies and as a fundamental tool for the growth of less developed areas of the world”.

“With the Annual Meeting and, above all, the Global Report,” continues Ribolla, “our goal is to shape and influence future scenarios and innovations at a European and global level. These will impact not only manufacturing but also sectors such as services, as well as people's lives, in order to achieve increasingly equitable and sustainable global growth and, ultimately, create a better society for the future.”

Also on 27 September, the winner of the video contest organised by the WMF to promote business culture and the centrality of manufacturing will be announced. The three finalist videos will be screened during the meeting and voted on by all participants; the winner will receive a prize of 5,000 euros. The award will be presented by the Vice President and Regional Minister for Research, Innovation, University, Export and Internationalisation of the Lombardy Region, Fabrizio Sala.

“Lombardy confirms its strong international vocation, with 120 billion euros of goods exported in 2017, 26.9% of the Italian total. Internationalisation and Export is a sector on which we are focusing our maximum effort and for which we have allocated 40 million euros,” said the Vice President of the Lombardy Region and Regional Minister for Research, Innovation, University, Export and Internationalisation, Fabrizio Sala. “By the end of the month, the single regional roundtable for Internationalisation will be convened, bringing together all trade associations and stakeholders to best define the next plan for international missions. In this sense, the World Manufacturing Forum represents a fundamental opportunity to promote our manufacturing excellence on the world stage. Furthermore, during the month of September, the new ‘Internationalisation Fund’ will be launched. This is a support tool for businesses through which we intend to contribute financially, particularly for participation in international trade fairs and exhibition spaces, communication and marketing, tax and language consultancy, foreign product certification, and sales and after-sales networks,” concluded Sala.

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The Rector of the Politecnico di Milano, Ferruccio Resta, also spoke at the press conference: “The role of the university can be fundamental for the development of the manufacturing sector,” commented Resta. “The major transformations introduced by digital technology require increasingly advanced skills and a technical university that knows how to stand alongside businesses. The Politecnico does this by including the World Manufacturing Forum within a series of initiatives ranging from the Bovisa innovation district to the MISE Competence Centre, and the recent agreement for a 50 million euro Venture Capital Fund for startups. These initiatives have a single objective: to strengthen the link between the Politecnico di Milano and the production sector with the same spirit that led us to join the World Manufacturing Forum Foundation.”

The updated WMF programme can be viewed at the following link: https://www.worldmanufacturingforum.org/program2018

To follow the live social media coverage, use the hashtag #WMF2018.

To follow all the updates, follow us on Twitter @THE_WMF and Instagram @WorldManufacturingForum.

Attachments

• WMF_launchconference_12set2018_.pdf
• WMF2018_program.pdf