It is now a fact that southern Italy – the active, innovative, technological, entrepreneurial part that looks to the future – has definitively escaped the trap of the welfare mentality. It is no longer the time to wait for development policies, it is no longer the time to look at evolution with bated breath, it is no longer the time to give up opportunities and empower territories that only appear to be marginal. The Sud Innovation Summit event (of which Startupbusiness is a partner) has shown, in its third edition which has just ended, that entrepreneurship, the ecosystem and innovation can take root very well and function very well even in the southern regions of the country.
Let’s start with the fact that the University of Messina, which hosted the event at its Papardo Campus in the north of the city, a stone’s throw from where the bridge over the Strait will land on the Cariddi side, now has around 25% international students. This is a significant proportion that is hungry not only for academic training but also for events such as the one organised by Roberto Ruggeri, which brings 160 speakers to the area, some of them international, to discuss topics such as AI and its applications, technologies for education, and the experiences of those who start up and scale up businesses in Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, Basilicata, Campania, Abruzzo, Molise and those who carry out initiatives for training, integration and support for entrepreneurs, always starting from the South, as they do. Vanessa Coppola from The Qube in Apulia, Paolo Ciaccio from Entopan in Calabria, Clara Amadigi from Fabbrica Italiana Innovazione in Campania which emphasise the need to work together, to increasingly combine forces and resources, and to share opportunities that are increasingly present in the area and are evolving thanks to successful initiatives such as start-ups that have become scale-ups and now also have international activities, and projects that aim to accelerate inclusion, such as the the case of Women Lead, as explained by founders Gaia Costantino and Sonia Elicio which highlight how the Apulian business landscape is changing rapidly. The best evidence of this shift towards an increasingly favourable environment for start-ups can be seen in the entrepreneurs who have founded and are growing their companies from the region but with a national and international vision: Lorenzo Danese of Timeflow, Giuliano La Barbera of Fulltruck, Cristina Angelillo of Marshmallow Games, Alessandro La Rosa of Creation Dose, and Luigi Congedo of Data Masters are clear examples of how innovation is developing well in sectors ranging from pure digital to logistics, training, and human resource management.
And then there are investments, and here we have a delicate issue, as there are very few investment vehicles based in southern Italy, as Amedeo Giurazza, founder and CEO of Vertis, points out. Vertis is practically the only venture capital firm in the south, based in Naples: ‘It is true that investments do not have passports, but it is also true that there needs to be proximity between those who do business and those who invest in business, and only by strengthening the investor landscape in southern Italy can we hope to avoid forcing entrepreneurs to move closer to investors’. In order to accelerate this process, Vertis has also launched a training project for professionals involved in venture capital, with a view to building the culture and skills necessary to create the conditions for the arrival of new investors. Along with Giurazza, Daniele Serra, managing director of Ventive, and Emanuele Torlonia, managing director of Italian Angels for Growth, emphasise the need for a greater distribution of investments, even though it is a fact that start-ups founded in the south are able to raise significant rounds of funding, especially if they innovate using artificial intelligence, which is undoubtedly the area of greatest interest and the guiding theme of the 2025 edition of the Sud Innovation Summit.
The topic of AI was also discussed by the companies, now scale-ups, that participated in the event, including Odoo, Trustpilot, Subito.it e Alibaba rappresentate da Miriam Bastianello country manager Italy, Nicoletta Besio general manger Italy, Fausto Dassenno chief product and technology officer e Alessandro Marcello head of business development and partnership, respectively, which highlighted the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence, both in terms of creating value for users, whether consumers or businesses, and in terms of addressing threats to system and information security, which is an increasingly sensitive issue precisely because of the use of AI, including by those with fraudulent intentions, and which must therefore be appropriately countered.
Il panel più internazionale, che ha raccolto grande attenzione da parte degli studenti dell’Ateneo si è concentrato sul futuro dell’education e su come l’intelligenza artificiale gioca un ruolo nel modificare modalità e contenuti, si tratta di un elemento fondamentale come hanno illustrato Märt Aro di DreamApply e Peter Fergerstrom di Educraftor Finland).
The third edition of the Sud Innovation Summit 2025 – ‘AI for Future’ saw the participation of around 160 national and international speakers, start-ups, businesses, institutions and 6,000 participants, both physically and digitally: two days of discussion between businesses, start-ups, academia and institutions on the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of Italy and the role of the South as a laboratory of thought, skills and responsible innovation.
Promoted by Sud Innovation APS together with the Municipality of Messina and with the support of the University of Messina, the Summit addressed the opportunities and challenges of AI in a concrete way: from training to digital transition, from predictive tourism to AI-ready infrastructure, from investments for the future of Southern Italy to data governance and the ethics of innovation. The Sud Innovation 2025 Report and the Sud Innovation Competitiveness Index (SICI), the new indicator that measures the competitiveness and attractiveness of Southern Italy, were also presented at the event.
Among the protagonists are leading national and international tech companies, including Banca Generali, Google Cloud, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mastercard, Microsoft, Sky, TIM, Uber and innovation partner PwC Italy, together with the winning start-ups of the Sud Innovation Roadshow 2025, the most important initiative for scouting and promoting start-ups in southern Italy, demonstrating an innovation chain that brings together major players and new businesses in the region.
“In three years, the Sud Innovation project has demonstrated that even in southern Italy, a solid and attractive innovation ecosystem can emerge, capable of fostering dialogue between companies, start-ups, institutions and academia. We have built a model that combines strategic vision, data analysis and collaboration between territories and innovation players: from the Sud Innovation Roadshow, the start-up competition that travelled through seven regions in search of new talent, to the Sud Innovation Report, the first annual report that measures innovation in Southern Italy through a proprietary index, to the Summit, the most important event dedicated to innovation in Southern Italy,” says Roberto Ruggeri, founder of Sud Innovation APS and the Summit. This year, Messina has been transformed into a veritable laboratory of ideas, skills and future, hosting major national and international players. It is a source of great pride that it all started here, in my city, and that we can count on a Mayor who believed in this vision from the outset, which was also embraced this year by the Magnificent Rector of the University of Messina. Artificial intelligence was at the heart of this edition, but the most important task remains clear: to govern technology with responsibility and vision. The South Innovation Summit thus lays the foundations for a new paradigm, a South that does not chase the future, but leads it.
The event, hosted by journalist Micaela Palmieri, featured plenary speeches and thematic panels dedicated to advanced AI, agritech and foodtech, coding, design, financial education, HR tech – edtech and the future of work, legaltech, martech, media and creator economy, product management, business, start-ups and innovation ecosystems, sustainability, traveltech, women and leadership in tech, allowing for the sharing of concrete experiences, best practices and models of collaboration between the public and private sectors, helping to define an operational roadmap for Southern Italy to become a leader in national and European innovation.
The first day of the Sud Innovation Summit 2025 provided a comprehensive overview of the trajectory of artificial intelligence in Italy, covering productivity, digital infrastructure and skills development. The keynote speeches by Matteo Mille (Microsoft Italia), Giovanni Todaro (IBM Italia) and Daryoush Goljahani (Google Cloud Italia) conveyed a common message: innovation is not only measured in terms of technological speed, but also in the ability to develop new skills and create connections between universities and businesses. Federico Aguggini (Intesa Sanpaolo) focused on the relationship between chaos and precision in the age of artificial intelligence, highlighting how the ability to manage unpredictability is now the true frontier of digital leadership. In the panel dedicated to tourism, moderated by Marco Celani (AIGAB), Antonio La Veneziana (Airbnb), Alessandro Callari (Booking), Marco Sprizzi (Expedia) and Stefano Arossa (WeRoad) discussed how AI is redefining the travel experience, anticipating travellers’ desires without sacrificing the human and relational dimension. Next, Saverio Mucci (Mastercard Italia) presented an unprecedented analysis of the economic impact of new intercontinental flights to the South, while Cateno De Luca (Mayor of Taormina) issued a provocation: without a public administration capable of making decisions, even the best AI in the world remains a missed opportunity. The morning session closed with a presentation by Federico Perazzi (Bending Spoons, Adobe, Meta and Disney), who explored the creative dimension of artificial intelligence as an ‘imaginative companion’, capable of expanding the boundaries of storytelling and transforming the interaction between humans and technology. On the sustainability, energy and network front, Saverio Mucci (Mastercard Italia), Gioacchino Bellia (Enel), Luigi D’Amore (TIM Enterprise) and Giulia Di Giovanni (Poste Italiane) showed how artificial intelligence can make energy and digital networks more resilient, enabling ‘AI-ready’ infrastructure for smart cities and public administration. There was also room for finance and policy, with Maria Ameli (Banca Generali), Leonardo Del Mecio (Crédit Agricole), Massimo Calzoni (Invitalia), Francesca Ottier (CDP Venture Capital) and Giorgio Ciron (InnovUp) highlighting the role of private and public capital in accelerating the digital transition of SMEs and consolidating the innovation ecosystem in southern Italy. Subsequently, the start-up Visada received the South Innovation Champions Award, in partnership with Ventive, presented by Daniele Serra, chief operating officer of Ventive, and other companies received special mentions for the quality of their projects.
The second day of the Sud Innovation Summit 2025 opened with institutional greetings from Rector Giovanna Spatari (University of Messina) and Mayor of Messina Federico Basile, together with a welcome address by Roberto Ruggeri (Sud Innovation). This was followed by the presentation of the Sud Innovation 2025 Report, edited by Daniela Baglieri (UniMe), Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli (Bari Polytechnic) and Roberto Ruggeri (Sud Innovation), on competitiveness and attractiveness in Southern Italy. Carlo Rossi Chauvenet (Datavalley), Oreste Pollicino (Bocconi) and Antonio Maria Tambato (AgID) then discussed data governance as a new frontier of value for businesses and citizens, while Vincenzo Tanania (PwC Italia) spoke about innovation as a collective force, capable of connecting territories, culture and business like a flow of water that generates growth. This was followed by a dialogue on ethics, regulation and the future of work between Angelo Di Balsamo (Google Cloud), Andrea D’Onofrio (Microsoft) and Ludovica Scarfi (IBM). In the talk “Future of Money”, Giuseppe Cardullo (Mastercard) and Alessandro Onano (Moneyfarm) reflected on finance and smart payments, where trust and privacy remain central. Francesco Foresi (Datapizza) presented the open source GenAI project, for a more competitive and innovative Italy, while Federico Sisinni (Sky TV) showed how AI is creating increasingly personalised and interactive TV. Giancarlo Sampietro (Uniting and Kiwi&Flu) spoke about the democratisation of creativity, reiterating the role of humans as drivers of innovation. Paolo Ciaccio (Entopan), Mariarita Costanza (MACNIL), Stefano Ricca (Ricca IT) and Luca Tesauro (Giffoni Innovation Hub), moderated by Rosario Faraci (University of Catania), presented a snapshot of a Southern Italy that innovates and networks. In closing, Councillor Massimo Finocchiaro (City of Messina) and Roberto Ruggeri expressed their thanks, reminding us that ‘the future cannot be predicted: it must be governed together. And if the South is ready to do so, all that remains is to see who will have the courage to make it happen’.
We are proud to have hosted the third edition of the Sud Innovation Summit at the Polo Papardo university campus, which represents the University’s flagship facility in the field of Science and Technology. This event is important because the skills that the Summit aims to impart to young students and researchers – based on digital innovation and new technologies – are essential for building the knowledge base needed to enter the world of work today. The aim of the University, which has strongly supported this initiative, is to bring the Summit into the University, offering young people, right where they study every day, the opportunity to acquire skills that they can then put to practical use in the local area,” says Paola Dugo, Vice-Rector of the University of Messina.
Federico Basile, Mayor of Messina, states: “Messina confirms its status as a city of innovation, capable of hosting national events that focus on the future, education and young people. The South Innovation Summit represents a great opportunity for our region, because it promotes skills, connections and shared visions. Artificial intelligence is not an abstract concept: it is already present in our daily lives, and as an administration we believe it is essential to accompany this change with awareness, involving businesses, professionals, universities and citizens.
Nello Musumeci, Minister for Civil Protection and Maritime Policy, speaking on behalf of the government at the opening of the Summit, said: “The South Innovation Summit is one of Italy’s most significant experiences in the field of innovation and a symbol of the Mediterranean’s renewed centrality as a hub of knowledge and technology. I am here representing the Meloni Government to express my appreciation for an initiative that promotes Southern Italy as an engine of development and a laboratory of skills for the future of the country. Through the Mattei Plan, we want to build bridges with African countries, sharing skills and training for mutual growth. Southern Italy and Sicily have everything: creativity, tenacity, imagination and the strength to disprove every cliché. The Summit embodies this vision: the courage to think big and to lead the future with responsibility and ambition.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©