I-Com

I-Com is an Italian think tank based in Rome and Brussels, founded in 2005 by a group of scholars and managers with the aim to promote policy related debates and, moreover, to analyse competitive and innovative topics. In 2016, I-Com has opened its Brussels office to further develop its activities on a European stage and to solicit the positioning of relevant stakeholders on issues crucial for the competitiveness of the EU and Italian economy. The institute focuses its research on three main areas: Digital, Energy and Healthcare, with a special focus on how to strengthen innovation in the economy.

October 13, 2020

A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR EUROPE’S DIGITAL RULES. Leading the path towards AI and digital services revolution

PromethEUs – a new network of four Southern European think tanks – marked its debut on the EU stage hosting on 13 October its first Digital Conference, entitled “A new framework for Europe’s digital rules. Leading the path towards AI and digital services revolution”.

October 5, 2020

The European Way to Data Economy. Taking Stock and Looking Ahead

Digital technologies are transforming the economy and society, affecting all sectors of activity and the daily lives of all European citizens and businesses. Data is at the center of this transformation and more is to come. Given the increasing volume of non-personal industrial data and public data in Europe, combined with technological change in how the data is stored and processed, being a potential source of growth and innovation, a regulatory framework and an ecosystem must be guaranteed in accordance with European values, fundamental rights and rules creating trust and benefits for all Europeans.

September 1, 2020

Best practice tools to prevent cancer across Europe: Could harm reduction policies play a pivotal role?

Our analysis has revealed an apparent overarching theme related to specific sectors (tobacco, alcohol, nutrition), as well as encouraging the uptake of preventative strategies such as harm reduction. Therefore, this study focuses on these three sectors to allow for more in-depth research and exploration into possible solutions and strategies that can support consumers to change their behavior, to adopt better lifestyles, and to encourage policy change and actively support cancer prevention by also pushing forward important relevant national success stories

August 1, 2020

5G, the investigation of the Chamber and the state of the art in Italy

The fact-finding survey is the result of two years of work, which began on 27 September 2018 on new technologies in telecommunications, 5G, and Big Data created by the IX Transport and Telecommunications Commission of the Chamber. It is a full-bodied document, developed in 87 pages and divided into 16 thematic areas related to the new generation network and Big Data in which, through fifty hearings, the representatives of the institutions and competent Authorities, experts in the field took part, as well as television and telephone operators, representatives of trade union organizations and consumer and environmentalist associations and actors from the world of the Internet, universities and research institutes.

July 17, 2020

The Sustainable Recovery: The key energy innovation of development

The 2020 edition of the I-Com Report on energy innovation falls immediately after the most acute phase of an unexpected, if not unpredictable, pandemic. The usual search around energy innovation which, like every year, seeks to broaden and differentiate the spectrum investigative compared to the previous edition, focusing on some innovations that could being paradigmatic (e.g. urban micro mobility) is more difficult than in past. In addition to the usual analysis on research and development, also extended to mobility, inevitably more and more sustainable, we have tried to identify other areas of diffusion impact, such as the combination of energy and digitalization or sector coupling and the accumulation of energy. Alongside these themes, innovations in the way work is carried out and, lastly, an in-depth study of startups, in particular energy ones.

July 3, 2020

TikTok's big leap between viral video and data protection

(Available in Italian)

June 25, 2020

Innovation Scoreboard, Italy lags behind in Europe (but there is still some good news)

On 23 June, the European Commission published the Innovation Scoreboard for 2020, the ranking of EU countries’ research and innovation performance. Results are broadly in line with those of previous years, with the Union as a whole strengthening its innovation capacity compared to the beginning of the decade, but continuing to lose positions to the major global competitors.

The Eastern European countries (especially the Baltic countries) have accelerated their growth and begun to reduce the internal European R&I divide. In contrast, Italy – although showing a positive trend during the decade – has confirmed its structural weaknesses in research and innovation, a factor that has been widely known for years. This is all further material for reflection, both at national and European levels, in view of the definition of the Recovery Plan proposed by the Commission at the end of May.

June 25, 2020

Decarbonization, Europe is betting on green hydrogen

(Available in Italian)

May 29, 2020

Italy's future passes through telecommunication networks

One of the most important aspects that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic concerns the importance of telecommunication networks. Italy's development in the digitalization sector is hampered in particular by regulatory obstacles and excessive tax burdens.

April 29, 2020

Digital payments, the race doesn't stop

Digital payments in Italy continued their exponential growth over the past year, reaching 270 billion euros, 11% more than in 2018. Despite the important growth rate, Italy still lags far behind European best performers such as Denmark, Sweden and Finland who reach over 300 digital transactions per capita per year.

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