As witnessed by the presence of world leader companies such as Siemens, Marconi, Alcatel, Ansaldo, and Esaote, the Genoa pole is traditionally one of the most important and dynamic industrial complexes in Italy.

Thanks to a significant manufacturing tradition in the fields of mechanics, electronics and the steel industry, in the past few years Genoa has adopted suitable supporting strategies to promote innovation and research in hi-tech content fields such as ICT. Among the most important interventions are the recent institution of the IIT (Italian Institute for Technologies), the Technological District of Integrated Intelligent Systems and ISICT (Advanced Institute of Studies in Information Technologies and Communication).

These players help to strengthen a research system that already extensive, comprising CNR (National Research Council) - present in Genoa with 2 institutes and 8 territorial sections), the Italian headquarters of INFM (National Institute for the Physics of Matter) and the University of Genoa. With regard to the academic field, the areas of excellence in research & development in the ICT sector are represented by three Departments of the Faculty of Engineering (DIST, DIBE, and DISI). In addition, the university produces approximately 1,000 graduates a year including engineers, physicists, IT specialists and mathematicians.

The availability of an interesting critical mass of young and qualified human resources, together with industrial and R&D competences in the territory make Genoa an ideal location for new investments in the ICT sector with significant knowledge contents. This is proven, for example, by the recent decision of Alcatel to site an important research centre in Genoa.