Federated Innovation @MIND is a collaborative model that brings together businesses, research organisations, institutions and start-ups to tackle the major challenges of our time through shared innovation.
Launched in 2021 within MIND – Milano Innovation District, the network represents one of Europe’s most advanced examples of public-private collaboration. Today, it involves over 35 major companies, more than 200 innovative start-ups and a community of around 400 professionals committed to developing high-impact projects in the fields of Future of Health and City of the Future.
This model is based on a ‘Collaborate to Compete’ principle: creating value together in a pre-competitive stage to accelerate the transformation of ideas, technologies and skills into concrete solutions for the market and society at large.
Large companies from multiple sectors, startups, institutions, and talent. A new model cooperation environment to animate a genuinely competitive ecosystem for tangible and rapid innovation
An ecosystem that generates innovation
Federated Innovation @MIND fosters collaboration between leading companies, research centres, universities, institutions and start-ups within an environment designed to facilitate positive cross-fertilisation between different skills and sectors.
Thanks to the presence of MIND’s scientific and institutional anchors — Human Technopole, the University of Milan, IRCCS Galeazzi-Sant’Ambrogio Hospital and the Triulza Foundation — the network can develop initiatives that integrate advanced research, experimentation and industrial application.
Beyond Open Innovation
Federated Innovation @MIND is based on a model that goes beyond traditional open innovation programmes.
Participating companies share visions, expertise, assets and project capabilities within a framework that protects intellectual property and fosters collaboration, even among entities within the same sector. This approach accelerates the development of new solutions and generates a tangible impact on local areas, communities and markets.
From projects to impact
In recent years, Federated Innovation @MIND has promoted over 100 collaborative initiatives ranging from digital health to urban sustainability, from artificial intelligence to energy, and from mobility to smart city technologies.
Each project arises from the convergence of complementary skills and the conviction that the most complex challenges require new alliances capable of transcending the boundaries between sectors, disciplines and organisations.
Together Beyond
Federated Innovation @MIND is a community that connects people even before organisations.
Through events, working groups, flagship projects, networking activities and ongoing dialogue, the network builds relationships that generate trust, shared knowledge and new opportunities for growth.
Because innovation does not arise from isolation, but from the ability to imagine and build the future together.
Key figures
- Over 35 member companies
- More than 200 innovative start-ups involved
- Around 400 professionals in the community
- Over 100 collaborative initiatives developed
- Two major areas of innovation: Future of Health and City of the Future
