“Innovation House has been an ambitious project and a considerable investment; it has put down the basis for valuable contacts in this corner of the world. After all, it’s only those who do nothing that make no mistakes”

Andrea Sianesi has no doubts about this initiative, which he strongly backed for Expo 2020 in Dubai, achieved with the help of three great establishments – Politecnico di Milano, Fondazione Politecnico di Milano and Regione Lombardia.

In these months, Innovation House has involved over 1500 companies, institutions, research centres, large and small companies plus nearly 200 speakers in more than 50 events and initiatives, acting as a sounding board for Italy and Lombardy in Dubai.

We achieved our objective of consolidating synergy between industry, universities and institutions and so open new markets to Italian companies, bringing together businesses representing Italian excellence, presenting our country’s emerging technologies and spreading a culture of environmental sustainability. This was all achieved through the solid vision underpinning our project: create opportunities to meet in an informal setting.

Innovation House, for six months, was the “home” of all those coming through its doors. Creating relationships were the great strength of our project. The penthouse on the 38th floor of the InterContinental Hotel Marina was the epicentre of these meetings, hosting the worlds of industry, research and institutions in its 350 square metres. This was the setting where we showcased our Italian distinctiveness, here the Arab world, with its fast paced change, was able to savour the tradition and the drive for innovation that is the hall mark of Italian companies, the many faces of the productive fabric of Lombardy and Italy.

We covered many topics, spanning across mobility, sustainability, alternative energy, agrifood and STEM subjects. This series of events addressed the crucial nodes that will be able to respond to tomorrow’s evermore technological, connected and transcultural society.

What is the next step? We will export this model to other great international venues, like the Olympics of Milano Cortina 2026, which we presented at the final evening event at Innovation House, anticipating the torch relay that will bring the Olympic flame to our country in four year’s time.