The Investimenti Sostenibili 4.0 program - an aid scheme designed to help Italian manufacturing SMBs in starting innovative and sustainable projects - is about to launch. We're talking about a funding plan which, explains the MiSE, works in synergy with the Transition 4.0 plan but gives particular priority to initiatives combining digitalization with sustainability. Here, key concepts are circular economy and manufacturing sustainability. There are new funds for almost 678 million euros, 250 allocated to companies in the Center-North if the country and 428 to the Southern Regions.

The plan starts officially May 18, when Italian micro-, small- and medium-sized companies will be able to apply for incentives to be used in their innovative projects. A quarter of the available resources is specifically allocated to projects proposed by micro- and small enterprises.

"We support the technological modernization of Italian companies through investments in innovative projects aimed at improving the energy sustainability of manufacturing processes", explained Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti. The global supply chains hiccups of the pandemic years and then the Ukraire-Russia conflict, says Giorgetti, underlined how companies need to "accelerate their use of new technologies, to increase efficiency and energy saving". And to "guarantee the competitiveness and economic growth of the country ".

Proposed projects can get access to financial aids without very stringent requirements. All summed up, the main thing they must prove is to be actually innovative. Funds must be (mostly) used for the implementation of enabling technologies already covered by the Transizione 4.0 funding plan. Moreover, projects' goal has to be an effective innovation of the production processes. That is, says the Ministry, starting the production of products never manufactured before, radically changing the production process of an existing plant, assembling a new production line.