Observatory of Tuscan high-tech firms

The Observatory of Tuscan high-tech firms was created in 2001 by MAIN Lab of Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and, since January 2009, it has been jointly coordinated by MAIN Lab and Unioncamere Toscana, the regional union of Chambers of Commerce.
The aim of both partners is to produce synergic effects from the joint exploitation of their own knowledge and skills in order to offer a key source of information on the regional high-tech industry and to promote the creation and the development of technology-based firms.

The Observatory is involved in the following activities:

• the identification and analysis of high-tech industry in Tuscany;


• the deepening of the characterization of the different high-tech industries as well as of the various types of firms, each one associated with a specific process of creation;


• the monitoring of growth processes, in terms of both annual turnover and firm size (number of employees);


• the cross-province evaluation of firms’ competitiveness;


• the exploitation of the significant number of high-tech firms in the regional area, by emphasizing their relevance for local competitiveness and for the further development of the region.



The Observatory’s research method is an attempt to overcome the limits typically related to conventional classification procedures for both high-tech industries and firms, by relying on a set of criteria for the identification of high-tech firms that are flexible, but rigorous, as they are based on both qualitative and quantitative data.

The database including all the information collected through the carrying out of the high-tech census in the region is available on the web and it is periodically updated, in order to provide a reliable information source on the current state of the Tuscan high-tech division.

The empirical results are regularly diffused through the release of research reports which are uploaded on the Observatory’s website, as well as through the organisation of public events, suitable to foster inter-firm networking and cooperation activities





For more information: info.osservatorio@sssup.it - hightechtoscana@tos.camcom.it