Italian Nature of Innovation (NOI) Technology Park Expands on Strong Demand
NOI TechPark connects North and South markets in Europe – Key to Business Success
Technology Park ‘Nature in Innovation’ is breaking ground on a multi-million Euro expansion program to accommodate a growing number of European and international companies committed to the European R&D Center of Excellence.
The Financial Times this week announced that Italy is among the most attractive and fastest-growing tech hubs in Europe, right behind London and Paris.
The NOI TechPark, located on the German-Italian border region of South Tyrol, houses four Research Institutes, four Faculties of the University of Bolzano and 30 Laboratories staffed by innovators and researchers from 70 countries from around the world.
Opened at the end of 2017, the NOI Tech Park is a public-private partnership, supported by a 120m EUR investment by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano.
NOI TechPark’s mission is to offer businesses a top European location for research and market access, all in the pursuit of environmental sustainability.
The Technology Hub is also an important part of a regional urban regeneration program: 12 hectares (29 acres) of redeveloped land in an area where a large, disused metallurgy plant once stood, in the same way as the former Orsay railway station in Paris became a famous museum, or similar to the Tate Modern Gallery in London which was built on the site of a coal-fired power station.
World-Class LEED Green Building Gold Certification
Respect for the planet is a concept which has guided NOI TechPark since the design phase, so much so that it has become the first project in Europe and the second in the world to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ND v4:Plan GOLD certification, which certifies zero impact on the surrounding natural area. Redeveloping an ‘energy-hungry’ aluminium plant in the 1930s, NOI TechPark was created to enhance the pre-existing rationalist architecture and utilising the most advanced building technologies. An extremely sustainable site, powered by renewable energy, inside which green technologies are studied, designed and built, in order to reduce mankind’s all-round impact on nature.
Five sectors of Excellence
NOI Techpark excels in five sectors which form the heart of this European technology park – Green, Alpine, Food, Digital and Automation – and has been chosen by companies such as Leitner, Maccaferri, and Microtec. They fuse smart R&D and the manufacturing world to develop new innovative products at ground-breaking laboratories.
An outstanding example here is the terraXcube, part of Eurac Research (www.eurac.edu), a climatic chamber which simulates the most extreme climatic conditions on the planet in order to study their influence on mankind, on ecological processes and on technology.
Continuous growth
After barely one year in operation, the NOI TechPark is already expanding. The first expansion module of 22,000 sq. m (236,800 sq. ft) is entirely dedicated to accommodate a robust demand from international companies looking for multi-lingual R&D centers in Europe.
The NOI TechPark will open a childcare facility for workers and companies in September 2019; in 2021 Eurac Research’s Biomedicine Institute will enter the NOI TechPark followed by Unibz’s new engineering faculty in 2022, with new expansion modules to be built in due course.
“NOI Techpark is a top location for companies with an operating base in Europe that requires a research facility next door to continuously innovate their products and services,” Arno Kompatscher, President of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano.
“Little more than a year after opening, NOI Techpark is already expanding – and filling office space straight away. Our business offering combined with our location represents the perfect bridge between Northern and Southern Europe.”
“Northern Italy is an increasingly important reference point for companies, especially in the Alpine and Green industrial sectors,” said Ulrich Stofner, CEO of NOI Spa.
About NOI TechPark and south Tyrol
South Tyrol boasts economic data which is among the best in Europe: unemployment at 3%, in the South Tyrolean ecosystem there are 58,617 companies – one for every 9 inhabitants – with the highest top performer index, meaning many of the companies are leaders in strategic sectors. The GDP of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano is around 22 billion euros, 42,500 euros per capita, compared to 36,800 in Lombardy (and the Italian average of 27,700 euros). A figure higher than in Austria, which has a per capita GDP of 40,400 euros.
