Giovanni Orestano, Head of Selection, Training and Development at Vodafone: "Business incubators and university research can create entrepreneurial value and companies must contribute to their development"

Vodafone Italia's support for relations between the academic research and the business worlds and the creation of highly innovative entrepreneurial projects begins in Milan. Starting from this year, and for the next two years, Vodafone will collaborate with PNI Cube, the association that has brought together business incubators, research centres and universities since 2004, as the lead partner of the NATIONAL PRIZE FOR INNOVATION initiative aimed at the best business projects to emerge from regional university competitions, "Start Cups" or "Business Plan Competitions".

As a partner of the entire project, Vodafone will take part in the promotion of local competitions and will pay the competition entry fees of universities who promote local "Start Cups". As a result, with regard to the "MilanoLombardia Start Cup", Vodafone will finance the entries of Milan Polytechnic, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the Luigi Bocconi University, Milan University, the IULM, Bicocca and the Carlo Cattaneo University. During the national finals, Vodafone Italia will award the Vodafone First Prize of 60,000 euros for the best project of the year.

"We are promoting the National Prize for Innovation and the "MilanoLombardia Start Cup" because we believe entrepreneurial value can be created through business incubators and university research," says Giovanni Orestano, Head of Selection, Training and Development at Vodafone Italia. "The values behind this initiative are our focus on innovation, people and the market. We wish to share these values and have a responsibility for supporting their expression".

The National Prize for Innovation 2007 will be held in Naples in December. In addition to "MilanoLombardia Start Cup" finalists, another 42 winning projects from the 14 regional Start Cups organised by 33 universities throughout Italy will be competing for the "Vodafone First Prize".