Because more technologies are needed to stimulate the social economy

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During the pandemic they made up for the shortcomings of the health and welfare system in the territories. They continued to hire. And they have accelerated the difficult digital transition by offering innovative solutions to needs that have become urgent, from distance learning to the delivery of meals to the elderly or frail. They are the almost 400,000 third sector entities (cooperatives, mutual societies, associations and foundations) that make up the third sector and generate a production value of 84 billion euros, according to the Foundation for Subsidiarity.

A wealth that politics often underestimates and which still has potential to be expressed, if accompanied by technologies, innovation and capacity building. A Mind (Milan Innovation District) Triulza Foundation – a network of about seventy third sector and civil economy organizations born on the eve of Expo 2015 – leads cooperatives and start-ups with a social vocation in experimenting with technologies that not only make services more efficient but create transformation processes in the very way in which the services themselves are provided.

Technology procurement

Next week at the Social Innovation Campus a pilot project will be announced which, in fact, places the social economy as an industrial ecosystem, in line with European strategies. «How do you carry out technology transfer on those 22,000 companies and social cooperatives that are part of the third sector and which represent the most entrepreneurial part of it? In addition to working on the accompaniment front – explains Mario Calderini, professor at the Milan Polytechnic and director of the Triulza Foundation – we thought of stimulating the demand for technology». In other words, the companies present in Mind will ask for tech-type products and services and the world of the entrepreneurial third sector will thus be invited to offer adequate answers. «In fact, we reserve quotas of for social enterprises procurement where there is a technological component – explains Calderini who is also president of the scientific committee of the Social Innovation Academy – In this way we do not push technology from above but challenge companies to respond to an innovation stimulus». An approach that recognizes the potential role of the social economy as a strategic sector as requested by the European Commission which launched the Social Economy Action Plan in 2021, after having included the social economy as one of the 14 ecosystems in the industrial strategy of the European Union. In short, from an inconspicuous sector and too often considered the crutch between the state and the market, the third sector becomes a real pillar of a development that focuses on environmental and social sustainability.

A call to action for businesses

Mind is starting now, with this pilot project that brings together the Triulza Foundation, Federated Innovation, a network contract of 36 profit companies that work in Mind, and Finlombarda. “We will immediately launch a call to the world corporate so that companies declare their needs for products and services – explains Chiara Pennasi, director of the Triulza Foundation – Companies and social cooperatives and start-ups will therefore be able to become suppliers or partners or customers». In short, companies and social cooperatives will no longer be limited to the classic provision of green care or catering but will enter the productive heart of innovative goods and services. The areas that appear to be privileged are healthcare with territorial and proximity services and the environment. But the collaborations will have no input limits.

The third entrepreneurial sector will be contacted in various ways, the CGM consortium (with 700 companies and social cooperatives and 42,000 workers) has already come forward. Then Confcooperative, Legacoop and Agci are naturally involved, which have been collaborating with the Triulza Foundation for three years, bringing their support – with their respective dedicated funds – to social tech such as Badacare, a start-up with a social vocation that offers a platform for assistance services such as the carers. Or Alchimilla who with the Artoo app brings children closer to art, giving them the opportunity to express themselves and their thoughts on the world.