Cultural innovative enterprises: not just philantrophy

Abstract This paper is focused on the “cultural innovative enterprises”, introduced into italian law by Decree Law 179/2012 on “Further urgent measures for Italy’s economic growth”, converted into Law 221/2012. It is about new innovative enterprises that deal to develop, manufacture and distribuite innovative goods and services of high technological value, operating exclusively in the fields of cultural heritage promotion and cultural services provision. These companies can contribute to reduce the Italian youth employment emergency thanks on one hand to the reduced entry barriers related to the technology developments needed to “begin doing business” and on the other hand to the widespread territorial distribution of the italian cultural heritage to which services and processes will be applied. Furthermore, the increase of the GDP in regions undergoing a state of economic difficulty is a goal at hand. From a more general point of view, the cultural innovative start ups are an important element in stimulating new forms of collaboration between public entities responsible for the protection of the artistic heritage and private companies involved in its promotion. This type of partnership can contribute to the promotion and dissemination of new essential skills within the public administration aimed at a virtuous evolution of the way the overall economic system works.