INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE: The Trends of the Italian Space Sector as Monitored by the “Distretto Virtuale” Portal with a Focus on SMEs

The “Distretto Virtuale” portal is an interactive area, featuring several virtual tools, of the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) website (http://www.asi.it)1. Its community is steadily growing and includes all of the main Italian sector’s stakeholders: business, entrepreneurial associations, research entities, central and local public authorities, financial institutions, investors, consultants, etc. Some tools have been designed to promote membership, as well as “guest” access, abroad. At a macroeconomic level the portal provides, a periodical evaluation of the sector’s trends based on direct business data and a strategic report on the “integrated finance” initiatives, which are the main ASI’s activities supported by the portal. At a microeconomic level, the portal offers its virtual tools to promote the sector’s interactions with ASI and within itself, mainly (but not only) following an “integrated finance” approach: a platform where every commercial registered subject can be located by its size, capacities, and other factors, and where its technological proposals, both as prototypes and new products, can be considered and operationally supported. Special care is given to the promotion of the portal to international users and emerging countries in particular.