Potenza will host the second leg of the ANSA 'Innovative Italy' tour.

Today in Potenza, the second leg of the 'Italia Innovativa' tour, a project promoted by ANSA to showcase the country through its excellence, intertwining culture and innovation, tradition and technology. The initiative, titled 'Basilicata Innovativa - From Space to the Mediterranean, the Horizons of Basilicata,' is organized in collaboration with the Basilicata Region and will take place in the Inguscio Hall of the Region. Following the leg in L'Aquila on March 31, 'Italia Innovativa' sheds light on a new vision of Basilicata, one of Italy's smallest regions but rich in excellence that looks to the future, such as the Matera Space Geodesy Center of the Italian Space Agency. The main goal is to combat depopulation and brain drain, affecting young and less young people. During the event, there will be a focus on Matera, which, after the tourism boom in 2019 when it was the European Capital of Culture, is experiencing another special year as the Mediterranean Capital of Dialogue and Culture. After greetings from the mayor and prefect of Potenza, Vincenzo Telesca and Michele Campanaro, and the president of the Regional Council of Basilicata, Marcello Pittella, and a speech by the director of ANSA, Luigi Contu, the first panel will focus on 'Space, healthcare, and inclusion' as new challenges for Basilicata. Participants include the president of the Regional Council of Basilicata, Vito Bardi, the general director of the Irccs Crob (Basilicata Regional Oncology Center), Massimo De Fino, and the president of Aias, Giulio Francesco Bagnale. The second panel is dedicated to the City of the Sassi: 'Dialogue and culture, in 2026 Matera looks out to the Mediterranean,' with the participation of the general director of the Basilicata Territorial Promotion Agency, Margherita Sarli, the scientific director of the Matera Emerging Technologies Center, Giampiero Pepe, the general director of the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation, Rita Orlando, the president of the Lucana Film Commission, Margherita Romaniello, and the president of the Murgia Materana Park Authority, Giovanni Mianulli. [VIDEO OF THE EVENT] Bardi: 'In Basilicata, innovation and development from the aerospace sector' "Basilicata is a small-big region that is demonstrating its ability to play a strategic role in innovation and development processes related to aerospace and technology," said the president of the regional council, Vito Bardi, speaking at the ANSA 'Italia innovativa' initiative, in the panel dedicated to aerospace. Bardi is the vice-president of Nereus, the network of European regions involved in activities related to aerospace. "The Space Geodesy Center in Matera represents a fundamental point for the data collected by satellites. It is a state-of-the-art structure, located in a strategic area of the Mediterranean and the world. This data is extremely useful for the territory: from agriculture to seismic risk prevention, to environmental monitoring. In recent years, we have been promoters of important initiatives. In Basilicata, we have also launched a master's degree program dedicated to space activities, with the aim of developing skills and transmitting fundamental knowledge in an increasingly strategic sector. In addition to training and research, there is also the issue of territorial development. Approximately 900 people are employed and there are over 30 specialized companies in the sector in Basilicata: numbers that demonstrate how the aerospace sector is today a benchmark even at the international level," he concluded, recalling "the investments made by the Region in cybersecurity to ensure greater security and protection of digital infrastructure." Pittella: 'Major reforms are needed for the future of Basilicata' According to Pittella, "these are four fundamental pillars that require concrete interventions: without reforms, the risk is the failure of communities. To retreat into provincialism, without a vision, without aesthetics, education, and solid political institutions, means, from a political point of view, limiting oneself to managing the existing." "These are sensitive and decisive issues for the future of Basilicata. By the end of the year, we must choose whether to change course or face major difficulties. True information lies behind the news: either we embrace this concept, or as a region we will never be able to make a qualitative leap. That is where the value of our work is built. Basilicata must be innovative and know how to position itself in the Mediterranean. If this mission is not addressed in a reformist and liberal way, we risk missing a great opportunity." Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA