38% of construction companies in the South invest in innovation and sustainability but in Campania the figure reaches 44%, above the Italian average (42.5%). The larger southern companies do even more: they invest in innovation more than the national ones (44.2% versus 43.7%). Furthermore, more than one in three companies in the South invests in digital (39.5% in Italy), also fueled by the strong relationship with the research centers in the area. In fact, approximately 40% invest in links with the public and private research system (Italy 31.3%). Data, percentages and statistical comparisons emerge in a surprising way from the latest volume of Srmthe Society of studies and research on the South connected to Intesa Sanpaolo Group, presented at the Neapolitan headquarters of Acen (which collaborated on the publication with its Study Center). It is a work that addresses the possible future of the construction sector beyond the effects (and controversies) on the tax bubbles destined to deflate and for this very reason it appears decidedly stimulating, in line with the commitment undertaken by Srm to tell the story of the South in its various, infinite economic facets with a narrative aimed at underlining its development capabilities, competitiveness, connection to national and international markets which now extends to all production chains.
The buildings
The construction industry, contrary to what one would think, has accepted the challenge of innovation also in the South. «It is interesting to note that around 28% of companies invest in sustainability, almost in line with the Italian average – he explains Massimo Deandreis, Director of Srm – There is a growing awareness of the importance of adapting to technological and market challenges in the near future. As for the investment forecasts in innovative investments in the next three years, there is a tendency to increase in investment forecasts in innovative areas, in some cases even more intensely than in the rest of the national territory”. It is true that the propensity to invest in the South is still 17 points lower than the national average but the gap is reduced to just 5 points if only the largest companies are considered. However, those who invest manage to do so with greater intensity: the share of those who invest more than 25% of their turnover is twice the national average (39% compared to 21%). Companies from Campania (together with those from Puglia) are the driving force: 35% of companies invest and of these 41% direct more than 25% of their turnover there. The size of the company certainly remains a factor that affects market choices although, as he observes Salvio Capasso, Business and Territory Manager of Srm, «the meaning of small must be evaluated according to the ability to stay on the market and be fully competitive». The research explains that almost three-quarters of the smaller construction companies in the South rely on the regional market (in Italy 58.6%) while three-quarters of the larger companies operate in a national and international market (in line with the Italian average ). «However, there is a growing awareness among Southern companies of the importance of operating in international markets. One in 3 companies in the South expects growth in turnover in foreign markets. Higher figure than the national average (21%, similar to the Campania figure)”, Srm points out. AND Giuseppe Nargi, Regional Director of Intesa Sanpaolo, underlines that the credit system, in this case the largest Italian bank, is already ready to support this dynamic. And technological innovation? If we look in particular at the one based on digital technologies, «thanks to the hybridization of the material sphere with the immaterial one and the possibility of crossing proximity and distance» we find that «although in the embryonic phase and despite the presence of heterogeneity between the areas of Italy, the gap between North and South towards an innovative and eco-sustainable construction sector does not appear so wide”. The challenge of the future is therefore on innovative materials and above all on urban regeneration, a theme which, as noted, the president of Acen, Angelo Lancellotti, has enormous social implications, all strategic for a new quality of life in cities. Srm says: not only «redevelopment of the built heritage» achieved through physical-spatial and urban-building recovery, «but also social transformation of urban contexts, especially of the most marginal areas as has also been recognized within the Pnrr».
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