Fondazione TIM

The Group is particularly attentive to the needs of the community in which it operates      and implements wide-ranging initiatives and projects aimed at the social and economic development of the areas in which the Company has a presence. This is the purpose for which Fondazione Telecom Italia, now Fondazione TIM (FTIM) was established in 2008, with the mission of promoting the culture of change and digital innovation, fostering economic and social integration, communication and growth.

FTIM’s activities, which may take place both in Italy and abroad, are guided by strategic objectives, defined areas and specific criteria.

• Strategic objectives: FTIM works to disseminate a culture of innovation, in order to promote solidarity and civil, cultural and economic development. FTIM operates without discrimination based on nationality, race or religion and intends to pursue the definition, implementation and promotion of initiatives and projects institutionally, operating in the following sectors in particular:
• Education: innovation in teaching and education, promoting initiatives aimed both  at updating the technology in Italian schools and introducing radical innovations in teaching methods and tools for the benefit of teachers and students.
• Innovation culture: to become a reference point for innovation culture by implementing projects aimed  at  spreading  knowledge  of  science  and  technology,  particularly  to students in high schools and universities, in order to offer new academic and professional perspectives.
• Social empowerment: promoting the processes of change taking place in society through new technologies for social enterprises, to help them “do good well”.
• Historic and artistic heritage: contributing to protecting a world-famous heritage, allowing it to be enjoyed, particularly by innovative means, to make our country ever more competitive.
• Methods: FTIM operates with disbursements approved by the Board of Directors, which  can be paid to institutions or non-profit-making organisations. Furthermore, as of 2015, FTIM has been devising and developing specific projects, particularly in the field of innovation culture.
• Project selection and monitoring: FTIM gives preference to projects with a high technological, transformative and innovative content. The selection process, which involves a structured assessment procedure, therefore also considers the social impact of the projects themselves. For this reason, projects must be measurable, sustainable and replicable. The monitoring system is established according to the specific characteristics and objectives of each project and is an eligibility requirement more than an assessment parameter. 

2016 ACTIVITIES

2016 was a very important year for FTIM, full of new initiatives.

In the Education area, a project called Curriculum Mapping came to an end. This involved the creation of a platform to plan skills-based training, based on the interdisciplinary development of knowledge, providing students with the tools required to examine reality in various respects, critically review their knowledge and pursue personalised training. The new web environment

was launched during a meeting held in Bergamo on 26th May, entitled Gli Stati Generali della Scuola Digitale [national overview of digital education ] and involving 1,500 teachers and head teachers from across Italy. A success that had attracted 9,350 registered teachers, 3,852 learning units and 2,046 schools as of 31 December.

Another important initiative is the agreement signed between FTIM and the Academy of

La Scala, which aims to enhance and disseminate information on the work of one of Italy’s centres of excellence, as well as to update the training methods used to hand down valuable traditional skills, in an attempt to draw young people closer to the world of Opera through:

• the award of 127 scholarships for young student set designers, tailors, dancers, musicians, singers and choristers of the Academy funded by the Talenti on stage fund-raising campaign on the WithYouWeDo platform made available by TIM. The project raised over 200,000 euros, with an average donation value of 2,628 euros. FTIM also donated 1 euro to the Academy for every euro raised, up to the target of 200,000, bringing the total available for the scholarships to over 400,000 euros;
• the launch of the annual Innovazione on Stage project, amounting to a further 200,000 euros, with which to promote the Academy and its training for occupations in the entertainment industry.

In the field of Innovation Culture, the Lezioni sul progresso [lessons on progress] continued with 9 events (after the 3 previously completed in 2015). This project uses an original theatrical format to introduce young people to scientific culture, contrasting the technical explanation given by a scientist with the more direct one given by an individual far removed from the world of academia who can make scientific subjects and messages more accessible to young people.

The themes chosen for the lessons are among the most topical, delicate and hotly debated in the scientific and technological field. In 2016 the related in particular to:

• robotics and, in particular, the interaction between humans and increasingly sophisticated robots in cognitive and emotional terms. Lesson protagonists: Giorgio Metta, Director of the iCub Facility at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa and the singer songwriter Elio;
• genetics, in terms of identifying individual genetic susceptibilities and consequently personalising treatments and drugs, and providing the most appropriate lifestyle advice based on research and the potential impacts on public health. Lesson protagonists: Giuseppe Novelli, Rector of the Tor Vergata University of Rome and geneticist, and actress Francesca Reggiani;
• the mechanism of emotion, including those that cause obsessions, insomnia and depression and substances that help you cope with them. Lesson protagonists: Luca Pani, physician specialised in psychiatry, expert in pharmacology and molecular biology, Director General of the General Medicines Agency (AIFA) and Carlo Verdone, director, actor and screenwriter fascinated by medicine;
• the biology of morality, or the so-called “moral dilemmas”, the link between choices and genetics and the meaning of free will. Lesson protagonists: Pietro Pietrini, Director of   the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca and professor of clinical biochemistry and molecular biology and the actor Francesco Montanari;
• future means of transport, particularly to reduce road accidents. Lesson  protagonists: Paolo Santi, scientific researcher at the MIT Senseable City Lab and researcher at the CNR Institute of Informatics and Telematics, and Vittorio Brumotti, a champion “extreme” cyclist;
• stem cells, with particular focus on the potential evolution in the study and use of these cells. Lesson protagonists: Elena Cattaneo, pharmacologist, biologist and senator, and actress Virginia Raffaele.