An Industry and Public Research Organization joint effort for ITER construction: Evaluating the impact

Participation in Big Science projects, such as ITER, and the exchange of technology and knowledge with science-based partners are fruitful environments for industry. By integrating the use of quantitative and qualitative data and methods of analyses applied to a sample of Italian industries, the present work illustrates how participation in ITER, through the European Agency Fusion for Energy, allows firms to increase their financial performance, enhance their brand image, extend the network of collaborations, improve internal processes, acquire new standards and have a new vision of the company. Moreover, ITER allows for employing new people and investing in the local and regional territories. The study leads to new implications for managers and researchers in terms of new tools to be used to manage the involvement in Big Science projects and policy makers in terms of incentives to be provided, particularly for SMEs, in order to enhance knowledge dissemination and avoid business discontinuities.