Francesco Molinari Email & Phone Number

I hold a MSc and a MA in public management (Siena University, 2007 & 2005) and a BSc in social and economic disciplines (Milan “L. Bocconi” University, 1990). Currently I am PhD candidate in Informatics and Business at the University of Rijeka, Croatia. Formerly EU project manager at the University of Valencia in Spain, research fellow on Frugal Government at Politecnico di Milano, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, and visiting professor on Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Ulster Business School in Belfast, UK. Invited lecturer at the Master courses of the Universities of Rome (Tor Vergata), Milan (Cattolica), and Siena, I have authored more than 80 publications on topics related to Living Labs, eParticipation, eGovernment, eLearning, Innovation Policy, Pre-Commercial Procurement, and Smart Cities / Regions. As a free lance consultant and project manager I have worked for 20 years with several public and private organizations, including clients from Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Kosovo, Israel, Italy, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia and the UK – as well as international organisations like FAO, the Committee of Regions, the Managing Authorities of the Interreg MED and Central Europe programmes, and ENISA. With my clients, I have been engaged in more than 70 R&D and innovation projects at EU, national and regional level – often as coordinator - including several evaluation studies. In 2008 I led a study on the Living Labs potential in the EU innovation and Future Internet scenario. In 2009-2010 I was contract manager of a Feasibility Study for Creating a EU University Data Collection System. In 2010-2012 I coordinated a State Region Working Group aimed at establishing PCP (Pre Commercial Procurement) in the Italian government practice. In 2013-2014 I was one of the national experts advising the Italian Regions in designing their smart specialisation strategies. In 2015-2017 I have assisted an Italian Region in the design of their ERDF TO1 calls. In 2018-2021 I have collaborated with another Italian Region in the financing and support of innovative procurement calls for tender. In 2019-2021 I have worked for the Joint Research Centre at the European Commission as external expert on AI, GovTech and the public sector.