The second Italian Imaginative Innovators (Triple I) event of 2018 was held yesterday at the Embassy of Italy, featuring Carlo Bozotti, the chairman and CEO of STMicroelectronics, and Angela Antetomaso, an anchor with Class CNBC. The Triple I series was instituted by the embassy as a forum for discussion between members of the Italian business community who have demonstrated exceptional vision and innovation and journalists with a background in economics and finance.
In his opening address, the ambassador, Raffaele Trombetta, noted that the STMicroelectronics has deep roots in two regions, Campania and Sicily, that are seldom associated with advanced sectors and high-tech products, and he explained that the company thus provides an inspirational example for entrepreneurs in southern Italy who are looking to expand onto international markets.
Bozotti, who became the chairman and CEO of the group in 2005, talked to Antetomaso about the factors behind the group’s success and how it is navigating the fourth industrial revolution. Under his leadership, STMicroelectronics has undergone significant expansion and has held its own against the industrial upheaval in Europe brought about by the rise of the smartphone; it has achieved this by investing relentlessly in R&D and diversifying production, moving into the sectors of smart driving and the internet of things. Today the group has 11 plants and employs approximately 45,500 people, around 10,000 of them in Italy. Its turnover in 2017 was 8.35bn USD. Bozotti’s vision for progress and innovation has driven him to expand the group’s activities on a global scale, responding intelligently to the challenges posed by the markets and allowing the company to consolidate its position to become a leader in its sector.
Antetomaso observed that the Bozotti’s vision is reflected in STMicroelectronics’ drive for innovation: as Bozotti explained, consistent emphasis on research throughout the history of the company (the group currently invests over 1.3bn USD in R&D) has propelled it to the position of global leader in many of the sectors in which it operates.
17th May, 2018
