Full professor of Applied Economics at the University of Florence, teaching undergraduate, master's, and doctorate courses. Dean of the School of Economics and Management of the same university (www.economia.unifi.it) from 2019 to 2022, and a fellow of the Foundation for Research and Innovation (FRI) (www.fondazionericercaunifi.it). Vice-Chancellor for Technology Transfer and Territorial Relations from 2009 to 2015, and in the same period, President of the FRI, First Director of CsaVRI–the University Service Center for Research, Innovation, and University Incubator (www.csavri.unifi.it), and first Director of the Confucius Institute of the same university. Throughout the years, I have co-organized national and international conferences (e.g. www.reginnpol2019.unifi.it), participated in boards of scientific associations and journals, and co-founded research centers (e.g. www.cmet05.it). I have published extensively since the 1980s on topics of industrial organization, local development models and cases at the international level, innovation systems, related public policies and roles of universities, competitive challenges to industrial districts, and models of development based on Industry 4.0. See https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9044-5630