Industries and markets are at the core of economic growth. CSIL experts are able to provide in-depth analysis of firms’ behaviour, industry, technology and market dynamics, and the interplay between firms and territories. At the heart of our understanding of the drivers of change, there are the role and mutual feedback of innovation, competitiveness, and institutions.

Our expertise is rooted in over 40 years of field research on several industries worldwide, covering a wide diversity of structural features. CSIL experts have studied economic sectors mainly based on small-medium enterprises, such as furniture, textile, leather, fashion and design, lighting fixtures, and construction, as well as with large players such as domestic appliances, automotive, pharmaceuticals and the space economy. Our researchers are familiar with a range of topics relevant to corporate strategy and industrial policy, including trade and global value chain functioning, SME competitiveness, smart specialisation, entrepreneurship, clusters and ecosystems, smart regulation, technological forecasting and industrial foresight.

Our services include:

• In-depth analysis of industrial and technological patterns, value chains, and geographical dimensions;
• Diagnostic assessment of industrial clusters and ecosystem performance (including input availability, comparative advantage, and access to markets) and identification of roadmap and development strategies;
• Tailored analysis supporting the design and implementation of industrial strategies, cluster and sector policies and SMEs-related initiatives;
• Research and outlook on megatrends impacting on product development, markets, and industrial transformation;
• Business intelligence services aimed at accelerating digital transformation and industrial modernisation of companies;
• Analysis of access to finance and business support measures for SMEs;
• Sound estimates of consumption, production, export and import for specific industries, industrial products, and geographical areas, thanks to quantitative processing methodologies and in-house forecast models;
• Analysis of business climate, consumer attitudes and regulatory changes and assessing their impacts on industrial sectors and business strategies.

CSIL’s approach in this field is strongly quantitative and data-driven, relying on a pool of statisticians, econometricians, and data scientists. CSIL experts' research activity is supported by rich databases of historical data on companies, regions, and countries. CSIL experts also develop and apply algorithms to collect data from the web and carry out automated data processing with close supervision. These methods are integrated with qualitative analysis when needed, such as surveys of company managers, sector stakeholders, and other decision-makers.