The inaugural WIPO – Luiss Global INTAN-Invest Conference in Rome

Better Data for Better Policy

The inaugural WIPO – Luiss Global INTAN-Invest Conference was successfully held on 6 and 7 May 2024 in Rome, at the historic Villa Blanc. This groundbreaking event, organized by the Luiss Business School and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), marked a significant milestone in the study and understanding of intangible assets in the global economy.

The conference brought together many academics, experts, and policymakers to explore new evidence on investment in intangible assets. This allowed a high-level discussion on the importance of intangibles and the need for better metrics to measure them, gathering valuable contributions from the academic community as well as from Italian and international institutions.

Under the theme “Better data for better policy”, the two-day event featured keynote speeches, presentations, and a particularly engaging panel discussion on the future perspectives of intangibles, highlighting the event's comprehensive approach to the subject. A key focus of the conference was on the policy implications of measuring investment in intangible assets and productivity, underlining the necessity of using more timely data with broader coverage of both advanced and emerging economies.

The event is part of a larger initiative, centered on the WIPO – Luiss Partnership on Intangible Assets in the Global Economy, which aims to bridge knowledge gaps in measuring investment in intangible assets to better inform pro-growth policies. During the conference, the first round of results from this partnership was released through the World Intangible Investment Highlights. These highlights provide valuable insights into key trends in intangible investment and set the stage for ongoing research and policy development.

Building on existing work carried out by the Luiss Lab of European Economics (EUKLEMS & INTANProd project), efforts are already underway to generate new estimates of intangible investment in high-income economies. The first Global INTAN-Invest Conference now provides the basis for developing future research with the aim of providing policymakers with a valuable tool to understand the short-term impact of economic shocks through more timely data on intangible assets.

As we look forward to future editions of this conference, the study of intangible assets will continue to evolve, driven by the strong collaboration among WIPO, Luiss Business School and many other universities and institutions. The success of the first edition “Better data for better policy” reaffirms the necessity of advancing our understanding of intangibles and their pivotal role in shaping economic policies and growth strategies in the future.

Check here the Conference Agenda and the Flyer.