The first phase of the Showcase research project analyzed Italian excellence in industry and in the biomedical research sector.
In relation to industry, a ranking was compiled for 2003-2005 of the 100 best-performing manufacturing firms with turnovers of more than 50 million euro.
The project also examined excellence in the research field with a specific focus on life sciences, analyzing – from an international perspective – the number of scientific publications, patents registered and R&D projects conducted by Italian scientists/researchers during the period 2001-2006.