Meet Francesca Api

Francesca Api has a degree in Economics and Management of Maritime-Port companies obtained with honors in 2017 (Thesis title: The city-port relationship and the development of port cities: the case of Genoa).

From 2011 to 2017 she worked in the ESA Group shipping agency with administrative and interface with public institutions (Genoa Court and Port Authority) roles. In the same years, she worked as an assistant to a university professor, preparing lessons and following students in drafting their degree thesis.

In 2017 she did an internship at Fincantieri S.p.a.,covering the role of drafting the estimates for the construction of cruise ships.

From 2018 to 2023, first in Metinvest International holding, then in Arcelor Mittal and finally in Duferco Commerciale, she worked as Order Optimisation Controller. The activity involved daily contact with salesmen and customers (Italian and foreign) to define orders of materials (sheets, coils, flattened from coils, bars) to be included in the portfolio, defining the conditions, timing and delivery methods. The role also implied daily contact with plant personnel (in Italy and abroad) to prevent any critical issues and optimize production/delivery cycles; finally contact with colleagues in the finance department, a careful analysis of the customer's creditworthiness was carried out to prevent payment problems on their part. The bureaucratic operations necessary for the shipment/delivery/collection of materials were carried out, and invoicing and complaints management were carried out in the presence of discrepancies or defects in the material.

She joined Rina Consulting S.p.A. in March 2023 working in Energy Innovation Strategic Centre as Project Manager. She is involved in energy consulting and European R&D projects, in particular by carrying out exploitation activities.

Within KEYSTONE…

She works actively to develop an exploitation strategy together with each Key Exploitable Result Leader. In doing that she identifies, assess and showcases the Key Exploitable Results (KERs) of the project, while also determining the responsible partners for their exploitation. Thanks to that she formulates a focused strategy for delivering results and benefits to the market and society. This includes organising specific workshops to define and characterize KERs, establishing an intellectual property management and protection strategy, and devising an exploitation roadmap for advancing to the highest TRL.

In the context of the road mapping activity, she supports each KER Leaders to: conduct market research to identify potential applications, target markets, and competition for their KERs both during and after the project; to identify potential after-project Partners; to develop a comprehensive strategy for the exploitation of the technology, including market entry, pricing, and revenue generation plans; to identify potential partners (inside and outside the consortium) who can help facilitate KERs’ commercialisation and/or adoption; to think about how to finance the after project phase i.e seek funding opportunities, grants or private capital to permit both development and commercialisation of KER; to plan marketing strategies for KERs promotion to potential customers or clients.

Additionally, by using RINA-C methodology she helps KER Leaders in recognising obstacles, prerequisites, risks, and actions necessary to advance to higher technology levels (TRLs) thanks to a Risk assessment related to each single KER. Thanks to RINA-C’s experience she provides support in the evaluation and leveraging of the strengths and weaknesses of each KER to maximise its positive impacts, such as promoting economic growth, creating new business opportunities, and contributing to scientific, political, and societal progress while minimising any negative effects.

Moreover, she carries out the intellectual property rights (IPR) assessment by presenting all the available methods to manage and protect it including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. This may involve KER Leaders filing for patents or trademarks, as well as protecting existing IP.

She verifies that the project meets the necessary project management criteria. This involves conducting comprehensive risk planning, taking into account quality and risk management, in coordination with the Work Package (WP) leaders.