«Captare per il bene collettivo questa vena d'oro»: la valorizzazione delle invenzioni e le origini del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

The establishment of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in 1923 was the culmination of a long process that had begun with the First World War, characterised by the dominant ideology based on the practical value of science and technology, that placed at the service of industrial development and the primacy of the Nation. The enhancement of inventions played an important role in that climate, as shown by the examination of the papers kept at the State Central Archives of Italy (ACS): CNR in 1933 promoted the birth of the Central Commission for the Examination of Inventions (CCEI), that later became a body of the Institution and in 1941 was transformed into the National Institute for the Examination of Inventions (INEI).
The most prominent Italian scientists and technicians of the time were involved in the complex process of evaluating hundreds of devices and experiments submitted every year: with the support of ANFI (National Fascist Association of Inventors), CCEI and INEI from 1 July 1933 to 30 June 1942 examined over ten thousand proposed inventions, launching the practical implementation of some of them.