Trade agreements, particularly those between Europe and the US (TTIP: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), provide a huge opportunity for development and growth and are therefore so much more than a potential risk. The European Commission’s agenda is very ambitious.
Kicking off proceedings at this international workshop was the observation that agricultural market growth is once again the focus of world attention. Consumer prices for food products are rising, and sudden fluctuations in the cost of agricultural commodities are set to become more frequent in the short term. After a period of abundance, the world risks an era of food shortages, due to factors such as demographic shifts, climate change, growing global health problems, and an inadequate distribution of wealth.
These days, the world of health is facing a revolution that does not only concern medicine but also includes a broad range of disciplines and many aspects of daily life. Demographic tendencies, the evolution of research and the strategic use of “big data” are bringing about a sea change in the existing model of individual care.
The key to sustainable development is not only an effective partnership between government, civil society and the private sector, but also a scientific approach. Science and technology are fundamental in generating the knowledge necessary to sustainably resolve today’s most pressing problems. And they are especially important when seen from a global viewpoint, as today’s problems are global problems, as well as from a gender perspective.
The intersection between women, nutrition and health is undeniable. Women are the food matrons of the world as in most cases they are the ones who purchase and prepare what families eat. They are also the world’s caregivers, meaning they are typically the ones who look after children, the elderly and the sick. Despite this women are also the most food insecure and make up the majority of the world’s patient population, though they have the least access to healthcare.
By way of setting the tone for this International Workshop, figures were cited showing that, in 2014, 350 million PCs and 320 million tablets were sold, and that, in the next five years, there will be some 200 billion web-connected devices. The latest devices – it was observed – are able to learn our needs and preferences, enabling increasingly personalized feedback, with artificial intelligence continuing to make great leaps forward. It was stressed, however, that it is not just machines that are learning from people – humans too have ended up being shaped by their devices.
Everyone likes to eat food cooked on the barbecue, but whilst in the western world, it is part and parcel of a convivial habit, often linked to a celebration of some sort, in Africa and Asia it is one of the main causes of death. It is also a sign of inequality and the cause of environmental damage, and yet is a problem that few have heard of.
The ongoing efforts to build a well functioning Energy Union in Europe should be seen in the context of major global changes related in various ways to the energy sector – possibly a whole new phase of globalization, featuring new actors, new forms of balance of power, new conflicts (actual or potential).
Discussions at this year’s Annual Conference for the Friends of Aspen centered on the long-term economic priority of sustainable development for future generations, viewed as an important strategic objective at the macro level for individual national economies, and at the micro level for companies and other market players. It was noted that various competing economic models aimed at achieving this goal are emerging, including the sharing economy, the civil economy, and the positive economy.
Underpinning discussions at this Aspen Junior Fellows roundtable were lawfulness and merit as dual pillars of intergenerational solidarity. It was observed that illegality curbs growth and social mobility, rewards the undeserving by distorting competition, and widens social gaps. Its victims are the young and honest businesses. Figures were cited showing that, between 2006-2012, Italy’s resultant “reputational deficit” led to an estimated 16 billion euro loss in foreign investment.
We need a new way of narrating Europe. We need it above all to counter the populist drift that has made anti-Europeanism its motto. Data provided by the Eurobarometer, the instrument measuring the belief of European citizens in the idea of Europe, shows that the vision of the founding fathers is in free fall. In 2008, 75% of Italian citizens were strongly convinced that the European project was a good thing, while today there is a risk that this percentage will drop below 50%.
The global imbalances reflected in demographic trends, in terms of economic and safety levels, are huge, and must be considered as a central factor in devising any realistic policy options. Whatever happens, there will be waves of migrants heading for Europe, as well as North America and the other wealthy countries in the world, with numbers undoubtedly increasing whenever there are any major conflicts underway. Faced with this reality and given the difference in the number of young workers compared to pensioners and the overall burden of the continent’s welfare syst
Discussions at this Aspen Seminars for Leaders session centered around trust, accountability and meritocracy as the keys to piecing back together a country suffering for some time now from serious afflictions and dysfunctions. The picture painted was one of institutions that do not trust the general public or private enterprise, with the result that the country’s political and economic life is marked by growing hyper-regulation. This excess of rules was characterized as the product of a lack of trust, and, in turn, as producing greater corruption and disreputable behavior.
There can be no denying that a huge paradigm shift underway and that both the crisis and the irruption of new technologies are undoubtedly contributing factors. It means there is more information available and that it is accessible by a great many people and we are witnessing a strengthening of the relationship between “equals”. This means that when deciding to buy one thing rather than another, consumers are increasingly likely to place greater trust in the opinions of other consumers who have actually tried out the product in question than in the information provided by compan
This session of the 2015 round of Aspen Seminars for Leaders focused on the key role of health and wellbeing in ensuring Italy’s development and prosperity. It was noted, in this regard, that medicine has taken incredible strides in recent years thanks to new discoveries, a case in point being the advances made possible by the mapping of the genome, which enable diseases that were untreatable up until a few years ago to be successfully fought.
The picture that emerged from the work of the 2014 Focus on Industry session of the Aspen Seminars for Leaders was of an Italian industrial system that was holding up well, even through the crisis, and particularly so in those sectors exposed to international competition. This year’s session saw the participants aiming higher, with a view to putting forward an agenda for Italian industry growth, the goal being not merely to ensure resilience, but rather to provide the underpinnings for a veritable industrial renaissance.
The opportunity to restart work on the country’s infrastructure involves and brings together those operating in the transport and services sector, public administrators and those who use it.
