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      • Milan
        • 8 April 2014
         
         

        Understanding change. Opportunities and risks for leaders in an era of uncertainty and complexity

          The title of this event yielded three key words for a debate on modern leadership: change, uncertainty and complexity. The proceedings got underway with the observation that any discussion of change entails assessing the various geographical and temporal factors that are increasingly impacting personal and professional life. Twenty years ago, the reach of professional activities was limited to the West, whereas today it is extending more and more towards emerging countries.

        • Milan
          • 7 April 2014
           
           

          Efficiency and sustainable development: challenges for business and government

            Discussions at this National Interest event were kicked off with the observation that Italy needs a more systemic and cross-cutting culture of sustainability and efficiency: the former in order to build a green society, and the latter to achieve improved energy efficiency and a more prudent use of natural resources. To that end, it was deemed essential that a strategic plan be devised which takes the Italian public duly into account, with efforts made to raise wider awareness particularly with respect to energy costs.

          • Rome
            • 19 March 2014
             
             

            Of virtue and necessity: privatization to spur growth in Italy

              Proceedings at this national roundtable got underway with participants observing that Italy periodically looks to privatization as a means to restoring the fragile fortunes of its public finances. Yet while the increasingly straitened condition of these finances is what gives rise, from time to time, to the need to engage in such sell-offs, privatization cannot and should not merely entail a quick grab for cash. Indeed, the roundtable saw a number of different aspects of privatization discussed.

            • Castelvecchio Pascoli (LU)
              • 28 February 2014
               
               

              The Aspen Institute Italia Seminar on Values and Society

                For the eighth year running and in conjunction with The Aspen Institute, the Aspen Seminar on Values and Society was held in Italy.

                The seminar is dedicated to commemorating Ennio Presutti, one of the founders of Aspen Institute Italia, who passed away in 2008. 

              • Rome
                • 5 February 2014
                 
                 

                Second dialogue of the Aspen Institute Food Security Strategy Group

                  The second meeting of The Aspen Institute “Food Security Strategy Group” was held in Rome between February 5-7, 2014, and saw the participation of entrepreneurs from the agro-food sector, experts, development practitioners, representatives from international organizations, and political leaders.

                • Milan
                  • 3 February 2014
                   
                   

                  Artists and artisans: the excellence of “Made in Italy”

                    The debate at this national roundtable got underway with the observation that tapping into knowledge that has always existed in Italy to revive Italian arts and crafts industries is a key priority for the country given that, in the current difficult climate, they could serve as important drivers of economic development and growth. It was noted that there is a peculiar symbiosis in Italy between the manufacturing industry and arts and crafts.

                  • Milan
                    • 27 January 2014
                     
                     

                    The new Italian manufacturing: American and Asian models

                      The manufacturing sector has changed considerably over recent years across the entire globe, and Italy too has undergone some very profound adjustments. But while every advanced country, with the exception of Germany, has lost major chunks of the manufacturing export market, a gradual upgrade and redistribution process has kept Italian manufacturing competitive despite a steep drop in domestic demand, and Italian sector firms have lost a smaller share than those of other more mature economies.

                    • Roma
                      • 22 January 2014
                       
                       

                      Suggestions for Italy’s spending review

                        This national roundtable discussion got underway with the observation that at the heart of Italy’s spending review is the idea of reducing expenditure for the purpose of rebalancing public finances or achieving other priority objectives such as alleviating the tax burden – a concept which, in reality, is not entirely new in Italy. Indeed, soon after the unification of the Kingdom of Italy, the Historical Right (to which Sella belonged) was engaged in a process of rationalizing expenditure with a view to balancing the budget.

                      • Milan
                        • 20 January 2014
                         
                         

                        “Mediacracy”: how media and politics interact

                          The participants at this national roundtable noted that, since its very beginnings, the story of the media has been interwoven with power (and the ability to call it to account). This was the case of the first gazettes to emerge in the seventeenth century in various European cities, though it was felt that other crucial milestones on this journey are also worth remembering, such as Voltaire’s “Treatise on Tolerance“, which, through an indictment not at all far removed from that of modern media campaigns, achieved important results for eighteenth-century French society.

                        • Rome
                          • 20 January 2014
                           
                           

                          From banks to competitive enterprises

                            Leading in to discussions at this Aspen Junior Fellows event was the observation that 2014 is the launch year for the European Banking Union, the product of what have been difficult compromises between the various countries involved after six years of financial crisis and two recessions.

                          • Rome
                            • 15 January 2014
                             
                             

                            Challenges for Italy’s start‐ups and the US market: innovation, technology, capital

                              Participants at this Aspen Italia National Interest event recognized from the outset of their discussions the crucial role that start-ups could – given the right conditions – play in increasing Italy’s economic competitiveness. The formation of new businesses in highly innovative sectors was acknowledged as not only helping to renew the economic fabric of the country, by opening up new market niches, but also as offering opportunities to younger workers, a group heavily penalized by the current crisis.

                            • Venice
                              • 4 October 2013
                               
                               

                              Pivot to Europe: options for a new Atlantic century

                                At this latest edition of the Aspen Transatlantic Dialogue, the participants pointed to recent developments in the United States – with the at-least partial “shutdown” of federal government operations – as highlighting the multiple dysfunction of political systems on both sides of the Atlantic. It was noted that, in the midst of an economic recovery that is uncertain, in some respects fragile, and unquestionably asymmetric (both as between different sectors and between different countries), the efficiency of government decision-making becomes crucial.

                              • Rome
                                • 22 May 2013
                                 
                                 

                                Saving Europe: a new compact across the Atlantic

                                  The main challenge identified as facing European leaders was that of striking a delicate balance between maintaining domestic political consensus (in the face of strong social tensions) and implementing necessary but painful reforms that almost without exception will only yield positive results in the medium to long term. While the worst of the financial crisis seems to have been overcome, many concerns remain regarding the overall state of Europe’s economies and the EU’s continued viability from a political and institutional standpoint.

                                • Rome
                                  • 16 December 2013
                                   
                                   

                                  Generation Y and the employment challenge

                                    At this event to discuss the latest issue of the Aspenia journal, it was observed that growth and jobs figures continue to deliver an undeniably worrying outlook for Europe, and Italy in particular. The Italian economy is still losing jobs, especially positions for young people, while the recovery is set to be slow (and uneven as between different parts of the country), with the expected increase in job opportunities falling below GDP growth.

                                  • Rome
                                    • 28 November 2013
                                     
                                     

                                    The digital agenda and the financial sector

                                      Proceedings at this National Conference got underway with the observation that the ICT industry characterizes and defines the age we live in. The spread of digital technology has led to a radical sea change in the economic system that is perhaps yet to be fully grasped. The profound and complex changes that this has given rise to in a number of spheres of endeavor are often perceived as a threat in Italy, due to the devastating effects they are having on the status quo, on centers of power, on existing organizational structures, and on employment.

                                    • Rome
                                      • 13 November 2013
                                       
                                       

                                      Modernizing Italy’s public administration for people and business

                                        It was noted at this national roundtable discussion that, according to the two most well-known systems for measuring the level of economic freedom existing in a country, the extent to which public authorities function well is a fundamental indicator of the same. Similarly, it is widely acknowledged that in countries where the functioning of the public administration meets the expectations of citizens, people can even be amenable to a high level of taxation.