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      • Rome
        • 27 November 2009
         
         

        Politics, science and innovation across the Atlantic

          The starting point for the discussions at this event was scientific method, with an emphasis on the complex and often problematic interaction of the “exact” sciences with politics and, more particularly, with the media – an indispensable vehicle for getting through to the general public and hence, indirectly, to leaders. It was stressed that complete adherence by physicists and biologists to professional ethics is essential if knowledge is to be used properly in addressing many social and economic problems.

        • Milan
          • 22 November 2009
           
           

          For a new creative leadership: culture and innovation for economic growth

            The 14th Annual Conference of the Friends of Aspen, held at the Palazzo Litta in Milan, featured a debate on the ways in which a combination of culture and innovation could give rise to new forms of leadership capable of revitalizing Italian economic life – particularly its entrepreneurial scene.

            As is now customary, the Conference – chaired for the first time by the group’s new president, Beatrice Trussardi – also provided an opportunity to introduce new members to the group and to present the group’s activities to them.

          • Milan
            • 16 November 2009
             
             

            Simpler norms: modernizing Italy

              The participants at this roundtable event noted that, in terms of Italy’s economic development and competitiveness, regulatory simplification represents a fundamental challenge for the modernization of the country. Unnecessary red tape – the result of the application of obsolete laws – places a burden on both individuals and businesses which effectively amounts to a form of hidden taxation. Put in other terms, it represents an engaged handbrake on an economy that needs to take off again.

            • Rome
              • 13 November 2009
               
               

              The Enlightenment and the transatlantic link: common roots and today’s challenges

                This Seminar, organized in conjunction with The Aspen Institute, America, examined the relevance today of Enlightenment values through the analysis of more than forty texts by American and European authors – including several Italian writers – which paved the way for contemporary thinking. The Seminar got underway with a look at the contradictions of our time, caught as it is between universalist idealism and the need for concrete responses to global problems.

              • Rome
                • 27 October 2009
                 
                 

                Projects for Italy’s 150th anniversary

                  The seminar got underway with the participants recalling that when Charles De Gaulle met André Malraux in the aftermath of the Second World War, he said to him, “D’abord le passé”, meaning that a sense of history enables each of us to look back at the past to find our way out of a current critical phase and work towards building the future.

                • Lecce
                  • 23 October 2009
                   
                   

                  Talk-debate: Italy and its south

                    The participants in this talk-debate noted that by acknowledging the existence of various “Souths” in Italy rather than continuing to speak of “the South”, efforts have been made in recent years to mitigate the persistence of the serious and unresolved question of the South. The underlying hope has been that, by differentiating between the various areas of Italy’s Mezzogiorno, widespread change and gradual renewal might be encouraged to take root.

                  • Lecce
                    • 23 October 2009
                     
                     

                    Markets and energy/environmental policy: choices for growth and competition in Italian industry

                      The seminar discussions got underway with the observation that international energy markets are the litmus test of a crisis whose outcomes are still uncertain. The dramatic slump in global demand has triggered a sharp fall in prices, but speculative interests and unfounded concerns that the peak oil point is approaching continue to artificially sustain share prices at levels that lack any sound market justification.

                    • Lecce
                      • 23 October 2009
                       
                       

                      Health sciences in Italy: living better and longer

                        The Seminar discussions highlighted the divide that exists in Italy today between the core research sector and the business world. It was noted that there is a lack of osmosis capable, on the one hand, of making the most of potential and, on the other, of integrating it into a productive strategy to support the country’s economy. There is a need for the State to coordinate research centers, health authorities, industry and the regulatory sphere, in accordance with policy choices formulated on the basis of the health needs of the country.

                      • Lecce
                        • 23 October 2009
                         
                         

                        Business, productivity, active society: a recipe for growth

                          The participants in this seminar observed that after the shock of the crisis, the economy is searching for ways and means of coming out of the recession with a new model for growth. The first signs of recovery are raising hopes everywhere that the worst may be over – even in Italy. However, despite indications emerging from the financial market, the impact of the crisis on the real economy and employment are far from being a thing of the past.

                        • Lecce
                          • 23 October 2009
                           
                           

                          New paradigms of progress and capitalism

                            This seminar examined developments in the concept of progress and in models of capitalism in light of the profound economic and social changes wrought by the financial and economic crisis.

                          • Milan
                            • 9 October 2009
                             
                             

                            Jump-starting economic growth

                              The participants at this talk and debate session were reminded that the main priority on the economic agenda of Western countries is the immediate promotion of sustainable recovery. The fact that there are 22 million unemployed people in Europe is indicative of the social hardship caused by the recession. Linked to this surplus production capacity is a reduced ability to use leveraging (the very mechanism that induced “euphoria” within the economic system thereby triggering the crisis).

                            • Rome
                              • 8 October 2009
                               
                               

                              After the crisis: renewing Italy’s leadership

                                A key theme at this roundtable session was that leadership entails not only managing the present but also imagining and building the “future”. However, a series of obstacles is often encountered within this complex process, including an “antagonistic” attitude that is quite widespread in political – but also other – spheres, and a hollow rhetoric of the future steeped in words such as innovation, research, quality and merit that are often advocated but rarely given substance through effective decisions.

                              • Cernobbio
                                • 27 September 2009
                                 
                                 

                                Italian successes and talented operators around the world

                                  The experience gained by Italians around the world, the challenges that will need to be faced to build global skills, and the ability of the national economy to operate as a global actor are all aspects of a single issue, namely: how to make the most of overseas Italian talent. Talented Italians are finding it increasingly easier to emigrate rather than build reasonable career prospects for themselves at home.

                                • Rome
                                  • 18 September 2009
                                   
                                   

                                  The world after the crash

                                    The breakfast meeting got underway with an identification of the long-term challenges that the economic crisis poses to the West. It was noted that the last twenty years have been marked by momentous changes. In the 1990s, the various areas of the world became increasingly interdependent. As a result, the last ten years have seen the highest global GDP growth ever recorded, fueled mainly by the US deficit and Chinese exports. However, the scale of this financial and trade imbalance cannot support future growth.

                                  • Rome
                                    • 16 September 2009
                                     
                                     

                                    The common good: truth and gift-giving

                                      The participants at this roundtable session noted that Pope Benedict XVI, in his recent encyclical entitled Caritas in veritate, reiterates that “the world is in trouble because of the lack of thinking”. It would seem that modern life, with its daily challenges, is focusing minds on more immediate and direct concerns. Today’s cultural impoverishment and loss of ideals has generated a fear of living, thought and reflection.

                                    • Cernobbio
                                      • 19 July 2009
                                       
                                       

                                      Italy’s universities: reforms and tools to render them competitive

                                        Reform of Italy’s universities has for months been at the center of the national public debate, coinciding with the development of plans for a government review of the area. In addition to issues relating to the governance of universities and the soundness of the system’s macro-financial structure, the participants at this Conference examined ways of making the Italian university model more efficient and merit-based, focusing predominantly on the mechanisms regulating the autonomy of individual universities and the relationship between the latter and their local business communities.

                                      • Rome
                                        • 16 July 2009
                                         
                                         

                                        Expanding broadband in Italy

                                          Discussion at this roundtable event got underway with the observation that the development and spread of broadband internet access services have played and will continue to play a key role in the growth of the Italian economy. Indeed, the potential of broadband services to contribute to the simplification of business and administrative processes and the introduction of more efficient business models constitutes an essential prerequisite for improving the international competitiveness of the country’s economy.

                                        • Rome
                                          • 7 July 2009
                                           
                                           

                                          Europe and its frontiers: beyond geography

                                            Sixty years on from the establishment of the Council of Europe, which marked the start of the journey towards European integration, it is worthwhile reflecting on European identity as a necessary resource in facing today’s challenges. This roundtable discussion examined several fundamental questions related to the issue of Europe’s identity, including: What are the new frontiers that define Europe today? Are they mapped out by cultural diversity or economic geography?