In this Aspen Seminar for Leaders, dedicated to Italian talent at home and abroad, it was noted that perhaps as in no other Western country, culture has been a unifying factor in Italy: the sheer force of Italians having ancient roots in common and an extraordinary shared history has sustained an unbroken national identity over the centuries, despite the country being for a long time fragmented into several smaller states. The shared sensibility of Italians is a distinctive trait that developed despite the territorial divisions and which became more extensively diffuse thanks to the waves of internal migration after World War II. The movement of a large number of people to the urban and industrial centers of the North helped to create a shared vision of the future. The Italy of that period found its identity in enterprise, managing to transform itself from a poor nation into an industrial power.
It was felt that today, in an increasingly complex world, this identity forged out of a weak and heterogeneous fragmentation could prove a strength. The very propensity of Italians to migrate becomes an advantage for the country: to go abroad is to uproot oneself, a process that is certainly traumatic but which can become an opportunity to learn and round off one’s cultural heritage with new knowledge.
The participants acknowledged that Italy is a land which has, in any event, always seen many peoples come and go, and that the roots of its inhabitants are the product of the cultural, political and social legacies of those that have passed through and those that have dominated it. Yet even beyond its borders, Italy has also been adept at engaging in active encounters and exchanges through trade and cultural excellence.
It is this sense of what it is to “be Italian”, a mix of creativity, adaptability and interpersonal skills, that has spawned many virtuous role models, some of whom have been particularly successful internationally in fields as diverse as the arts, technology, design, architecture, medical and scientific research, international law, finance, and business management. It was conceded, however, that these Italian success stories, outstanding individuals though they may be, often have difficulty forging networks between themselves.
Indeed, the participants pointed to the most common negative traits of the Italian identity as being the failure to create networks, to develop a civic sense, and to promote meritocracy – all limitations which make it hard to attract foreign talent to Italy, which in turn leads to a serious net brain drain.
It was thus suggested that serious thought needs to be given to strategies for attracting new talent to Italy and offering opportunities for talented Italians currently living abroad to return. To this end, it was seen as crucial for exchange networks to be established, through which, thanks to new technologies, Italians living abroad might be put into contact with institutions, but also with other expatriate Italians. Indeed, it was stressed that the circulation of ideas which stem from the experiences of all Italians living or having lived abroad needs be turned into a resource for the country.
In an increasingly globalized world, human capital is one of the most important contributing factors to the competitiveness and success of an economic system. Structured efforts on the part of all actors involved were therefore seen as crucial in order to promote the internationalization required in all spheres of endeavor. Talented people might very well be the bearers of internationalization, but the participants were at pains to underline that any such process should not focus solely on students and more highly-skilled workers. Italy needs to internationalize a broader cross-section of the population that currently has very little contact with other nations and cultures.
In conclusion, it was emphasized that Italy needs to take its cue from countries that encourage overseas study and work experience, beginning even from the completion of senior high school studies, in order to overcome the widespread perception that such experiences are not worthwhile and even slow down one’s training and career progression. Exposure to and familiarity with international best practices by a growing proportion of Italians (starting with young people) would – it was proposed – bring new ideas and vigor to the country, thereby generating huge benefits in strategic sectors of the national economy such as tourism.