Italy’s patrimony: value added in global competition

The forum “Italy’s patrimony: value added in global competition” was part of the Institute’s National Interest project, which has posted a rich selection of documents in Italian and in English on this website in an ongoing discussion of the value of identity, culture, language and skills in this country. In order to better meet the challenges posed by current globalization trends, the forum highlighted the need for Italy to bet on its rich heritage. The Italian language, in particular, has a long and important history, and represent many of the roots of Western civilization. Those roots do not only serve to understand the past, but also to strengthen our vision for the future. “Roots do not cast shadows.” The Italian language suffers from the spread of English – recognized worldwide as a common code of communication – which has weakened the modern lexicon, further put to the test by “television” language and a decline in the quality of education. Italy also has an important industrial heritage. Participants stressed how Italy displays many unique features in this regard: over time the country has made good use both of the small and medium-sized enterprise model and the grand industrial model. The former, often dynamic and flexible, has represented a solid, long-lasting, winning model, and the latter has successfully exported the made in Italy brand, as well as Italian culture, style and appreciation of quality of life. Participants agreed that these successful models could be further developed and enjoyed. Several transversal issues to improve Italy’s global position were considered universal: the value of education, the importance of institutions, renewing and “internationalizing” leadership, the need for new and decisive processes of innovation, the key role played by youth, investment in research, and quality of life in general.