Aspen Forum Italy – France
Kicking off proceedings at this International Conference was an acknowledgement that while France and Italy naturally have national priorities that sometimes diverge, they also have shared responsibilities and interests both at the European and the transatlantic level, ranging from making necessary strides on key aspects of eurozone reform to enhancing industrial cooperation, including on matters regarding defense and security. In examining the relationship of the two countries, it was felt that the impact of prevailing global conditions must also be taken fully into account.
Assessing risk: business in global disorder
Proceedings at this International Conference got underway with an acknowledgement that the increase being witnessed in political risk factors — both in number and intensity — is linked to certain adverse effects of globalization, namely: the perception of growing inequalities, the rapid introduction of new pervasive technologies, the sense by nation-states of loss of control over their own destiny, and the shift in the balances of power between states.
Making the most of Italy’s energy resources
Discussions at this roundtable kicked off with the observation that global economic growth, which has been particularly strong over the past year, has brought with it well-known benefits in terms of development (helping to combat extreme poverty, for instance), yet it has also marked a reversal in the trend of CO2 atmospheric emissions, which, after having stabilized for a three-year period, are rising again at a rate of around 1.5%. This once again poses the question of what measures are needed to decouple growth from emissions.
Business, youth, innovation
Debate at this Conference for the Aspen Junior Fellows focused on the role of Italian businesses, which, in order to establish themselves within a global market, must perforce be engines of innovation, while at the same time creating social value that goes beyond the figures in their profit and loss accounts and balance sheets. The discussion also addressed the issue of youth employment, dwelling on the necessity of setting up training courses that heed the needs of the labor market and are capable of responding effectively to the changing requirements of firms.
Climate Change = Economic Change
The problem of global warming can no longer be deferred if its catastrophic planet-wide consequences are to be avoided. That was the message of a special report issued in October by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the most authoritative scientific body dedicated to the study of climate change. According to the report, at the current rate, by 2030 the global temperature increase will surpass 1.5°C, which is considered the upper safety limit for containing and managing the fall-out, albeit at the cost of massive investments in financial, material and human resources.
New citizens and the Italian Constitution’s values
Aspen Institute Italia’s aim in organizing this roundtable was to foster debate on the challenges involved in integrating foreigners into Italian society. By way of introduction, it was noted that, over the years, the number of foreign nationals permanently residing in Italy has grown steadily and is set to continue to rise, as will the number of immigrants acquiring Italian citizenship. In a very short space of time, Italy’s society has been transformed, in line with what has happened in other countries such as France and the United Kingdom, and can no longer be considered mono-ethnic.
Media and politics in the age of algorithms
A key observation made at the start of discussions at this Aspen Seminar for Leaders session was that the main shift entailed by the digital revolution is not just technological, but especially cultural, in nature. It was noted that in past decades, a vertical relationship prevailed in the world between the management of political power and the media. Today, this relationship is very different, and has become horizontal.
To the future. The economy, demographics and democracy
The participants at this roundtable noted that the current state of political, economic, and anthropological flux demonstrates that democratic and civilization models are proving less and less effective guarantees of liberal democratic values, whilst the conflict between the growing difficulty of achieving a new world order and the emergence of new touchstones built around the notion of the nation-state would seem to be getting stronger.
The Italian Public Administration Reform: drivers, achievements, next steps and goals
Aspen Institute Italia’s aim in organizing this roundtable was to provide an opportunity to reflect on the processes that have characterized public administrative reform in Italy in recent years. In the course of the proceedings, a new Aspen Report was presented entitled “Public-sector reforms in Italy during the 17th legislature: their impetus, outcomes, and objectives”.
Italian trade fair sector for a new industrial policy
Discussions at this National Conference kicked off with the observation that Italy’s trade-fair sector is a key tool for promoting the country’s economy. Not only do successful events have an important economic impact on the area in which they are hosted, with a potentially greater than tenfold multiplier effect, but trade fairs also offer crucial support to businesses.
Italian airport system: synergies, investment, attractiveness
The starting premise of discussions at this national roundtable was that the issue of air transport owes its considerable complexity to the sheer number of stakeholders involved. The interests and different perspectives of airport operators, airline companies, travelers, local authorities, and other competing and combined transport networks were seen as calling for a synergistic approach both on the part of these players themselves and of the State.
Transactions, ownership and trust with the advent of blockchain
The starting premise for discussions at this Meeting for the Friends of Aspen was that blockchain is much more than just the technology behind bitcoin. It is a public, decentralized, cryptographically-secured ledger shared by all parties operating within a computer network. These characteristics make it a paradigm destined to have significant impacts on the economic system, fundamentally changing our understanding of the concepts of transactions, ownership, and trust.
New media, new content, next challenges
Kicking off this event was the observation that at the end of 2016, “post-truth” – as conveyed by so-called fake news – was declared word of the year by the Oxford Dictionary. This was held up as an example of the challenges posed both by the rapid evolution of technological and business paradigms, that are shifting the focus of communications, and by the speed of access to digital platforms, where members of the public have become both readers and authors. Users also have the ability to determine how successfully a piece of news is spread, by sharing it en masse or to a narrow audience.
Rethinking our future, with Augmented Intelligence
This meeting and debate session kicked off with observation that the debate over the impacts of cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, on the business and professional world, and, indirectly, on educational and social systems, has become a pressing one. The new prospects that they open up also call for reflection on the part of intellectuals and politicians, who have typically shown no inclination towards certain subject matters that, in the past, were the preserve of highly-specialized and circumscribed niches in tech circles and, to some extent, in academia.
Changing the way regulatory watchdogs are governed
Discussions at this National Interest event devoted to the topic of changing the way independent regulatory watchdogs are governed spanned a number of issues. It was noted that such authorities, representing an embodiment of the widespread phenomenon of polycentric decision-making characteristic of the modern state, emerged in order to meet certain needs of states, such as relieving overburdened parliaments by delegating regulatory functions and introducing a certain degree of pluralism in administrative structures to cope with the increasing frequency of international dealings.
Constitutional reforms in Italy
Kicking off discussions at this National Interest event was the observation that the opening of Italy’s 18th legislature would seem to portend a new order within Italian society, among the various political parties, and within the country’s institutions. Power relations between the parties, as well as the interplay between them and the key priorities for debate, have changed.
How global power is shifting: stakes and priorities for Italy
The international system is at a highly uncertain stage of transition, both in terms of the economy and of politics and security. Following the acceleration in growth and trade (in part, certainly positive) owing to the globalization mainly of the 1990s, a series of tensions have become manifest in the form of regional crises and global instability. Profound technological changes – those macroscopic in the financial sector, but not only – have had a direct effect on the social structure of individual states and on balances of power.
The Aspen Institute Italia Seminar on Values and Society
The 16th edition of the Aspen Institute Italia Seminar on Values and Society is held in collaboration with The Aspen Institute.
The three-day seminar is dedicated to the memory of Aspen Institute Italia co-founder Ennio Presutti, who passed away in 2008.
The Aspen Institute Italia Seminar. Leadership, Globalization and the Quest for Common Values
The 8th edition of The Aspen Institute Italia Seminar on Leadership, Globalization and the Quest for Common Values was held in collaboration with The Aspen Institute
The three-day seminar is dedicated to the memory of Aspen Institute Italia co-founder Ennio Presutti, who passed away in 2008.