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Roundtable

  • Meeting in digital format
    • 16 November 2020
     
     

    Generational turnover in Italy

      Business is the fundamental agent in the recovery of an economy struck as dramatically by the pandemic as Italy’s has been. To determine whether that recovery will be a success we need to consider the system’s economic armature of countless small and medium-sized family-run enterprises. Today’s generational hand-over becomes even more important than it has been over recent decades. At stake is the result of the major challenges awaiting national manufacturing: the digital transformation and the environmental transition.

    • Meeting in digital format
      • 4 May 2020
       
       

      A new start for post-pandemic tourism

        The pandemic crisis now under way is only the latest chronologically since 9/11, the Arab Spring, the 2008 financial downturn and Brexit; not to mention climate change, which acts as a sort of umbrella for all recent emergencies.

      • Meeting in digital format
        • 23 November 2020
         
         

        Italy’s health system: finding a balance between emergencies and routine care

          The Italian healthcare system continues to feel the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the outlay of financial and organizational resources needed to confront the emergency must not take the focus off the structural issues posed by the need to protect a steadily ageing population’s health. Instead, the pandemic should offer an opportunity to highlight existing shortcomings and create new models with which to confront a future return to normality.

        • Meeting in digital format
          • 28 April 2020
           
           

          Proposals for the future from Aspen Institute Italia Junior Fellows

            The economic, social and geopolitical impact of Covid-19 presents challenges that, as they are confronted, will have significant, long-term consequences for the country’s future. In Italy, one of the nations most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, preexisting economic structural weaknesses make an effective response to the emergency not only strategic but especially difficult.

          • Meeting in digital format
            • 9 November 2020
             
             

            Building an interconnected society: infrastructure, investment, innovation and integration

              The pandemic has had a considerable impact on lifestyles, both temporarily and longer term (structurally). Even after the arrival of an anti-coronavirus vaccine, an interconnected society is going to have to recuperate a good number of physical living spaces in order to get back to “normal”. That means fewer distance-based activities, some of which, however, are bound to remain useful and will tend to be employed more as we move forward than they were in pre-emergency times.

            • Meeting in digital format
              • 20 April 2020
               
               

              More and better jobs in the great global transformation

                The future of work was the main theme of the digital panel discussion set up with the collaboration of the national council of the association of job consultants, where a paper entitled “More and better jobs in the great global transformation” was presented.

                The discussion focused on the difficulties reviving productive activities such as services in the presence of a pandemic. Much will depend on the effectiveness of the measures adopted to ensure the survival of businesses and labor relations during the lockdown and as the recovery begins.

              • Meeting in digital format
                • 30 November 2020
                 
                 

                Making the most of Italy’s energy resources

                  In stark contrast with the past, any analysis of the year 2020 is dominated by the profound impact of a pandemic so capricious as to thwart any attempt at predicting the future. The fundamental question is whether the change has been a structural one and, as regards energy, if it is capable on its own of accelerating or slowing decarbonization, given the fact that the energy industry remains a prime sector within which to seize recovery-related opportunities.

                • Meeting in digital format
                  • 15 June 2020
                   
                   

                  Never waste a crisis: what lessons to draw for the Italian health system?

                    The emergency that erupted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic has some important lessons to offer the Italian healthcare system. Although it is clearly difficult to compare the healthcare models of regions affected asymmetrically by the virus, it is undeniable that coordination at various levels has proven to be one of the system’s weak points. The situation has generated confusion along the chain of control and implementation of measures, and immediate intervention regarding operational aspects – even before institutional prerogatives – is imperative.

                  • Meeting in digital format
                    • 10 December 2020
                     
                     

                    A recipe to relaunch Italy’s economy

                      Italy must not underestimate the challenge of generating economic recovery using Next Generation EU resources. Europe, after so many years of hesitancy, made a decided shift in gears when it reached out to the market to collect the funds for reconstruction. It is now up to individual countries to submit credible recovery plans. There are various glitches to be resolved when it comes to the Italian situation – first among them being to formulate a consistent vision of the country’s future.

                    • Meeting in digital format
                      • 18 June 2020
                       
                       

                      Future mobility: smart, innovative, sustainable

                        The Covid-19 emergency has forced millions of people into quarantine and has interrupted the ordinary flow of local and international traffic. The sudden emptying of urban spaces traditionally perceived as dense and congested is the most glaring evidence of the alteration in lifestyles and of the impact of thousands of city dwellers’ inevitable recourse to more streamlined and flexible work solutions.

                      • Meeting in digital format
                        • 17 November 2020
                         
                         

                        Research and innovation for life sciences in Italy

                          The daily effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on every individual and organization are clearly foregrounding how wealth and health go hand in hand. The quest for health – the focus of the political agenda and objectives of every government – will influence every government’s process of reconstruction for months to come.

                        • Meeting in digital format
                          • 14 July 2020
                           
                           

                          Of pandemics and resilience. People, communities and development post Covid-19

                            The pandemic has unmasked the fragility of our self-assured, globalized, skill-savvy world. Even the most economically advanced countries’ primary response to this unknown virus was a low-tech social distancing, which has necessarily foregrounded the limitations of human action and knowledge.  The Socratic paradox “I know that I do not know” encourages the kind of continuing fortification of basic research that calls for increased funding from the Italian government.

                          • Meeting in digital format
                            • 6 July 2020
                             
                             

                            For a sustainable and responsible economy: the role of finance

                              Sustainability has been a concern in the financial world for some time now, with steady and significant growth over recent years in investments centered on ESG (environment, sustainability and governance) criteria. Far from slowing that trend, the Corona virus epidemic is proving an accelerator, with investors seizing on the opportunities associated with a “green” recovery and reconstruction.

                            • Meeting in digital format
                              • 22 September 2020
                               
                               

                              Social mobility: on youth and merit

                                A mapping of the current phenomenon of continual social mobility reduction shows university training as having an extremely important role, since successfully completing a good post-secondary education is one of the essential prerequisites for improving social status and economic prosperity.

                              • Milan
                                • 27 January 2020
                                 
                                 

                                AI: a new alliance between technology, business and society

                                  The Artificial Intelligence debate, which started back in the 1950s, has become particularly topical today. The benefits of AI are recognized as undeniable but, at the same time, there is growing fear and resistance owing to the evolution of the man/machine – or subject/tool – relationship.

                                • Meeting in digital format
                                  • 28 September 2020
                                   
                                   

                                  Future by quality: life sciences and research in Italy

                                    Science and technology parks are an essential part of the innovation ecosystem. Their ability to link a variety of experiences and disciplines, thereby creating networks of research centers, spin-offs, start-ups, incubators, business angels and venture capitalists makes them a major factor in the country’s competitiveness, in addition to offering nation-wide opportunities. This important contribution is even more fundamental in the field of life sciences, where development timelines are very long and risks quite high.

                                  • Rome
                                    • 17 April 2019
                                     
                                     

                                    Public Administration and capitalism of the digital platforms

                                      The aim of this Aspen Institute Italia round table was to examine the public administration’s role in meeting the challenges posed by technological innovation. A background document entitled “Public administration and digital platform capitalism” was presented during the meeting.

                                    • Roma
                                      • 28 May 2019
                                       
                                       

                                      Science and people. Understanding and supporting research and its applications

                                        There has been a waning over recent years in society’s trust in and understanding of scientific progress and its pervasive benefits. How can science and public opinion be reconciled when the two appear to exist on parallel planes, divided by the critical confrontation being fomented by the social networks? A polarization of positions that is influencing the perceptions of communities and of policies that include with scientific and/or technical aspects.

                                      • Rome
                                        • 17 July 2019
                                         
                                         

                                        Innovative therapies and welfare: a new paradigm

                                          The Italian and European healthcare systems are under increasing pressure as the result of a series of dynamics involving their populations and of new technological and scientific trends that are calling into question the efficacy and appropriateness of current approaches to the provision of healthcare services.

                                        • Milan
                                          • 2 December 2019
                                           
                                           

                                          Open innovation: financial technology, banking, business

                                            Banking is one of the sectors most exposed to the digital revolution. The major changes introduced by new technologies and the various actors that have debuted on the credit market are causing traditional operators to wonder about their future. The timid attempts at innovation undertaken to date by Italian banks do not appear sufficient to ensure their competitiveness in a scenario that is seeing sources of short and medium term returns shrinking.