The fourth Aspen University Fellows roundtable was devoted to the theme of Italy’s compatibility with the newer generations and the role of those generations in a society whose complexity often generates uncertainty and pessimism.
The relationship between politics, science and society is playing an increasingly prominent role in rising to the challenges of modernity. A strong alliance of political institutions, scientists, experts and citizens is essential to defeating the global pandemic, but also an essential prerequisite for the success of policies aimed at inverting the advance of climate change and introducing new technologies and new solutions for boosting the quality of life, prosperity and wealth of modern societies.
Italia ed Europa stanno provando a superare la fase dell’emergenza legata alla pandemia di coronavirus. Si tratta di un frangente delicato in cui gli Stati, le banche e le imprese devono lavorare insieme per lasciare alle spalle la crisi e costruire una “nuova normalità”. Se in questo momento la priorità è offrire liquidità alle imprese e gli strumenti messi in campo sono le moratorie, le garanzie pubbliche e il sostegno del canale bancario, nel futuro diventerà cruciale riparare ai danni creati dal virus e sostenere la capitalizzazione delle aziende.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Europe is finally being put to the vote. Of course, the parties of individual nations will continue to count, and national issues will hold a certain importance for citizens called to the polls. But in the end what will be at stake is a new idea of Europe, because this time, and as never before, the European construction is going to be judged politically.
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.
