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Roundtable

  • 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.

    • Milan
      • 18 February 2020
       
       

      A Country for young people

        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.

      • Meeting in digital format
        • 4 November 2020
         
         

        Science, politics, society: different speeds, common challenges

          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.

        • Meeting in digital format
          • 21 May 2020
           
           

          Government, finance and business team up on economic recovery and competitiveness

            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.

          • 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.

                                • Rome
                                  • 2 October 2019
                                   
                                   

                                  The circular economy and sustainable development

                                    Italy is, by far, leader of Europe’s circular economy, recuperating double the European average of raw material, much more than the Germans in all sectors, but especially in hypercompetitive ones such as wood/furniture. Much needs to be improved, however, in the proper management of every phase of the waste cycle (from collection to recovery to disposal) which is an integral part of the circular economy. A single southern Italian region – Sardinia – reports recycling and reuse percentages far above the European average.

                                  • Rome
                                    • 6 November 2019
                                     
                                     

                                    Making the most of Italy’s energy resources

                                      Wealth creation, energy demand and CO2 emissions continued even through 2018, building on the trend of the previous year. With every day that passes, the problem of reducing emissions becomes more urgent and its complexity more evident. A complexity that began to emerge at the very beginning of annual emission measurement but that does not offer a holistic rendering of the phenomenon.

                                    • Milan
                                      • 15 April 2019
                                       
                                       

                                      Brexit and financial markets: the consequences for Italy

                                        Brexit and all the uncertainty it is generating constitute an entirely new and potentially destabilizing element for financial markets.

                                        London has long functioned as Europe’s main financial market despite being located outside the Eurozone. The United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union now places Europe at a crossroads: either reach an agreement making it possible to maintain a good portion of operations in London or begin the long and painstaking task of creating a continental marketplace.

                                      • Milan
                                        • 18 November 2019
                                         
                                         

                                        Foreign investments as a driver of growth in Italy

                                          Italy has great potential to attract investments but many factors still hinder the influx of foreign capital. Data on the presence of multinationals offer a mottled picture. As regards the manufacturing sector, the more important of the second ranked European industrial power, nearly 20% of employees answer to foreign multinationals, a percentage that rises to 25% in the field of mechanical engineering, the pride of the “made in Italy” brand.

                                        • Rome
                                          • 14 February 2019
                                           
                                           

                                          Culture, information and competition: identity and multipolar governance

                                            Concomitant with the adoption of more stringent European copyright rules, any discussion of innovation and competition in the information sector necessarily involves examination of the current digital revolution. The instruments of governance inherited from the traditional sectors of publishing and telecommunications no longer suffice to deal either with the changes under way or the high concentration of market shares and financial resources in the hands of so few: large scale platforms and major American and Asian digital operators (in terms both of hardware and software).