In corporations and in cities, it is people that make the difference. This was the theme of a discussion with Marco Bucci, one-time corporate manager in Italy and the United States and now mayor of the city of Genoa.
The European Union response to the pandemic’s economic consequences has been the unprecedented mobilization of 2.4 billion euro in resources. The largest slice of the pie – 672.5 billion – will be earmarked for financing the Recovery and Resilience Facility, half of which is to be disbursed in the form of subsidies and the other half in loans. The end of austerity and renewed Member State solidarity have made it possible for Italy to count on 200 billion euro in such subsidies and loans.
The health emergency of recent months has changed the needs of citizens, particularly as regards their way of living in cities and private homes. These changes have to do with multiple aspects of the urban environment. They can be traced to the influence of transversal themes that include the “green revolution”, digital development, new forms of socializing stemming from virus containment measures and changes in infrastructure.
The main thread of the meeting could be summarized in this initial question: How can political relations between two culturally similar countries like Italy and Germany be so fragile and apparently unstable despite the solid trade relationship they enjoy? The parameters of the search for an answer were broad and deep, proof of the historic breadth of an Italo-German relationship dating back to the Renaissance and marked today by the shared values and principles of the European Union.
The first 2019 meeting of the Aspen Junior Fellows focused on analyzing the European Union’s plans and prospects in this year of parliamentary elections.
“Knowing Europe in order to change it”, could be said to have been the discussion’s leitmotiv. The Treaties map out the objectives toward which the Union must strive, such as balanced economic growth and price stability, and the instruments employed must be capable of meeting the ambitious goals that the common project envisions.
Modern medicine is in continuous evolution, with discoveries and technologies unimaginable until just a few years ago. The field of immunology could not have conceived, for example, of an immune system capable of being “educated” to combat tumor cells, and yet today there is a vast amount of clinical evidence of exactly that. Advancements in research have led to various paradigm changes that have overturned previous ideas about disease and the human body.
The automobile industry is riding the crest of a major innovative wave involving the digitalization of products and processes, the science of materials and solutions for sustainable mobility. This automotive evolution concerns automobiles produced for “mobility” and vehicles for “fun”. Indeed, these two broad categories are becoming increasingly divergent and often have antithetic specifications.
Aspen Institute Italia’s first event for 2018 prompted a cross-generational debate on the challenges facing Europe, examined from the Mediterranean perspective of Spain and Italy. The roundtable, which saw the participation of young members from Aspen Institute Italia and Aspen Institute España, took place eight days after the Summit of Southern European countries held in Rome. The final declaration of the Summit contained a precis of the numerous challenges to be addressed, with these also forming the subject of this debate.
It was noted, at this Aspen Junior Fellows meeting and debate session, that twenty-five years ago in December 1993, the Delors’ White Paper on “Growth, Competition and Unemployment” imbued the expression “Information Society” with political significance. In those years, a great wave of innovation was, through the spread of the internet, about to trigger a profound transformation. Never before in history has such intense change taken place in so short a time. Yet this was described as just the beginning, with technological innovation, especially digital advances, driving this change.
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.
The starting premise of proceedings at this Meeting for The Aspen Junior Fellows group was that any discussion regarding energy of the future entails an examination of technological considerations as well as geopolitical prospects, both of which were seen as hinging on the energy transition currently underway.
The financial crisis, the economic crisis, a crisis in the traditional workings of democracy, “Europe in crisis”: these were the phenomena highlighted by participants at this Aspen Junior Fellows Meeting as currently unfolding against a general backdrop of economic woes that are fomenting populism and racism. The risk – it was stressed – is that respect for the rule of law will be undermined within the European Union, despite this being one of the founding principles of the EU.
What road will Britain take once out of Europe, and what repercussions will this have for the European Union, in an international situation fraught with unknowns? These were some of the crucial issues examined in a debate held the day after a speech delivered by the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, at Lancaster House in London, during which it was disclosed for the first time that the UK is opting for a “hard” Brexit, involving a complete withdrawal from the common market as well as from the European Court of Justice.
This Aspen Junior Fellows meeting and debate session got underway with the observation that the performance of the Italian economy was marked by a succession of dips and spikes up until the 1970s, a period when the country underwent a dramatic decline in its competitiveness. Certain large firms disappeared while others disintegrated. The country’s industrial base endured the emergence of a new technological paradigm (ICT), the spread of global value chains, and an opening-up to international markets.
Discussions at this Meeting for Aspen Junior Fellows kicked off with the observation that every generation is distinguished by a different set of rules that gives rise to a tussle between generations and a consequent divergence in behaviors. The participants highlighted the need to understand this variability over time in order to be able to construe the factors that shape leadership.
The participants at this Meeting for the Aspen Junior Fellows noted that, unlike in the past, leadership today is measured by the ability to build a team, maintain a winning team spirit, and rally group members to “pull together” as a team. The event provided an opportunity to examine what constitute essential the building blocks for a successful team, how to maximize the performance of individuals in order to optimize that of the overall team, and whether defeats help improve team performance more than wins.
The participants at this Meeting for The Aspen Junior Fellows openly acknowledged that standing up to international comparison represents one of the key challenges for Italy’s university education system posed by globalization.
Discussions at this Meeting for the Aspen Junior Fellows began with acknowledgment that Italy’s maritime border along the Mediterranean is the country’s only extra-European frontier. Italy’s location and coastal development continue to ensure the country a flow of income from its role as a strategic European hub in what has come to be known as the new “maritime century”.
This meeting for the Aspen Junior Fellows focused on ways in which Italy’s great store of health knowledge and learning might be deployed to come to grips with rapidly evolving challenges in the health sector. It was noted, for instance, that life expectancy has increased by three months a year since 1951. This trend, combined with a drop in birth rates, has determined an outlook for Italy marked by a rapidly aging population, with social repercussions of major significance in the near future.
Antitrust regulations take a truly dynamic approach to the issue in question. They adapt to the continual evolution of the markets, and objectives evolve with time. Globalization and the international crisis are both factors that have a significant effect on competition. The original inspiration behind America’s 1890 Sherman Act has more-or-less been forgotten but its objective, in fact, was to protect small businesses from “the giants”.
