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National Roundtable

  • Bologna
    • 9 July 2018
     
     

    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.

    • Rome
      • 12 September 2018
       
       

      Shifting to sustainable transportation in Italy: social and economic consequences

        The participants at this roundtable noted that there is practically unanimous consensus on the need to rise to the challenge of achieving eco-sustainable mobility, a necessary objective in order to meet the Paris Agreement’s target of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C. The issue was viewed as one primarily concerning the health of both the present generation and the next.

      • Rome
        • 26 September 2018
         
         

        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”.

        • Bologna
          • 16 October 2018
           
           

          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.

          • Milan
            • 22 January 2018
             
             

            The US Tax reform

              Discussions at this national roundtable opened with the observation that the tax reforms signed into law by the Trump administration have an air of momentousness about them and have a significant impact on corporate taxation, with the company tax rate reduced from 35% to 21%. The impact on personal income tax is, however, decidedly more modest, with the tax rate cut by merely 2.6 percentage points, dropping from 39.6% to 37%. In addition, the former measure is, at least in theory, permanent, while the latter – for reasons tied to US parliamentary rules – will end in 2025.

            • Rome
              • 15 November 2018
               
               

              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.

              • Rome
                • 12 July 2018
                 
                 

                Innovation to boost competitiveness in agriculture

                  The participants at this national roundtable described Italian agriculture as a sector which, although growing, is still replete with shortcomings. The industry has shown that it can shift exports of over 41 billion euro, but this is still not in the league of Germany’s 80 billion euro figure. It was felt that the sector continues to suffer from insufficient competitiveness, due mainly to a lack of investment and innovation.

                • Monza
                  • 12 November 2018
                   
                   

                  Digital economy development

                    The participants at this national roundtable noted that digitalization is a paradigm that is not only revolutionizing the economy but the whole of society. This transformation transcends geographical boundaries, is not confined to particular sectors, and has also changed the market and the contractual rules that for decades have governed dealings between different economic actors.

                  • Milan
                    • 24 September 2018
                     
                     

                    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.

                    • Milan
                      • 13 June 2017
                       
                       

                      Smart buildings, smart energy: the future of intelligent infrastructure

                        Participants at this national roundtable highlighted smart energy and smart building as key components of the smart city concept. “Smartness” in urban contexts was seen as entailing the pursuit of two main objectives: efficiency in the face of resource scarcity, and a higher standard of living. To achieve these goals, it was deemed essential to focus efforts on three fronts in particular. Firstly, infrastructure is a necessary though insufficient precondition for services to be able to respond to complexity, which in urban contexts stems from an admixture of markedly varied needs.

                      • Milan
                        • 26 June 2017
                         
                         

                        How can the school system help Italy’s competitiveness?

                          The participants at this national roundtable vehemently challenged the veracity of a popular – now verging on hackneyed – belief that the Italian education system only churns out mediocrity. Nothing – it was felt – could be further from the truth. The tenor of education and training at an international level leans favorably towards the traditional system adopted in Italy which is based, in its essentials, on the Giovanni Gentile model.

                        • Rome
                          • 29 March 2017
                           
                           

                          Enabling factors to develop sustainable transportation in Italy

                            Discussions at this national roundtable emphasized that sustainable mobility is a fundamental underpinning of any goods and people transport system that, while meeting movement and transportation needs, does not give rise to negative environmental and health impacts but rather contributes to ensuring improved quality of life.

                          • Rome
                            • 31 May 2017
                             
                             

                            The future of government: imagining the Italy of tomorrow

                              The pursuit of security and a desire for greater certainty were recurrent themes in discussions at this national roundtable on the future of government in Italy. It was observed that Western democracies – beset by populist movements of various ilks and engulfed by ongoing economic crisis – are struggling to arrive at a new order and are, above all, failing to fully meet the needs and demands of their citizens.

                            • Milan
                              • 27 February 2017
                               
                               

                              Fighting poverty and favoring social integration: new business models to boost cooperation

                                The participants at this roundtable session noted that, today more than ever, there is a need to formulate responses capable of addressing the impacts of the enduring economic crisis. Statistics were cited indicating that, in Italy, absolute poverty affects over 4 million people, of whom around 1 million are minors, with another 13 million people at risk. In addition, in Italy and Europe, new forms of poverty predominantly involve segments of the population that – from once relatively protected positions – have become vulnerable, thus giving rise to new states of fragility and need.

                              • Rome
                                • 7 July 2017
                                 
                                 

                                The migration challenge. Human mobility and development in the 21st century

                                  The starting premise of discussions at this roundtable on migration, organized by Aspen Institute Italia, was that current tensions within Europe demonstrate how Italy has effectively become – and is being seen by its continental partners – as a buffer state: a country deputized to serve as a “shock absorber” in the new geopolitics of the Mediterranean.

                                • Rome
                                  • 15 February 2017
                                   
                                   

                                  Italy’s constitutional reform: searching for common ground

                                    The participants at this national roundtable opened their discussions by affirming that the constitutional referendum held in Italy on December 4, 2016 produced a result that leaves no room for doubt: the electorate has rejected the proposed reforms to the Constitution championed by the Renzi government. In 2006, the same fate befell the proposal put forward and supported by a center-right majority.