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National Programs

  • Milan
    • 28 November 2011
     
     

    The “green economy”: new opportunities for Italy

      The key objective to emerge from the discussions at this National Conference was that of transforming a constraint into an opportunity. The green economy must be made the cornerstone of a new, more sustainable and enduring development model. It was observed that, in recent years, particularly in the wake of the protracted effects of the worst economic and financial crisis in recent history, the world has begun to stop treating the “environmental factor” as a possible limitation on freedom of enterprise, but rather to see it from a more comprehensive perspective.

    • Milan
      • 13 June 2011
       
       

      Health and well-being: new models of sustainable development

        As an opening premise, the participants at this National Conference noted that any reflection on the future of the Italian national health service must first start with an analysis of the value produced for the country in health terms. In this regard, statistics were cited indicating that between 1951 and the present day, life expectancy in Italy has increased by 1 month every 4 months. Italy also has the longest-lived population in Europe, with over-65s already making up 20% of the population, or 12 million people, of whom 3.5 million are over 80 years old (6%).

      • Milan
        • 26 September 2011
         
         

        Venture capital and start-ups: boosting innovation and youth employment

          The participants at this roundtable session observed that Italy has long been a country that, paradoxically, is brimming with ideas yet marked by scant innovation and little skilled employment for the young talent chiefly responsible for these ideas. The abundant and inexpensive intellectual resources on hand are held back by a combination of a poor aptitude for project creation and poor communication among the various actors who are in a position to ensure that good ideas translate into great innovations.

        • Milan
          • 2 May 2011
           
           

          The new media, the power of information and business

            Underpinning the discussions at this Aspen national roundtable session on “The new media, the power of information and business” was the notion that the internet could serve as a driver of growth in Italy on the condition that the internet economy bears part of the massive costs associated with its own development. Recent studies were cited which estimate that the internet economy in Italy today accounts for 2% of the country’s gross domestic product, with expected growth margins by 2015 of between 3.3% and 4.3%.

          • Milan
            • 18 April 2011
             
             

            Investing in stocks, controlling company shares and corporate governance

              Paving the way for discussions at this National Roundtable session was the acknowledgement that in a climate where globalization processes are playing an increasingly more central role in Italy’s social and economic development, Italian firms also need to gear themselves up to being more globally competitive. Achieving this objective, it was suggested, brings with it a renewed need for financing or refinancing of many of the country’s firms and banks.

            • Rome
              • 21 January 2010
               
               

              Finding alternative indicators of well-being and growth in Italy

                The debate over the need to broaden the scope of economic indicators – and more particularly, moving beyond measurements of GDP – has inspired a wide range of studies on the topic both in Italy and abroad. This roundtable event examined a recent Aspen Institute Italia-Fondazione Edison study entitled “Italy in the new geo-economy of the G-20”, which aims to contribute further to this discussion. The study reveals an Italy that is better-placed than indicated by traditional rankings and compares favorably with other industrialized economies in numerous fields.

              • Milan
                • 22 February 2010
                 
                 

                Increasing Italy’s exports

                  The roundtable got underway with an examination of the twofold characterization of Italian exports that has, for over a decade, been a core theme in public debate over the competitiveness of the Italian economy in the age of globalization – one which sees exports both as a driver of Italy’s growth and, at the same time, as a reflection of the outward-looking nature of the Italian production system.

                • Rome
                  • 17 March 2010
                   
                   

                  Moving people: how to improve competitiveness, efficiency, and quality

                    The roundtable participants began their examination of the mobility issues affecting Italy today with the observation that, last year alone, Italian households spent on average more than 35 billion euro on getting from one place to another. Also in 2009, the cost of congestion in metropolitan areas was around 9 billion euro. Just in Rome, for example, fuel consumption totaled between 12-15 million euro in the same year – to which must be added the costs generated by rising pollution in cities and areas beyond city limits, as well as by road traffic accidents.

                  • Milan
                    • 20 September 2010
                     
                     

                    Italy’s savings: how to make it work for the country’s development

                      The Conference got underway with an acknowledgement that savings have played a key role in maintaining Italy’s stability during the more acute phases of the recent financial crisis, and may play an even more important role now as a driver of the country’s economic recovery and growth.

                    • Milan
                      • 3 May 2010
                       
                       

                      The economic dimension of crime

                        The roundtable session opened with an acknowledgement by participants that the processes of globalization have made the fight against crime more complicated. Criminal activities have spread worldwide, expanding with the internationalization of trade and growth in migration flows. At the same time, however, organized crime has maintained a strong local flavor, due to its embeddedness in local communities and its permeation into the fabric of society.

                      • Milan
                        • 5 July 2010
                         
                         

                        Artists and artisans: resources for Italian workers

                          The roundtable session got underway with an acknowledgement by the participants of the crucial importance of reviving Italy’s artisan culture – a tradition synonymous with the production of high-quality goods through the accumulation, pooling and dissemination of know-how.

                        • Rome
                          • 24 November 2010
                           
                           

                          The economic value of Italy’s cultural patrimony

                            The discussion at this roundtable session got underway with the incisive observation that managing and exploiting a vast and valuable cultural heritage requires a well-thought-out cultural policy, and a continual balance to be struck between preservation and economic development, between making use of this asset and ensuring it is not “used up”, and between the conservation of ancient artistic works and nurturing contemporary art.

                          • Milan
                            • 27 September 2010
                             
                             

                            SMEs: growth and collaboration in a new global scenario

                              More than three years after the outbreak of the crisis which engulfed the world economy, Italian businesses have shown that they have, on the whole, withstood the impact of the economic and financial tsunami. The country remains the fifth-ranking global manufacturing power and the second in Europe after Germany, running counter to the trend that has seen a progressive reduction in the market shares of traditional industrial economies – the US and Japan in particular.

                            • Milan
                              • 26 July 2010
                               
                               

                              New international strategies to support Italian business

                                The financial crisis has considerably modified the environment in which Italian firms operate. It has introduced new problems in the export sector that are related not only to structural changes in the capital markets but also to difficulties in accessing credit.

                              • Milan
                                • 15 November 2010
                                 
                                 

                                Italy’s demographic trends: problems and opportunities

                                  Proceedings at this roundtable session got underway with the participants observing that an aging population, immigration and the brain drain are issues that Italy needs to address by looking to the future as well as at the past. Indeed, the current state of affairs is the product of previous trends. In decades gone by, there was a surplus of births over deaths and a negative migration balance, but today that situation has been reversed.

                                • Milan
                                  • 14 December 2009
                                   
                                   

                                  Italy’s banking system after the financial crisis

                                    The National Conference got underway with the observation that one of the negative effects of the international financial crisis has been to halt debate on the problems afflicting the savings market in Italy, and on what measures are needed to overcome them. These problems were already beginning to emerge as early as the late 1990s, but they have become more evident as a result of the crisis.

                                  • Milan
                                    • 2 February 2009
                                     
                                     

                                    Reforming market capitalism

                                      The participants at this roundtable were deeply critical of the lack of transparency in the international financial system, the product of an out-of-control laissez-faire capitalism and a global lex mercatoria that has swept aside traditional capitalist organizational forms and the regulatory functions of public authorities.

                                    • Rome
                                      • 11 March 2009
                                       
                                       

                                      Reforming public administration and simplifying procedures: beating the odds

                                        The participants at this conference observed that, irrespective of the kind of institutional set-up a particular country may have, the public administration is the bridge between administrators and the administered. An efficient and modern public administration ceases to be a mere cost and becomes an asset for the productive system and a means for improving the quality of life of citizens and families.

                                      • Milan
                                        • 16 March 2009
                                         
                                         

                                        Low cost – high value: a new business model

                                          Discussion at this roundtable event got underway with the participants citing recent figures indicating that 70% of Italians anticipate they will have to cut down on spending in 2009. The figure was 21% in 2001, 29% in 2002 and 42% in 2004. At a time of international crisis, this growing trend is forcing businesses to rethink their business models.

                                        • Cernobbio
                                          • 27 September 2009
                                           
                                           

                                          Italian successes and talented operators around the world

                                            The experience gained by Italians around the world, the challenges that will need to be faced to build global skills, and the ability of the national economy to operate as a global actor are all aspects of a single issue, namely: how to make the most of overseas Italian talent. Talented Italians are finding it increasingly easier to emigrate rather than build reasonable career prospects for themselves at home.