National Programs
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.
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.
Cernusco sul Naviglio (MI)
16 April 2018
Cybersecurity: dangers and opportunities for businesses
Investments, culture, sharing: three elements that pundits and professionals consider indispensable to making System Italy resistant to cyber threats.
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.
Rome
18 April 2018
How global power is shifting: stakes and priorities for Italy
The international system is at a highly uncertain stage of transition, both in terms of the economy and of politics and security. Following the acceleration in growth and trade (in part, certainly positive) owing to the globalization mainly of the 1990s, a series of tensions have become manifest in the form of regional crises and global instability. Profound technological changes – those macroscopic in the financial sector, but not only – have had a direct effect on the social structure of individual states and on balances of power.
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
24 May 2018
Constitutional reforms in Italy
Kicking off discussions at this National Interest event was the observation that the opening of Italy’s 18th legislature would seem to portend a new order within Italian society, among the various political parties, and within the country’s institutions. Power relations between the parties, as well as the interplay between them and the key priorities for debate, have changed.
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
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
21 September 2017
The fourth industrial revolution: rethinking Italy’s job market and the welfare system
Though acknowledged as unpredictable in its consequences like every momentous turning point of the past, the fourth industrial revolution was hailed by participants at this national roundtable as entirely unique in terms of its pervasiveness, the profundity of the transformations induced, and the speed of the changes occasioned, marking something of a “progressive watershed” between one age and another.
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.
Milan
7 April 2017
Culture, creativity, design: resources for growth
Enjoying financial success and great international appeal but needing a rethink of its offerings and prospects was how participants at this roundtable described the Italian interior design industry, with the sector having reached a peculiar historical juncture. It was noted that the 2017 edition of the Salone del Mobile international furniture fair set new records in terms of attendance numbers and interest attracted among an extensive audience of foreign visitors.
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
13 December 2017
Big data, markets and citizens in a data-driven economy
Kicking off discussions at this roundtable was the observation that big data – seen by some as akin to “oil” in the sense that, like the latter, it needs to be “refined” in order to be useful – lies at the heart of data-driven innovation, the new industrial revolution. Like any revolution, it has important ramifications, in terms of new services and market dynamics, on economies and societies throughout the world.
Rome
19 April 2017
Italy and the US: a renewed security partnership
This Conference provided an opportunity for participants to examine the partnership between Italy and the United States – rooted, as it is, in a history of cultural ties that are even deeper than the political relationship – against the backdrop of the current state of international play, which is rapidly evolving and marked by powerful destabilizing factors. The Southern front, that is, the entire Mediterranean basin, was singled out as the source of the most direct security risks, in respect of which bilateral cooperation is important for both countries.
Perugia
14 May 2017
Consumption trends and “Made in Italy”
The attendees at this National Conference kicked off their discussions by observing that the “Made in Italy” label boasts major successes and a strong ranking in the world economy as regards quality products. Yet it cannot survive on past laurels alone: the sharp contraction of the domestic market calls for firms to seek out opportunities in far-off countries and to win over new cohorts of consumers.