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National Programs

  • Rome
  • 11 May 2016
     
     

    The future of public broadcasting in a digital era

      The discussions at this roundtable session were informed by a series of questions posed at the event regarding the purposes served today by Italy’s national public broadcaster (RAI), and whether it still makes sense to talk of public broadcasting in this day and age.

    • Rome
    • 14 December 2016
       
       

      Creative and digital solutions for Italy’s cultural industry and tourism

        Digital technology is no longer an option but an established fact throughout the world. It closed the gap between present and future, creating a conversation between today and tomorrow. So it is crucially important to be able to manage the latest technologies in order to predict and build the future. The “cloud” we inhabit as both consumers and producers of digital data – twenty-first century black gold – offers major economic and social opportunities.

      • Peschiera Borromeo (Milan)
      • 14 March 2016
         
         

        How digital innovation is changing markets, businesses and processes

          The baseline for discussions at this National Conference on digital innovation was that amid opportunities and stumbling blocks, the digital ecosystem is blazing a trail of profound change. The development and spread of new technologies was characterized as constituting an out-and-out revolution, from which no aspect of society is immune, whether it be the media, business, social life, the workplace, the organization of cities, or the public administration.

        • Rome
        • 21 September 2016
           
           

          The future of Italy’s health system: challenges and oppurtunities

            Participants at this national roundtable embarked on their discussion by first observing that, over the last thirty years, the Italian National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale – SSN) has assured generations of Italians a good standard of universally accessible services. Today, however, the system finds itself operating in different circumstances to the past due to technical, economic, and ethical factors.

          • Rho (Milan)
          • 15 April 2016
             
             

            Focusing on design, not price: promoting Italian products on global markets

              In order to drive home the importance to the Italian economy of design as a core component of the international success of the “Made in Italy” brand, the participants at this roundtable likened the sector to oil, in the sense of being a form of “energy” fueled by the history, culture, and flair for style and beauty that have helped forge Italy’s image abroad over the centuries. This image can rest assured of its considerable appeal, stemming in part from the international appreciation of a lifestyle that continues to draw accolades globally.

            • Rome
            • 12 October 2016
               
               

              Comparing efforts to reform Public Administration in Italy and in France

                The participants at this seminar observed that Italy and France have both necessitated proper administrative reform apt to improve the competitiveness of their economic systems and make the relationship between citizens and the State simpler and more immediate. In Italy and France alike, the formulation and implementation of such reforms have had a number of factors in common.

              • Milan
              • 16 November 2015
                 
                 

                Beating the crisis: Italy’s manufacturing renaissance

                  Running through discussions at this national roundtable was the acknowledgement that the opportunities offered by the technological revolution currently in progress pose a challenge for Italy, namely: that of deploying innovation to preserve the nation’s position as the second largest manufacturing country in Europe.

                • Milan
                • 19 October 2015
                   
                   

                  New rules and digital challenges: where is the banking sector headed?

                    The focus of this fourth edition of the annual National Conference on the Italian banking system was the future of a sector being squeezed between, on the one hand, a veritable regulatory deluge that has contributed to reduced profit margins, and, on the other, new competitors from associated sectors that already existed (shadow banking) or are entirely new (fintech), which threaten business that has always been the preserve of the banks.

                  • Rome
                  • 6 May 2015
                     
                     

                    Combating counterfeit products to protect businesses and consumers

                      Proceedings at this national roundtable kicked off with the participants acknowledging that the illicit trade in goods and services, today more than ever manifested by smuggling and, more importantly, by product piracy, is an endemic and growing phenomenon in both Italy and Europe.

                    • Rome
                    • 18 February 2015
                       
                       

                      Competitiveness and Italy’s job market

                        Kick-starting proceedings at this national roundtable event was recognition that debate on the state of the labor market in Italy and reflection on how the country measures up with conditions and models in other countries (Germany and the Netherlands in particular) are now more than ever imperative, at a time when the jobless rate is higher than the EU average (and is, indeed, the highest for youth unemployment), and when manufacturing output and consumer prices are in decline.

                      • Rome
                      • 7 October 2015
                         
                         

                        Supporting pension funds to stimulate economic growth in Italy

                          Launching discussions at this national roundtable was the observation that the Italian pension system has undergone several attempts at reform over the past 25 years. From the Dini reforms to the more recent Fornero efforts, a succession of reform packages have accorded priority to balancing the public finances which underpin the first and most important pillar of the Italian pension system – namely, the state pension.

                        • Milan
                        • 23 March 2015
                           
                           

                          Regulating banking foundations in Italy: legislation or negotiation?

                            The opening premise of debate at this national roundtable was that Italy’s banking foundations are complex entities, operating as both investors and key players in the financial sector, but also as leading actors in the non-profit sector, an important component of any participatory democracy (like that in Italy) called upon not only to produce economic goods but values as well.

                          • Rome
                          • 9 December 2015
                             
                             

                            Italy’s cybersecurity and safeguards for businesses

                              With almost three years having passed since the Italian Prime Ministerial Decree of January 24, 2013, which set out “Strategic guidelines for national cyberspace protection and ICT security”, this national roundtable event afforded an opportunity to take stock of what has been accomplished so far to implement that directive.

                            • Rome
                            • 18 March 2015
                               
                               

                              Innovation and market trends in a knowledge society

                                Internet, an ongoing revolution. With its many regulatory questions still unanswered (from fiscal to privacy, from copyright to net-neutrality), the call to change business models are of an economic order. For some, it’s the era of the fifth technological revolution which won’t only effect how industry is run, but also how States are run. With this in mind, it could also become a unique opportunity to win decisive battles for the planet such as pollution and poverty.

                              • Genoa
                              • 19 April 2015
                                 
                                 

                                Reshaping the present and the future: innovative ideas, strategies, and visions

                                  Setting the stage for discussions at this National Conference was the observation that, in today’s increasingly heterogeneous world, innovation would seem to be an obligatory strategy for steering the major environmental, economic and social transformations that the world is facing. It was emphasized, however, that innovative processes are not spontaneous phenomena, and indeed have their own precise logic and conditions that enable them to thrive.

                                • Rome
                                • 28 October 2015
                                   
                                   

                                  Institutions, democracy and lobbies

                                    The issue of the representation of special interests is currently taking on particular importance within the Italian political system: this is occurring as a result of political parties’ declining monopoly over the function they used to have of intermediating interests, and due to the emergence of the governance paradigm more open to identifying a role for the stakeholders within the process of public decision-making.

                                  • Milan
                                  • 8 June 2015
                                     
                                     

                                    From obstacle to opportunity: how European institutions can help businesses and improve the job market

                                      We need a new way of narrating Europe. We need it above all to counter the populist drift that has made anti-Europeanism its motto.  Data provided by the Eurobarometer, the instrument measuring the belief of European citizens in the idea of Europe, shows that the vision of the founding fathers is in free fall. In 2008, 75% of Italian citizens were strongly convinced that the European project was a good thing, while today there is a risk that this percentage will drop below 50%.

                                    • Cesano Maderno (MB)
                                    • 12 October 2015
                                       
                                       

                                      Focusing on Italy’s industrial sector and on foreign investment: policies and tools

                                        The chief thrust of discussions at this national roundtable was that Italy’s manufacturing base has demonstrated a great capacity for responding and adapting, even though the continuing economic crisis has seen a major industrial downsize. Indeed, between 2008 and 2014, the number of Italian firms fell by about 47,000, a drop primarily involving small and medium-sized firms, while manufacturing potential as a whole shrank by 18%.

                                      • Rome
                                      • 27 September 2015
                                         
                                         

                                        Sustainability: merely necessary or a driver of growth?

                                          Discussions at this Conference for the Italian talent abroad group focused on the need for a development model where economic growth is not merely an end, but serves as a means to improving the quality of people’s lives. This was highlighted as the shared goal uniting Italy and the more than 150 countries which, during the recent United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, adopted a package of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be pursued by 2030.

                                        • Roma
                                        • 22 January 2014
                                           
                                           

                                          Suggestions for Italy’s spending review

                                            This national roundtable discussion got underway with the observation that at the heart of Italy’s spending review is the idea of reducing expenditure for the purpose of rebalancing public finances or achieving other priority objectives such as alleviating the tax burden – a concept which, in reality, is not entirely new in Italy. Indeed, soon after the unification of the Kingdom of Italy, the Historical Right (to which Sella belonged) was engaged in a process of rationalizing expenditure with a view to balancing the budget.