Italian industry has always managed to combine intellectual creativity with manufacturing. This is reflected in the history of its brand names, both great and small. They embody certain values but also have their own specific meaning. Their protection is of crucial importance both to their respective companies and to consumers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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%.
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%.
Discussions at this National Roundtable session opened with the observation that, due to its natural characteristics and anthropological factors, Italy may be considered as being exposed to a high level of disaster risk. As a preliminary step towards putting the phenomenon in context, the participants felt it useful to cite a number of statistics. Since 1900, earthquakes have caused around 160,000 deaths in Italy, while since the Second World War alone, there have been 1,061 lethal landslides, and at least 672 fatal floods.
