Wanting to indicate in a nutshell the pillars on which a policy to relaunch the Italian economy and society should rest after the crisis of the past decade and the blow of Covid, it would be enough to say: education and technological innovation. This is the indication that emerges clearly from the interviews made by the deputy director The Sole24Ore, Albert Orioli, to seven important entrepreneurs who are champions of Made in Italy in their sector. “Proposal for Italy” is the book published by Einaudi which Orioli has drawn from it and which provides a reasoned picture of the critical issues but also of the potential of our country. Not a mannered optimism, but a ray of light that pierces the fuss of political declarations that are either too optimistic or too controversial, and which manages to make the reader understand the true situation of the country, providing indications on what should be done in order to get out of this crisis, renewed and stronger.
Training, the valorisation of human capital, is considered by all the interviewees to be the priority of priorities. It's not enough to reopen schools, we need to thoroughly reform the whole world of education up to the University, enhancing, for example, the higher technical institutes, which we oppose for ideological reasons, and which instead in Germany have 800 students.
After all, as he points out in his interview Silvia Candiani, CEO of Microsoft Italy in our country there are at least 150 jobs in the ITC that are not covered for lack of young people with suitable training. And many companies delay making investments in new technologies thanks to which competitiveness could be gained, because they fear - noted Andrea Illy - not to find on the market the professionals suitable to use them to the fullest.
Charles Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, after explaining that this time the banks are not at the origin of the crisis, but are part of the solution because they have the possibility of making the most of the wealth of Italians, concludes by stating that however it is up to politics to give clear guidelines, make explicit the strategy capable of directing citizens and businesses towards those collective actions which, moving in the same direction, can really change the face of Italy. AND Marco Tronchetti Provera, CEO of Pirelli, underlines that to overcome uncertainty it is necessary to build a horizon of hope, give the country a credible recovery objective, make it clear that we cannot resign ourselves to stagnation and degradation. We need to change the psychology of many fellow citizens who, disheartened, take refuge in applying for subsidies, while we should be able to offer tools, incentives, aid, to entice people to work or study and entrepreneurs to invest. Without this change of pace we will hardly be able to face those reforms that are essential to change the country. We need to recover a culture of duty and commitment that the difficulties of recent years seem to have lost.
It moves on the same wavelength Renzo Rosso patron of Diesel. In his opinion, clarity is needed in indicating a direction of travel, a medium-term goal which instead this policy entirely oriented towards the search for consensus in the short term, fails to give. But those who have to make investments need to look a little beyond their noses. He wants to understand better what is being done to support the green revolution that many companies are already doing, what taxes they will have to pay, how they will try to mobilize the energies of Italians, reducing taxation on those who do it, on the many artisans who are the real strength of Italian luxury, and get them the necessary credit. There are those who remain tenaciously anchored to the models of the past and Rosso, not surprisingly, quotes the head of the CGIL Landini, believing that at this moment the CGIL does not understand the needs of the epochal changes we have to face.
Federico Marchetti, the creator of Yoox Net a Porter, works on the most advanced frontier of technology. We must understand, he says, that technology is difficult. That we proceed by trial and error and that in any case the effects of technological innovation are not seen immediately but bring results in the medium term. The fashion world was, in his opinion, suffering from overheating, so a break doesn't hurt if it will be used to take further steps towards greater sustainability and sobriety.
And he insists precisely on the green revolution Emma Marcegaglia, president of the family iron and steel company and former president of ENI, i.e. of two companies that are in the crosshairs of ecological changes. The money that the EU has allocated for the green deal must be used well and this can be done by understanding a fundamental concept: it is technological innovation that can save the environment, not the obstacles and prohibitions that prevent its diffusion.
Orioli's book is a dive into realism. An invitation to take a long look, to get out of the lurch towards populism and sovereignty which are unable to govern the complexity of the moment and only risk locking us up in our small fortress, which will not hold up if we miss this opportunity for renewal . If we don't start growing again we won't be able to repay the debt and its weight will crush us lower and lower. Other than improvised political leaders: we need to go back to valuing competence, and maybe even pay it well. We need to encourage people to give their best, not to dream of being able to live happily without getting back into the game. It is not a matter of implementing new austerity, but of setting up a safety net to facilitate the transition from old to new jobs. Italy has so much potential, it could become, as Renzo Rosso says, the "coolest country in the world". But we have to want it. All together.
