A book that encapsulates a life of production and teaching

The idea that doing business is equivalent to cultural practice is now commonplace in many areas of economics, but not in all. Since time immemorial, methods of production and the organisations of production themselves have been an expression of the culture in which they emerge and evolve. Therefore, it is always necessary to consider the broader nature of the economy and production, and this is particularly timely. In his latest book, “Lezioni. Un percorso autobiografico” (Lessons. An autobiographical journey), Gianfranco Dioguardi, an engineer and professor of economics and business organisation who is considered one of the fathers of management engineering in Italy, does just that.

The book is a collection of the author’s professional experiences, ranging from academia and civic engagement to teaching and research, as expressed through his writing. In the first section, “Incontri con il Pubblico” (Meetings with the Public), Dioguardi brings together texts for companies and public institutions, as well as insights on various topics and lectures for specific events. In the second part of the book “Lezioni” (Lessons), the author presents speeches with a more didactic focus, dedicated to the management engineering that he helped create.

All with a unique approach, since Dioguardi is both a professor and a businessman. And it is precisely this characteristic that gives the book its extra dimension. A trait that emerges more in some places in the book, such as in the speech “For a Private Company”, which refers to the family business itself. “Our company is a living, vital, pulsating system,” writes Dioguardi, “and I am sure it will survive into the future with the philosophy I have outlined for you, despite unfavourable macro-environmental situations, because you have the will, the ability, the means and the class to make it survive.” This is a collection of must-read “lessons” from Gianfranco Dioguardi.

Lezioni. Un percorso autobiografico

Gianfranco Dioguardi

Guerini Next, 2025

Rebuilding trust. And to restore hope, especially to the young people, many, too many of whom leave Italy in search of better working and living conditions. In times of crisis, such as the one we are currently going through, it is necessary to have a clear awareness of the tensions, fractures and risks of deterioration of political, economic and social conditions. But also trying to catch a glimpse and build projects of recovery, of redemption. Beyond the common sense that tells us that the darkest point of the night is precisely the eve of the dawn, the most luminous pages of our literature contribute to setting a limit to despair. Like the one that concludes “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino: “The hell of living people is not something to come; if there is one, it is here already, it’s the hell we live in every day, which we form staying together. There are two ways not to suffer from it. The first comes easy to many: accept hell and become part of it, to the point you don’t see it any more. The second is risky and requires continuous attention and learning: to look for and recognise who and what, in the middle of hell, is not hell, and to make it last, and give it space.”

Calvino’s lesson is an integral part of a responsible approach to intellectual work and, therefore, to political commitment. And it is worth remembering this in the face of the many signs of crisis that crowd our troubled times. Looking for traces of it in the very fabric of the public discourse we live with, we tell, we plan a more satisfying condition in our being cives, responsible citizens of a community.

A good example of this are the words of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who recently spoke at the Quirinale ceremony to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Fai, the fund that meritoriously protects and enhances Italy’s environmental assets, including the countryside, monuments and historical testimonies of an extraordinary civilisation. This is in line with the latest version of Article 9 of the Constitution, which, in the amendment of February 2022, added “the protection of the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems, also in the interest of future generations” to “the development of culture”, “scientific and technical research” and the protection of “the landscape and the historical and artistic heritage of the nation”.

President Mattarella believes that culture has the responsibility to “build common and shared identities, respecting the identity of each person” and defines a civilisation “that generates social capital, encounters, peace and development”. This Italy is in fact “an evocative mosaic”, the result of “many stories and events”, “patiently assembled” for the benefit of new generations. It is up to them to “find nourishment in the history from which they come” and from there to “raise the horizon of our gaze”. In other words, “the fate of man and the fate of the environment have never been so closely linked”.

The environment, culture, history and sustainable development are essential cornerstones of more balanced economic and social growth (as we have also discussed in the blogs over the last two weeks). And if, at a time of radical upheaval in geopolitical balances and profound market disturbances due to the serious trade wars underway, the reasons and methods of competition and the reconstruction of value chains need to be redefined, Italy itself, in the context of Europe, cannot fail to capitalise on the cultural, economic and civil characteristics that characterise its history and its future.

This is why President Mattarella reminds us that “it is not a question of embalming places, but of making resources available to the community that are in danger of being lost if they are no longer valued”.

In fact, they are places full of beauty and culture. And the 72 properties entrusted to the Fai (56 of which are open to the public), protected and enhanced thanks to the commitment of 300,000 members and 16,000 volunteers, are a sample of that extraordinary Italian wealth that is worth not only as a stimulus for cultivated, slow, conscious and responsible tourism, but above all as cultural heritage and social capital to be used as a lever for sustainable development.

In his meeting with the delegates of the Fai (led by President Marco Magnifico and former President Andrea Carandini), President Mattarella rightly recalled the words of Benedetto Croce, who in 1922 promoted the first law on landscape and was convinced that “the spirit of a community is linked to the territories and the landscape, whose degradation risks weakening and eradicating its own historical and cultural reasons”. A risk that unfortunately still exists, even in the face of serious protection regulations.

Cultural and moral values, and values of economic significance. Italian culture, in which the best Made in Italy has its vital roots, is in fact a rich fabric interwoven with a sense of beauty and scientific and technological knowledge, literary, artistic and philosophical wisdom and mathematical spirit, original creativity and the ability to produce “beautiful things that the world likes”.

The best Made in Italy companies are aware of this. They have made ESG values an integral part of the way they produce, operate, market, grow and compete. And they know that their history is a distinguishing factor in a competition where unfair competition and imitation have a negative impact. And that the link with the regions is a factor of identity, of quality and sustainability, of passing on knowledge and creating new knowledge. The experiences of the more than 160 museums and historical company archives registered with Museimpresa (the association set up by Assolombarda and Confindustria more than twenty years ago) are clear evidence of this. And the long-standing collaboration between Fai, the world of supporting companies (Pirelli is one of them) and the Museimpresa itself is proof of a shared commitment with strong economic and cultural values.

How to move forward and build on this? If this is our legacy of sustainable development, we need strong public investment in culture, scientific research, schools and long-term training, trying to reach European standards quickly. Strong tax incentives for private companies that invest in this field would also be useful (an extension of the art bonus would be highly appropriate, finally listening to those who have been asking for it for some time, such as Museimpresa).

Our future, in fact, has an ancient heart (to paraphrase the title of a book by Carlo Levi). And it is essential to face the challenges of a contemporary world that is full of complexity and controversy, but also of extraordinary opportunities. In terms of complexity, the Italian cultural and social experience itself has always been extraordinarily dense. And this “mosaic of different stories” that President Mattarella recalled today is an element that can be used. To rebuild trust and provide incentives for young people to invest, work, research and develop their creativity and initiative.

Traces of history, paths to the future.

(photo Getty Images)

A thesis discussed at the University of Brescia examines the effects of the application of the 231 Model

Corporate culture and business organisation is a fundamental dichotomy that has yet to be fully explored. So much so that it requires continuous in-depth analysis. Also because the relationship between management and culture is changing as the context and conditions in which the company itself operates change. This is also what makes the thesis “Il ‘successo sostenibile’ e la ‘dovuta diligenza: poteri, obblighi e

responsabilità nel governo dell’impresa tra profitto e tutela del contesto” (Sustainable success and due diligence: powers, obligations and responsibility in corporate governance from profit to protection of the context) discussed at the University of Brescia by Linda Rosa, such an interesting read. The aim of the research is clearly set out in the early pages: to explore “the crucial importance of the organisation, management and control models (…), introduced more than twenty years ago by Legislative Decree 231/2001, focusing on their impacts in terms of

corporate culture, sustainability and, last but not least, management of crimes against

the environment.” This ambitious goal was made possible by research funded by doctoral scholarships from the National Operational

Programme for Research and Innovation 2014-2020.

The study starts from the analysis of the concepts of “sustainable success” and “due diligence” as cornerstones of modern governance. In this sense, what is indicated by the 231 Model is understood as a safeguard for the protection of the environment as well as an education and training practice within the company organisation. The theory is then put to the test at Asonext s.p.a., an Italian company in the steel sector, where a study has been carried out for over a year on the methods of applying the model and how they relate to other control and work activities.

Linda Rosa’s conclusion is simple: if applied well, management control rules (such as those relating to the 231 Model) can also contribute to changing the approach towards production of those who work at multiple levels in the company. The author writes in her conclusions: “From this perspective, the process of implementing the 231 Model can no longer be considered a ‘necessary evil’, but must be seen as a stimulus for the reorganisation of the company, an opportunity to strengthen governance systems, improve decision-making processes and promote an integral and transparent corporate culture that is not limited to mere compliance with the law.”

Il “successo sostenibile” e la “dovuta diligenza”: poteri, obblighi e responsabilità nel governo dell’impresa tra profitto e tutela del contesto

Linda Rosa

Thesis, University of Brescia, Department of Economics and Management

PhD in Business & Law – Institutions and Enterprise: Values, Rules and Social Responsibility, 2025

A just published book analyses and explains the European AI Regulation

Artificial intelligence is a technology that needs to be thoroughly understood in order to be applied with care and awareness. And it must also be applied with clear and agreed rules, as the recently enacted European Regulation must be. To get a better understanding, the recently published “Governance dell’intelligenza artificiale. Applicare il nuovo Regolamento UE” (Governance of artificial intelligence. Applying the new EU Regulation) by Davide Borelli and Gianluca Martinelli, is a useful read.
The book is based on two observations. On the one hand, the emergence of AI in the legal dimension of business is one of the most relevant phenomena of our time, requiring careful reflection on how this technology is governed. On the other hand, the European AI Regulation represents the first organic attempt to regulate the issue: a text that introduces an array of obligations and responsibilities that cut across business activities. This is precisely why it needs to be understand well.
The book by Borelli and Martinelli – both of whom have a legal background with a focus on business – is divided into five sections. Firstly, AI systems are classified, then “obligations for suppliers and users” are addressed, then transparency and documentation. The next section analyses the conformity assessment procedures and, consequently, the sanctions provided for in the Regulation.
This is a book to be read and, above all, applied, and Davide Borelli and Gianluca Martinelli’s book has an additional feature: an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to enhance the contribution of academics and practitioners, with a focus on experience gained in multinational corporations, law firms and academia.

Governance dell’intelligenza artificiale. Applicare il nuovo Regolamento UE
Davide Borelli, Gianluca Martinelli
Franco Angeli, 2025

“Italy must do Italy well”, the Symbola Foundation has long argued. And that means making the most its original ability to combine artistic creativity and economic enterprise, a taste for the “beautiful and well-made” and a passion for innovation, civic spirit and business quality, respect for the environment and market culture. In short, making space for a social capital interwoven with productivity and solidarity. This is what will be discussed at the annual Summer Seminar of Symbola, to be held in Mantua at the end of June, under the title “When Italy does Italy – Sustainability, Europe, the Future”, with economists, sociologists, politicians and the men and women at the top of those companies that, by making environmental and social sustainability a fundamental asset of their competitiveness, continue to occupy the best places on international markets, in niches of high quality and high added value.

In these difficult and uncertain times, when geopolitical crises are overwhelming traditional power structures and trade wars are undermining the chances of economic growth both globally and in many countries, redefining the reasons for competitiveness and reorganising value chains is an essential challenge, especially for Italian and European companies. The spread of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is helping to address this with some success. And the Leonardo supercomputing centre in Bologna, working with northern universities, business networks and public and private research centres, can make a difference to our advantage.

On the other hand, the Italian “polytechnic culture”, capable of finding virtuous syntheses between humanistic and scientific knowledge, from Leonardo da Vinci to Galileo Galilei, from the physicists of Via Panisperna to the chemists of Giulio Natta, Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1963, from Olivetti to Pirelli and Finmeccanica (now Leonardo), has always provided valuable guidance.

The question is simply: how to grow Made in Italy? And how can we build more economic value by leveraging the values cherished by both the markets and the stakeholders of our companies? Public and private investment in research and innovation, overcoming the traditional government-to-government tendency to spend less than the EU average on research and education. But also an ambitious strategy for cultural and industrial policy, which, in the context of European choices, promotes “Italian knowledge”, our culture (that “polytechnic” dimension mentioned above) and, of course, the spread of our language. Without nationalist rhetoric, but with an awareness of Mediterranean and European relations, of which a language like Italian is an exemplary product.

The latter aspect of linguistic and expressive values was the focus of the “States General of the Italian Language”, held in mid-April at the Maxxi in Rome on the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dante Alighieri Society. The debate also analysed issues related to Made in Italy and industrial activity.

How, then, can we make the most of Italian as a fundamental part of our social, cultural and economic capabilities? We can start with a quote from Gio Ponti, the great architect, planner and designer: “In Italy, art fell in love with industry. And that’s why industry is now a cultural phenomenon.” Ponti interpreted the country’s modernisation processes over a long period of the 20th century, as demonstrated by the Pirelli skyscraper, an icon of the economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as a series of design and art objects that characterised the evolution of Italian taste and lifestyle and its international diffusion as a cultural and industrial product.

In other words, industrial culture, business culture, is an essential part of Italy’s cultural heritage. Historical roots and visions of the future. A rich, complex and varied heritage of creativity and original industriousness, imagination and production. Our literary and scientific language bears deep traces of this.

This heritage includes the great literature of Dante, Leopardi and Manzoni, to name but a few. The opera of Verdi and Rossini. The figurative arts, from Giotto to Michelangelo, from Caravaggio to De Chirico and Modigliani, mark the course of a millennium of masterpieces. The theatre of Goldoni and Pirandello. Cinema and photography. But also mathematics and physics, chemistry and architecture. The typographies and typefaces of Bodoni and Manuzio. And design and industry. A composite culture, rich in connections and relationships, with the ability to “make beautiful things that the world likes”. A civilisation of machines, labour, enterprise and creativity.

Art and industry, then. Understanding that to make industry is to make culture. And with a Made in Italy that has a strong industrial connotation, of great relevance, in the fields of mechanics and mechatronics, robotics, automotive, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, rubber and plastics, avionics and aerospace, shipbuilding and, of course, clothing, furnishings and agri-food. What words to use to tell this story?

An essential Latin lesson is worth remembering: “Nomina sunt consequentia rerum” (names are the consequences of things). So let us consider these things and think about Italian identity, knowing full well that “identity is not in the subject, but in the relationship”, as the great French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas astutely observed. Italian identity, multiple, dialectical, open, inclusive, lies in the sense of beauty, balance, measure, in a form that expresses a function and accompanies (often heralds) economic and social change, movement, transformation. Italian identity as metamorphosis and awareness of history. And an open eye on the future (as evidenced by the documents and objects preserved and valued by the more than 160 museums and historical company archives that are members of Museimpresa), a fresh approach, a presence on the markets.

So a sense of proportion, craftsmanship and quality.

Craftsmanship does not mean confining oneself to the horizon of the small workshop, however important it may be. Rather, in a broader sense, it refers to a method of craftsmanship, precision, attention to detail, a focus on the balance between form and function, a sense of caring for the product for the individual use of the individual customer. Craftsmanship applied to the large industrial process, to its most value-added niches.

And proportion? What does proportion mean? A sense of measure, balance, proportion and relationship is a fundamental part of beauty. To grasp this, one can go to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan and open the pages of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Atlantic Codex”. There, in more than a thousand leaves, are depictions of gears, digging and working machines, technical drawings that are striking for the beauty of the line and the refinement of the technology depicted, for the sense of balance and the power of precision, qualities that would later, centuries later, be translated into all that Italian manufacturing has been able to achieve over time and that it still knows how to achieve today. Thus, when Confindustria (the Italian Confederation of Industry) decided to open its representation in Washington in June 2023, it brought Leonardo’s drawings of the Atlantic Codex to exhibit in the public library of the US capital.

There is one word that is worth emphasising now: design, industrial design. Beauty and functionality linked to the quality of everyday life, consumption and the evolution of consumption.  Aesthetics and use of industrially produced objects, the expression of the “polytechnic culture” we keep talking about. A culture of design and product and, now, of services. We could also say that the quality of Italian industry, its beauty, its unmistakable strength, the competitiveness of Made in Italy, deserves to be better represented than it has been. A narrative that more fully expresses our potential. Here, the flexibility, the richness, the musicality of language comes to our aid. The export of Made in Italy products and services and the widening of horizons for the study and use of the Italian language are part of the same cultural and civil development project.

But let us pause a moment longer on the word “beauty”. If it refers not only to a set of values and aesthetic factors, but also to elements of quality and functionality, then we discover that beauty, throughout the tradition, is also linked to the roots of our civic conscience and to that “civic economy” of which Antonio Genovesi, one of the leading Neapolitan Enlightenment theorists, considered by Adam Smith, the father of liberal economics, as “my master”, was an exemplary theorist. Productivity and awareness of community values, innovation and solidarity. Wealth building and improving the social balance.

The beauty of monuments, the beauty of landscapes, relationships, cities and neighbourhoods, the beauty of aggregation and production. But also the beauty of well-designed factories, the “beautiful factory”, i.e. well-designed, safe, welcoming, inclusive, sustainable. Italian industry has created and continues to create and develop “beautiful factories” where it is pleasant to work and where production is better and of higher quality. It is a lesson in experience and design skills. And reasoning about our words for manufacturing quality is not only an economic task, but a cultural and civic one. A historical legacy and a project for the future.

A just published book that delves into the human aspects of business

The change from cog to human being. Following the evolution of business management approaches and summarising events, this change is perhaps the parable of the role of work and workers. It is a complex journey, and one that is not yet complete. A journey that needs to be encouraged and so well understood. Some key factors to help with this can be found in “Il lato umano dell’impresa. Vivere la comunità dentro le organizzazioni” (The human side of enterprise. The living community within organisations), a recently published book by Francesco Limone. The title says it all: looking at production organisations also as communities and not only as mechanisms.

The starting point is scientific management, born during the second industrial revolution, which saw workers as cogs in a machine and work as something separate from life. At that time, companies dealt technical problems that could be solved by experts and specific skills. Today everything is different, starting from the context in which companies operate. It is a social system represented by the acronym B.A.N.I.: Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear and Incomprehensible. Uncertainty and complexity call for a different approach in which everyone counts and contributes, and in which corporate goals are reconciled with an anthropological, i.e. human, vision of the company.

It is on these findings that Francesco Limone bases his reasoning. The current challenges, he explains, are mainly adaptive: this is new for everyone, with answers that come from dialogue and quality conversations within a community. The driving force behind the company is not just individual talent, but the entire community that lives and works within it. Leadership becomes diffused, combining challenge and care, building on a sense of belonging and community.

This is a sense of community, which is a complex and difficult condition to build, but it is fundamental, also for companies. Not just to respond to the challenges of the day, but to reinforce weaving together of interdependent lives.

Limone’s book should be read attentively, with a preface by Stefano Zamagni that places the text in a humanistic and historical perspective that helps to understand it better.

Il lato umano dell’impresa. Vivere la comunità dentro le organizzazioni

Francesco Limone

Egea, 2025

A paper discussed at the University of Genoa highlights the countries that are ahead of their time, but also the journey that still needs to be taken

Valuing and respecting those who work in companies is an important and fundamental idea, almost taken for granted, which in reality is not always applied as it should be. This is a question of culture before management. And it is now an essential question for any production organisation, so much so that it has given rise to a specific approach. Diversity management is now an essential part of any good production culture, but it is still a necessity that not everyone embraces.

Erica Rovina’s thesis, discussed at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Genoa, tackles the issue from several angles. The research, entitled “Diversity Management nelle imprese: una visione strategica” (Diversity management in companies: a strategic vision), aims to analyse the causes, challenges and opportunities of diversity management, as explained in the opening pages of the work, focusing on some forms of discrimination, including racial, gender and cultural.

Erica Rovina begins by focusing on the basic characteristics of diversity management as an essential strategy for organisations, aimed at enhancing individual differences and promoting inclusive and competitive work environments. The thesis also examines the set of current rules that govern these practices not only in Italy and Europe, but also in the United States. The research then attempts to highlight the extent to which the rules are actually applied in the various companies and, therefore, the difficulties that still need to be resolved. The theory is finally compared with the practice by means of a case study, that of Cirfood, a company dealing with collective and commercial catering.

The picture that emerges is complex and varied. In fact, the real application of the principles of diversity management ranges from simple compliance with the law, to marketing initiatives, to real strategic actions for the involvement and development of those who work in the company. And it seems that there is still a long way to go on this journey.

Diversity Management nelle imprese: una visione strategica

Erica Rovina

Thesis, University of Genoa, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Economics, Master’s Degree in Management, 2025

A book by a computer scientist and a philosopher helps us understand new technologies

Understanding in order to act better and wiser.  This applies to everyone, but particularly to certain categories of social and economic actors. In other words, to have the right tools to understand, and then to act more carefully. This must also be done with the new technologies available, including artificial intelligence, perhaps one of the most important, interesting and promising. Provided, that is, that you understand it well.

To help this understanding, a useful read is “Per un’ecologia dell’intelligenza artificiale. Dialoghi tra un filosofo e un informatico” (Towards an ecology of artificial intelligence. Dialogues between a philosopher and a computer scientist) written by Vincenzo Ambriola (already Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Pisa) and Adriano Fabris (Professor of Moral Philosophy, also at the University of Pisa). The two authors, who come from different backgrounds and experiences, have one thing in common: the ethical focus of technology. The book is a dialogue between the two, based on an observation: the advent of artificial intelligence is redefining the boundaries of the human, inexorably intertwining technology and consciousness. The two then try to answer a series of important questions for everyone, which can be summed up as one big question. How will artificial intelligence change the way we work, relate to each other and understand ourselves? In fact, what is affected by our relationship with technologies is the very idea of the human being that artificial intelligence introduces.

The two academics discuss this historic revolution with their different lenses through which they observe reality and technology. And therein lies the interest of the book (not even 100 pages to read carefully). While the computer scientist guides the reader through the meanderings of the algorithm, revealing the potential and the limits of this new intelligence, the philosopher invites us to reflect on the moral implications of this transformation. One vision of reality does not exclude the other and, on the contrary, it enriches it.

The book is structured in three steps (with as many chapters). The first discusses the ethics of artificial intelligence “in socio-technological systems”, and then goes into detail about what ethics we are talking about, what codes are being discussed, and what the actual novelty of “new technologies” is. The second chapter then reflects on language and the “worlds created by artificial entities” and tries to understand the function, utility and responsibility that these worlds imply. An example of a “conversation with an artificial entity” is also included in this part. The third step concerns the “ecology of digital environments” and relates to the places and spaces of these environments, attempting to define a new way of doing ecology.

Each chapter is based on texts written by the two, and on others written alternately by either the computer scientist or the philosopher.

In their conclusions, the two authors highlight the importance of ethics today, not only for humans but also for machines, and the extent to which the latter’s design criteria “must be inspired by principles such as transparency, accountability, respect for predefined and inviolable rules. The accountability mechanisms governing the operation of these systems must be clarified, separating the training phase from the operational phase”. However, the book – and this is another of its merits – does not provide an answer to all the questions that remain unanswered; on the contrary, it concludes by stressing how complex and difficult it is to achieve a balance in the use of new technologies.

Per un’ecologia dell’intelligenza artificiale. Dialoghi tra un filosofo e un informatico

Vincenzo Ambriola, Adriano Fabris

Castelvecchi, 2025

Bank of Italy study analyses the impact of shocks after 2020

Understand the evolution of social and economic systems, especially industrial systems, in order to make prudent decisions. This also includes a good corporate culture (and, on the other hand, an awareness of every good component of society). A condition that is particularly true today, at a time when we are grappling with the (still lingering) consequences of a pandemic, two wars and major social stresses. “La politica industriale dell’Unione europea tra crisi e doppia transizione” (The industrial policy of the European Union from crisis to double transition) – a study written by Claire Giordano, Giacomo Roma, Alessandro Schiavone, Filippo Vergara Caffarelli and Stefania Villa of the Research and Statistics Department of the Bank of Italy – certainly contributes to a better economic knowledge of the facts of recent years.

The paper (published in the Bank of Italy’s Occasional Papers series) analyses the impact of shocks that have affected the activity and international competitiveness of European Union industry since 2020. After outlining the consequences of events, the study describes the industrial policy instruments developed by the European Union and adopted at both national and European level. There is also a focus on the initiatives taken to address these crises, the dual green and digital transition and the changing international political environment.

The Bank of Italy’s Research Group therefore identifies the sectors most affected by the recent shocks and structural changes for the green and digital transition: energy-intensive industries, mechanics, electronics and the automotive industry. It also shows how the EU’s approach to industrial policy is increasingly focusing on sectoral initiatives to boost investment in strategic sectors and enhance economic and national security. The question of the competitiveness of the European industrial system as a whole remains, it is stressed, and this will require a rethink of the current rules, greater cooperation between the European institutions and the Member States, and targeted and adequate funding.

The Bank of Italy’s study on the last years of the European industrial economy is a good read for entrepreneurs and managers, but also for anyone who wants to get a clear idea of what has happened, with particular attention to European industry.

La politica industriale dell’Unione europea tra crisi e doppia transizione

Claire Giordano, Giacomo Roma, Alessandro Schiavone, Filippo Vergara Caffarelli and Stefania Villa

Bank of Italy, Occasional Papers, No. 931, April 2025

Sicily as the “California of Europe”. And Palermo as an international centre of excellence for biotechnology and biomedical research, capable of “attracting young and experienced researchers from all over the world”. This is neither a Sicilian dream nor a propaganda battle about original development strategies for the South, fascinating to talk about but historically unproductive in terms of results. Rather, it is a real project in progress. There is even a Rimed Foundation to manage it,  and a funded plan to build an international biotechnology research centre within two years in Carini, a village west of Palermo, near the Punta Raisi airport, named after Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Palermo high tech, Sicily, the land of science and quality work.

This was the headline in the influential pages of “Il Sole24Ore” (20th April), in an interview by Paolo Bricco with Giulio Superti-Furga, for twenty years director of the CeMM in Vienna, the research centre for molecular medicine of the Academy of Sciences, and now coordinator of the activities of the Sicilian Foundation: “Today there are three hundred researchers and six biotech companies in the Vienna cluster. Why can’t we do the same in Sicily? It is a complex but wonderful place, with a great desire for rebirth and redemption, capable of hosting a scientific facility of international standard and attracting scientists and researchers from all over the world”.

The Rimed Foundation has five founding partners: the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the CNR, the Region of Sicily, the American University of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Medical Center, the two healthcare institutions that for more than 25 years have created the Ismett, an efficient transplant centre of world renown in Palermo. And next to the biomedical research centre, an Ismett2 will be built, with a €250 million initial investment for the centre, another €348 million for the hospital. Superti-Furga commented: “We will be a unique biomedical hub in Europe, with a precise cultural vision: precision medicine, based on molecular pathological mechanisms and health as a combined effect of genes and environment, prevention as the preferred viaticum for the effectiveness of medicines, an almost philosophical and anthropological approach to biomedical research”.

This is a work in progress and hopes need to be fostered and not dashed.

But the intuition is right. And it can serve as a model for broader reflections and initiatives on the civil, economic and social growth of Sicily and the Mezzogiorno (southern Italy). Overcoming limits and crisis conditions.

The health sector in Sicily is not one of the brightest and most exemplary sides of the regional experience. “The best doctor here is an aeroplane” is a common cliché, confirmed by the fact that every year the Region spends around €140 million (half of it on “high complexity” operations) to reimburse the best and most efficient regional health administrations (first and foremost Emilia, Lombardy and Veneto) for the care they provide to Sicilian citizens. And while it is true that Sicily has high quality public and private health facilities, it is also true that public expenditure is among the highest in Italy, but the level of care is far from commensurate with both expenditure and national standards.

Yet it is precisely high performance in health and, more generally, quality of life that is a key factor in attracting both families and young talent seeking better working and living conditions. And to try to reduce the alarming brain drain (those 191,000 young people aged between 18 and 34 who left Italy in 2024, 20.5% more than the previous year) that impoverishes the country and jeopardises its future.

In the context of a new centrality of the Mediterranean, for reasons linked to the profound geopolitical upheavals currently underway, our Mezzogiorno can indeed regain a significant role as a centre of scientific research, training, industry and high-tech services, linked to the universities (the investments of Apple and Microsoft in Naples, Pirelli in Puglia and Bip, Business Integration Partners, in Palermo are proof of this). Not to mention the opportunities for long-stay tourism aimed at the silver generation, mainly older Europeans.

Here is the goal: a Sicily and a South capable of offering new job and study opportunities to young people returning or even arriving from all over the vast European and Mediterranean basin, but also from other countries that appreciate Made in Italy and its economic and cultural dimensions, as well as an original and pleasant lifestyle.

And the environment is in our favour. The Mediterranean and southern culture is open, communicative and inclusive, reinforcing the attractiveness we are talking about. Not forgetting, of course, Sicily’s history and culture of excellence in the visual arts, literature, cinema, theatre and photography, as well as a solid scientific culture (the Palermo Mathematical Circle and the Schools of Molecular and Marine Biology, Physics and Medicine are historical examples).

In short, a welcoming and dynamic Sicily. Seeking relations with other economic and cultural areas with a European dimension (this has been confirmed by the Milan-Palermo Forum, promoted in recent months by the two mayors Beppe Sala and Roberto Lagalla, and ready to deepen cooperation between companies, universities and cultural organisations).

So what is needed to make Sicily more attractive? Health and quality of life, as we said. A timely and effective focus on the protection and improvement of the environment and landscape. A range of high quality cultural (theatre, music, museums, libraries) and leisure facilities (beginning with sports facilities). A high-quality, international education system, from primary school to university, for the children of families who choose to come and work in Sicily. And efficient infrastructures for mobility, starting with an airport system rich in services and connections with the rest of Europe and the world, which will greatly improve the services offered by the airports of Palermo and Catania, thinking not only of tourism but also of professional, entrepreneurial and work activities.

In other words, we need a forward-looking vision of sustainable development. And a return to good governance. Sicily has shown itself capable of doing so, despite a history of shadows and entanglements between maladministration and organised crime. With the “the papers in order” government of Piersanti Mattarella, President of the region, in the late 1970s and the government, led by Rino Nicolosi in the second half of the 1980s, focused on attracting national and international investment. And there have been other experiences both in the region and in some cities and municipalities.

Experiences that should be studied and considered as good examples, updating them to contemporary contexts. Because Superti-Furga is right when he speaks of a “desire for redemption, for rebirth”. And all those who, in cultural and economic circles, do not give in to the idea of an “irredeemable” Sicily that was feared by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and the “terrible insularity of the soul” noted with concern by Leonardo Sciascia. Two recent positive examples among many: “Marea” in Catania, an initiative promoted by Antonio Perdichizzi, an entrepreneur, to stimulate connections and interactions between Sicilians who have left and Sicilians who have stayed;  and “Sud Innovation” by Roberto Ruggeri in Messina, to propose reports on new technologies useful for the development of the territory).

There is, in short, a recurring hope, a desire not to resign oneself to a stereotype of Sicily and a Mezzogiorno reduced to marginality.

“L’alba della Sicilia” (The dawn of Sicily) was the title of a collection of essays by a group of economists, lawyers and political scientists published by Sellerio (and edited by the author) in 1996, almost thirty years ago. A promising hypothesis, although it was noted that “in the Sicilian dialect the form of the future is absent, as if there were a historical inability or fear to express the time to come, to name evolution, to recognise the dignity of language for tomorrow”.

Today, thanks in part to investment in science, culture and good economics, it is still possible to believe that the journey to the end of the night will soon allow us to glimpse a new light.

(photo Getty Images)