{"id":92983,"date":"2022-10-26T08:21:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T07:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/uncategorized\/ecco-perche-le-fabbriche-fanno-bene-allitalia-anche-per-superare-il-divario-del-sud\/"},"modified":"2022-11-04T15:06:15","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T14:06:15","slug":"heres-why-factories-are-good-for-italy-and-for-bridging-the-gap-with-the-south-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/corporate-culture\/blog\/heres-why-factories-are-good-for-italy-and-for-bridging-the-gap-with-the-south-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s why factories are good for Italy and for bridging the gap with the South, too"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perch\u00e9 le fabbriche fanno bene all\u2019Italia <\/em>(Why factories are good for Italy<\/em>)<\/strong> \u2013 a very effective title for the book written by Rachele Sessa<\/strong>, director of the Ergo Foundation<\/strong> (an organisation based in Varese that unites companies, trade unions and universities to research industry-related topics) and published by Rubbettino. Her book gained an honourable mention at Potenza\u2019s Premio Basilicata literary prize, held last Sunday and won by Maurizio de Giovanni\u2019s L\u2019equazione del cuore <\/em>(The heart equation<\/em>), published by Mondadori (Fiction category) and Paolo Bricco\u2019s Adriano Olivetti, un italiano del Novecento <\/em>(Adriano Olivetti, an Italian man from the 20th<\/sup> century<\/em>), published by Rizzoli (Economics category). And it’s really important that nowadays, in such a difficult period rife with crises and uncertainties, and especially in a city of the South, the word \u201cfactory<\/strong>\u201d is heard, a term that evokes the cornerstone of Italy\u2019s development, including that of its southern regions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We need to safeguard industry<\/strong> to guarantee Italy\u2019s future, keeps on insisting, in recent weeks too, the president of territorial entrepreneurial institution Confindustria Carlo Bonomi<\/strong>, as we face the economic and social storm unleashed by the energy crisis, the war in Ukraine, inflation and the dark, looming shadows of recession. We need to enhance Italy\u2019s industrial skills<\/strong>, conducive to a prompt recovery after the most critical phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and that continue to be key to yet another possible recovery, as economists, research centres and entrepreneurs with an eye on innovation and export reiterate.<\/p>\n

Rachele Sessa\u2019s book provides data and analyses that support this stance. Italy can’t do without its industry, its industrial history<\/strong> and its deep-rooted territorial expertise, or it wouldn\u2019t be able to hold on to its current global positioning. Sessa maintains that, \u201cIf we describe ourselves as the most beautiful country in the world, it\u2019s not merely because of our monuments, arts or scenery, but also because of our ability to produce objects and machinery appreciated all over the world for their efficiency and elegance<\/strong>, a typically Italian industrial added value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, nowadays our public opinion is not sufficiently conscious of this heritage and of the value of industry (as we repeated several time in this blog). Furthermore, over time, neither politicians nor the public administration implemented coherent and long-term decisions aimed at enhancing industry\u2019s \u201cpolytechnic culture\u201d, strengthening the link between the old \u201cdo well\u201d approach and new competitive needs (Museimpresa<\/strong>, the Italian association of business archives and corporate museums, with its over 120 members including large, medium and small enterprises, it\u2019s a prime example of this link) or promoting factories’ tendency towards innovation and their propensity to become effective means for social cohesion and the promotion of wealth \u2013 for the new generations, too.<\/p>\n

Now, as Sessa demonstrates, in order to face the two great intertwined challenges that are soon to come, i.e. the digital and environmental transitions \u2013 or, the twin transition \u2013 \u201cit is essential that we stop conceiving factories through 20th<\/sup>-century stereotypes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, factories, \u201cby their nature and when properly managed, actually represent hubs of modernisation scattered throughout the territory. As such, it’s about time for the public opinion to better recognise the opportunities that the industrial world entails, not just from a technological perspective but also in terms of its proclivity to generate innovation and experimentation that will benefit the whole of society.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is why, in a nation like Italy, policies need to place industry at the centre and, as stated by Sessa, rallying for \u201cthe industry party is a civic, rather than strictly political, choice.\u201d Words that the new Italian government led by Giorgia Meloni (leader of a right-wing party whose culture, up to now, has shown no sign of wise or deep-rooted industrial and productive traits) will really have to take into account, not only through its declared political aims (which are however notable, such as the introduction of significant tax cuts) but also through coherent and forward-looking decisions. Namely, by spurring the twin transition, and keeping Italy\u2019s position within the European context and the maps tracing the new boundaries of a \u201cselective globalisation\u201d firmly in place (our industry has a strong aptitude for international trade, export and investments, and has no calling for sovereignist or protectionist attitudes).<\/p>\n

While the North is playing a more dynamic and integrated role within European development trends, \u201cfactory\u201d is also a term that\u2019d suit the South very well, as industry could tackle the widening North-South divide between income and opportunities.<\/p>\n

The Premio Basilicata literary prize’s winners we mentioned above are further proof that at least a section of Italy\u2019s more informed public opinion is aware of all this (Bricco\u2019s book about Olivetti also includes some incredibly interesting pages about the company\u2019s investments in Pozzuoli as well as notions that, from Ivrea, aspire to develop the South\u2019s economy and expertise). In fact, if we must think in terms of sustainable<\/strong>, environmental, social, economic and cultural development, then we also need to think more critically and proactively about industry as a driving force that generates employment, income and wealth. A process of change that should also include agriculture, tourism and health. A kind of \u201cmetamorphosis\u201d, almost: from an embittered South currently relying on welfare assistance and warped decisions such as the \u201ccitizenship income\u201d (which neither boosts employment nor adequately addresses the region’s widespread needs and poverty) and Neo-Bourbon nostalgia, to a South acquiring a leading role in manufacturing processes, part of the European recovery context and embodying the response to the Mediterranean region’s newly rediscovered geopolitical central position.<\/p>\n

A South that, basically, could thrive on manufacturing<\/strong>, the market<\/strong>, merit<\/strong> (where \u2018merit\u2019 is the reward of initiative, creativity, the quality of a job well done).<\/p>\n

Here’s why, then, it makes sense to talk about \u201cfactories\u201d \u2013 or, even better, \u201cneo-factories\u201d \u2013 manufacturers where high-tech solutions, production, research, services and logistics combine with regional expertise and scientific innovation. All qualities that the South, over the years, has brilliantly displayed.<\/p>\n

Lately, the attention that large and medium companies \u2013 Google and Accenture, Apple and Microsoft, KPMG and Bosch, Pirelli<\/strong> and Bip, STM and Technoprobe, and so on \u2013 are paying to young women and men in the South has been featuring in economic news, a process led by the digital economy and the spread of Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n

Thus, even if ISTAT data show a widening in the North-South divide, lack of investments, brain drain<\/strong>, material and intellectual impoverishment, the challenge to overturn this situation is still on \u2013 and factories are of the essence, precisely because they\u2019re a good thing. For the South of Italy, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perch\u00e9 le fabbriche fanno bene all\u2019Italia (Why factories are good for Italy) \u2013 a very effective title for the book written by Rachele Sessa, director of the Ergo Foundation (an organisation based in Varese that unites companies, trade unions and universities to research industry-related topics) and published by Rubbettino. Her book gained an honourable mention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":92913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-corporate-culture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHere's why factories are good for Italy and for bridging the gap with the South, too - Fondazione Pirelli<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/corporate-culture\/blog\/heres-why-factories-are-good-for-italy-and-for-bridging-the-gap-with-the-south-too\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here's why factories are good for Italy and for bridging the gap with the South, too - Fondazione Pirelli\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Perch\u00e9 le fabbriche fanno bene all\u2019Italia (Why factories are good for Italy) \u2013 a very effective title for the book written by Rachele Sessa, director of the Ergo Foundation (an organisation based in Varese that unites companies, trade unions and universities to research industry-related topics) and published by Rubbettino. 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