(by Davide D'Amico, member of the AIDR Governing Council and Director of the Ministry of Education) In this complex phase for our country, the start of a new government led by Draghi, various rumors are circulating on the Italian Recovery plan or better on the Next generation EU plan launched in light of the economic and social consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some believe that a new draft will be made, others that there will be only minor changes. The only certain thing at the moment are the financial resources, around 210 billion euros and the strategic objectives shared at European level concerning the areas of digitization and innovation, the ecological transition and social inclusion and cohesion. The recovery plan represents a truly important opportunity to deal effectively with the complex transformations of the inevitable ecological and digital transitions and must do so by supporting, among other things, public-private partnership mechanisms that are based on objectives of effective system improvement. Country, in full respect of the different and recognized roles. Furthermore, part of the objectives are aimed at strengthening the role of women and combating gender discrimination, promoting the development of skills, through continuous training, ensuring the capacity and employment prospects of young people, paying particular attention to territorial rebalancing and development. of the South.
The "recovery" plan therefore represents an opportunity not to be wasted and will have to use the related funds to trigger a process of "sustainable" economic growth. For this reason it must be based on reforms, which characterize the structural part of the intervention and, at the same time, by investments, by financial resources conceived as real “extraordinary accelerators” of the implementation of the same reforms. Therefore, it is necessary to focus attention on those areas and those issues that are able to generate, with timely "liquid injections" in the short to medium term, the maximum return for our country, in terms of economic growth, cohesion and social inclusion. It is clear that such an ambitious plan is inevitably affected by the current government, despite the constraints imposed by the EU on the macro areas of intervention are clear and well defined.
It is equally clear that once the "plan" chapter is closed, it is necessary to ensure that its grounding is effectively implemented within the foreseen timeframe, respecting defined milestones and targets and, above all, to ensure that administrative and management capacity that allows the timely use of these large financial resources. Knowing how to spend 210 billion in the medium term means having organizational structures, in public administrations, with professionals able to manage tenders and public tenders, to follow projects, to report the actions and activities undertaken with a greater speed than is generally required. for European projects with structural funds.
There is therefore a need to quickly hire suitable professional figures who are not necessarily just young graduates but also and preferably drawing on figures with a certain "seniority" from the private sector of technical assistance to European funds and real project managers. The more we are able to invest in the involvement of highly skilled professional resources in the "grounding" phase of the recovery plan, the more we will have the chance to carry out the related reforms and established projects. The hope is that the implementation of the recovery plan is also an opportunity to start a permanent networking between public administrations for the benefit of the continuous development of the professional capital of the PA, to build a new culture in the country, based on concrete design challenges that are based on real objectives and effectively measurable results.