(by Giovanni Di Gennaro, AIDR Member, trainer, counselor, HR management, member of the Dites Research Center of Link Campus University and collaborator of Roma Tre University)
The digital transformation underway requires organizations, both public and private, to undergo a profound restructuring of their paradigms. The speed at which technological innovation travels leaves no choice but to define strategies aimed at innovating at the same time, also and above all, organizational models. On the other hand, the father of the "creative destruction storm" Joseph Schumpeter, taking up the Marxian theory of creative annihilation, was well aware of the importance of creating new organizational forms necessary for innovation.
Digital transformation is not a choice, it is a necessity. Many studies show how companies that are involved in the digital innovation process manage to have a competitive advantage, sometimes fundamental for their survival, over competitors. Sometimes, however, it is not enough to innovate, for example through the use of ICT, as they can negatively affect productivity, if not supported by adequate innovation of the organization and / or infrastructure. We have had a demonstration with the Covid-19 pandemic which has forced many organizations to take the much feared step of massively using digital technologies for their activities. The occasion highlighted all the inadequacies of an as yet unripe system, characterized by significant organizational shortcomings, but at the same time, it represented an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate a now inevitable digitalization process.
The experience gained in recent months has revealed how it is not enough to integrate technologies into organizations, as, as previously stated, there is a need to innovate the organization as well, starting with a profound cultural restructuring that makes it possible to overcome resistance. change, just think of the many teachers who refuse to use technologies in their work. So, in a nutshell, digital transformation is not just about technologies, as it starts with people, and then progressively involves processes and finally technologies.
Last March, the European Commission, aware of the need to give an important boost to digitization in member countries, characterized by marked heterogeneity, presented the vision, objectives and ways to foster the digital transformation of Europe by 2030. , so that citizens and businesses can acquire the autonomy and responsibility to affirm an anthropocentric, sustainable and prosperous digital future. In this regard, the Commission, to define the digital ambitions to be achieved in the decade leading up to 2030, has proposed a "digital compass", which places the objectives of:
- equip 2030% of European citizens with basic digital skills by 80 and employ at least 20 million highly qualified professionals in the ICT sector, with a significant increase in the presence of women;
- create sustainable, secure and performing digital infrastructures;
- foster the digital transformation of businesses;
- achieve the digitization of public services.
Furthermore, to guarantee the right to digital citizenship, the European Commission proposes the definition of a framework of digital principles, capable of affirming the values of the EU in the digital space, which would complement the European Pillar of Social Rights. At the first point of the latter we find: education, training and lifelong learning, according to which "Everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning, in order to maintain and acquire skills that allow you to participate fully in society and successfully manage transitions in the labor market. " This aspect correlates with the objective, identified by the European Commission on 30 September 2020, of creating "a European education area" by 2025, as education and culture are potentially the fundamental drivers for the creation of new and better jobs, and are considered essential to ensure economic and social progress in Europe, as well as to strengthen the European identity while fully respecting diversity and inclusion. The measures presented by the EU for the creation of the European Education Area include the development and acquisition of key competences for lifelong learning, digital skills, common values and inclusive education. One of the initiatives adopted by the EU is the “Erasmus + program” which in the period 2014-2020 was able to benefit from a budget of € 14,7 billion, while for the period 2021-2027 the estimated budget is € 26,2 billion.
The Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to causing a global health crisis that has claimed over 3,4 million victims worldwide (as of 20 May 2021), has resulted in a profound economic crisis that has brought out the need for Europe and not only that, to adopt a series of important economic and structural measures, such as the implementation of the NextGenerationEU (NGEU) program. The funding (€ 750 billion), unprecedented in the history of the Union, foreseen by the program, has been allocated (about 90%) to the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RFF). EU countries, to access the funds, which are added to the provisions of the "Support to Mitigate Unemploement Risk in on Emergency (SURE)" of September 2020, must submit a National Plan (PNRR).
The Plan drawn up by Italy, approved by parliament in April, had to take into account six pillars: green transition; digital transformation; smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; social and territorial cohesion; economic, social and institutional health and resilience; policies for the new generations, children and young people. The plan, shared at European level, is developed on three strategic axes: digitization and innovation, ecological transition and social inclusion; and is divided into sixteen Components, grouped into six Missions:
- Digitization, innovation, competitiveness, culture and tourism
- Green revolution and ecological transition
- Infrastructure for sustainable mobility
- Education and Research
- Cohesion and inclusion
- Healthcare
The Italian PNRR is strongly oriented towards the green revolution and ecological transition (31,05% of RRF resources) and digital transformation (21,05% of RRF resources). On the latter point, Italy, being in 24th place in the Digital Economy and Society Index 2020, intends to react decisively and be among the countries that will first reach the objectives defined by the "Digital Compass" mentioned above.
Mission 4, fundamental for the country's growth, concerns education and research (16,13% of RFF resources):
“Mission 4 aims to strengthen the conditions for the development of an economy with a high intensity of knowledge, competitiveness and resilience, starting from the recognition of the criticalities of our education, training and research system”.
For many years the field of Education & Research has been penalized by low investments and / or cuts and this has led to highlighting a series of problems, which, in addition to having repercussions on economic growth, also negatively affects the labor market, such as, for example, in the case of the skills mismatch between education and job demand - many companies declare that they have difficulty in finding some professional profiles and there are evident phenomena of overskilling and underskilling -. Furthermore, there is a low percentage of adults with a higher education qualification compared to the European average, the school dropout rate is high (about 14,5% compared to the 10% target set by ET2020) . This situation, at least in the Italian panorama, is also connected to the austerity policies, applied after the 2008 crisis, aimed at stabilizing the accounts and public debt, limiting the actions to support the economy, employment, R&D and 'instruction. Political decision-makers have not decisively focused on favoring the presence of professions with high intellectual capital, product, process and organizational innovations, and, above all, scientific research and education, all aspects considered fundamental in the PNRR, starting from digitization, research and the education system as a whole.
In Italy, the R&D sector suffers from the low level of expenditure, only 1,4% of GDP (2018) and the insufficient number of private and public researchers, which, in 2017, are only 2,3% of employed EU average of 4,3% (PNRR). Furthermore, SMEs tend not to invest in research, certainly more expensive, preferring to direct their resources on the scientific and technological bases already defined. It is necessary to highlight how the cuts and the lack of adequate investments in research, particularly in the last ten years, have not favored the development of a structure dedicated to research itself, with evident repercussions also in the training and employment of specific professional figures.
These aspects are an important brake on the competitiveness and economic growth of the country and represent an important intervention area for the PNRR. The mission "Education and research" aims to intervene, in addition to research, on the entire education process, from kindergartens to universities, all aimed also at greater collaboration with businesses, to align the supply and demand of the job market. In particular, it will be important to develop an intense and fruitful dialogue between companies, schools, universities and the territory, with a view to employment, research, development and innovation. Furthermore, it will be essential to make the most of the resources provided for by mission 4, to improve the orientation path dedicated to young people, taking into due consideration the digital transformation process underway, as a lack of preparation on current and future professions, on digital technologies and on the labor market, it causes confusion, uncertainty and possible errors in the choices of young people, which consequently determine negative effects, both on a social level, on the labor market, and on economic growth.