Confindustria Youth, Anghileri: we need a plan for AI; strategic decisions must be taken now

An Ital.IA 2030 Plan to boost the country’s competitiveness, because artificial intelligence is a ‘technology of efficiency’. Maria Anghileri, president of Confindustria’s Young Entrepreneurs’ Association, cites a figure from the Bank of Italia: rapid and widespread adoption of artificial intelligence could increase labour productivity by more than one percentage point a year. ‘It would be a turning point in a country that has failed to boost productivity for 25 years.’ It is a ‘challenge,’ said Anghileri, ‘that we are setting for all parties at the start of the election campaign. We will carefully analyse your manifestos to gauge how much they look to the future. We need strategic choices, not electoral dividends. Whilst we understand the calls for prudence regarding public finances, we hope this does not once again result in young people and businesses being sacrificed.”

“StrategIA. The future is a human endeavour” is the title of the 41st Capri conference of Confindustria’s Young Entrepreneurs. The current situation sees Italia and Europe lagging behind: “Over 80 per cent of the digital products, services and infrastructure used by the European Union depend on non-European suppliers. This is an unacceptable dependence. We do not want to become the digital servants of the United States and China. We want to build our own European AI supply chain.” This is a path that “can be taken and which hinges on European technological sovereignty. The EU must do more, and quickly. We must build a core European AI industry.”

At European level, “a single capital market, the savings and investment union, and the 28th regime were needed yesterday, not today”, as well as a single energy market, “which Delors spoke of in 1988”. Digital policy and energy policy are inseparable, Anghileri emphasised. In Europe, the projected growth in electricity consumption by data centres exceeds 70 per cent. For Anghileri, energy is the mother of all emergencies. ‘We are tired of paying the highest energy prices in Europe. Young Entrepreneurs consider themselves at a significant disadvantage compared to their European competitors in terms of labour costs, bureaucracy and regulatory stability, compounded by the cost of fuel. At stake here are Italia’s industrial survival and households’ purchasing power.” Energy, nuclear power and artificial intelligence are the major national projects for which, according to the president of the Young Entrepreneurs, simplified procedures – a ‘fast track’ – are needed, including the completion of digitalisation within the public administration.

And he put forward a series of proposals: ‘Every strategy is made up of choices; let’s start by deciding where to invest, bringing the public and private sectors together with a strong sense of purpose’. There are two paths: the first is Industrial, Edge and Physical AI: “This means transforming our manufacturing excellence into technological leadership by increasing the value and competitiveness of the machines we produce.” The second mission concerns artificial intelligence for science and the life sciences.

As for Italia’s strategy on artificial intelligence, it must be turned into a concrete plan: Anghileri has set out a roadmap: an Artificial Intelligence Implementation Unit is needed to promote its adoption and boost Italia’s capacity to develop it. We need an AI Adoption Act to bring together research, incentives and infrastructure to support SMEs in particular: only 8 per cent of SMEs have launched AI projects. AI hubs must be created: this would involve establishing AI Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in which public and private capital invest jointly, with a particular focus on start-ups and new, young and innovative businesses. “Confindustria is on board; the larger, more established companies can take the lead,” said Anghileri. Another project is ‘500 Talents for AI’: 100 people are to be identified each year for five years, selected from fields where we need to bridge our gaps, ranging from algorithms to robotics to cybersecurity. Furthermore, to tackle the issue of skills, we need a National Alphabet of Artificial Intelligence to provide students and teachers with a common foundation of knowledge. “Young people remain at the heart of all our strategies; the streets of France and Spain echo the same demand: to be able to build their own future.”