Environment and digital, Lombardy enterprise accelerates and invests more

Growth, that recorded by the Bank of Italy's study office, is also partly linked to the grounding of Pnrr funds, which are worth 13 billion euro in the region. Of these, six billion have already been put out to tender, with 2,000 construction sites started for 2.5 billion. In the construction sites that are still open, however, work progress is currently only 6%.

In the face of more positive and resilient signs, however, the Bank of Italy also registers shadowy areas, particularly on the innovation front. When compared to other European countries, Lombardy's investment in research and development is limited: only 1.3% of GDP, compared to 2.9% of the EU cluster taken as a benchmark.

"The low number of Stem graduates in scientific subjects," explains Milan Polytechnic's Rector Donatella Sciuto, "is another major system constraint, in addition to the problematic attraction of talent, bearing in mind that 15% of Lombard graduates decide to go abroad. Even in patents, with 140 units per million inhabitants, compared to Europe's 266, we are far behind. In short, I see Lombardy as a great economy, but one that is travelling with the handbrake pulled'.

"We must have the ambition to raise the bar in order to compare ourselves with the best in Europe," commented Bocconi University Rector Francesco Billari, "and one of the first issues to be addressed is demography. The labour shortage is also linked to this aspect, and from this point of view, managing migration flows becomes a priority for our country. The key is to attract people in useful positions and then integrate them, also looking at families. These foreign workers, who today make up 13% of the total, will ideally be the Lombards of the future and therefore the issue of rights becomes central also from the point of view of our competitiveness'.

"Italy has had a good capacity to react in recent years," commented Bank of Italy Director General Luigi Federico Signorini, "but looking ahead we have to address the issue of debt sustainability and our pension system. For this, we must first aim to increase our employment rate, which is currently eight points below the European average. Another issue is productivity, which is not growing enough. Today, the main risk for the Italian (and European) economy seems to me to be that of not being able to participate fully in the rapid progress of technology, which sees the United States and by now several Asian countries in the forefront. If some professions disappear, as has always happened with every leap in technology, it will be necessary to accompany the reallocation of the workforce by favouring the retraining of workers, making the market fluid, and providing adequate social protection instruments. But we must not risk too much putting the brakes on innovation, because it is the key to boosting productivity growth and promoting, in the long run, the well-being of all'.