Spaces 2021, building beyond distances, the entrepreneurs’ challenge for 2022.
“Napule è mille culure”. “Naples is a thousand colours”, sang Pino Daniele – the iconic Neapolitan singer-songwriter and guitarist – in 1977.
22 October 2021. Me and Amanda arrived at the Naples central railway station aboard an Italo high-speed train to take part in the 36th Convention of Young Entrepreneurs of Confindustria, the Italian association of manufacturing and service companies. The main theme this year was “Building beyond distances”, denoted by the hashtag #Spaces2021.
This was the 36th Conference, but the first Amanda and I would be attending as members of the group dedicated to Young Entrepreneurs of the Emilia area.
Two days of conference, seen from my point of view as a “new entry”, which sounds better than “novice”, in this world of Confindustria where I had the opportunity to meet many smart entrepreneurs, people with many arguments and skilled speakers able to motivate guests.
Our adventure begins hunting for a taxi in front of the crowded Naples central station.
On second thought, perhaps it is the taxi driver who finds us. Yes, because while we are intent on accessing the app to book a taxi, from afar several individuals are waving at us and soon reach us to self-promote and offer to drive us to our destination. We pull off. Destination: the B&B we booked next to the Maritime Station of Naples where the conference is to be held the next day.
We are already immersed in the colourful chaos of this beautiful city while the taxi driver continued his rant about the road conditions in Naples and low-bar requirements to get a driving licence, which are apparently handed out to just about anyone, all while driving without a seatbelt. He fills out our receipt with his right hand leaning against the steering wheel while rummaging blindly with the left hand in the side door compartment looking for the POS terminal so I can pay with my ATM card. The background sound of car horns as cars whiz by us so very close both left and right at times covers his voice.
Naples is a beautiful and pleasantly chaotic city, sparkling and warm. I feel strangely quiet in the midst of all this cheerful confusion and I can’t explain it, just as I will never understand the coin-operated elevator in the building where we are staying. It’s not so much having to pay with tokens, but rather the sign showing the payments hours as opposed to toll-free hours, but that’s another story.
“Napule è ardore e mare”.“Naples is the scent of the sea”, the lyrics went on.
And it is the sea air that we feel the next morning, while having breakfast in front of the maritime station, in one of those pastry shops brimming with Italian flavour and cheerful hospitality, a few minutes before the conference begins.
The sea air feels like fresh air, and the same mood can be felt inside the conference venue during the first morning workshop – “Women and exports, women conquering international markets”. The room is already full and I sit in the back and listen. Giulia Giuffrè, Lilli Samer, Ornella Laneri, Angela Casale, Licia Angeli and Giulia Sirigu. These passionate women and entrepreneurs tell about their experiences, their career paths and the obstacles they had to overcome, because if you are a woman and an entrepreneur you have to work twice as hard. I get very excited, I look around and see that there are also male entrepreneurs who listen to the speakers with interest. I am beginning to think that, indeed, we still have a long way to go, but that it is right to look at the future confidently and every little win earned by a woman is a little step ahead for us all.
The workshop ends by reiterating that women should no longer be considered as an accessory to some other person: “the wife of…”, “the daughter of…” and must be given a chance to prove what they can do, not as a favour or a token sop to gender equality, but simply removing barriers. Easier said than done, right? In short, just let us do our thing.
Spaces, young people and distance working
We move to the central auditorium where the conference begins.
Several speakers will take turns on stage during the morning, some are very interesting and others decidedly less so, but all of them will debate from different points of view the need to conquer new spaces, where to create the future, inspired by the title the meeting: #spaces.
What excites me the most, however, is the speech by Riccardo Di Stefano, president of the young entrepreneurs of Confindustria. Touching on the issues that are most dear to me: inclusion, sustainable economy, women in the world of work, innovation and policies for “smarter” work, he really set the audience alight.
We live in an age of transitions. We need young entrepreneurs and we need to support them with up-to-date employment policies. “In short, an era is coming to an end at a world-wide level. The top five digital giants, including Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook, were born in the mythical start-up garage. In Italy, at least one national healthcare service employee, a fireman and a notary public would need to drop in at that garage before being allowed to turn on the PC. The direct and indirect costs of red tape and associated stamp duties for those who want to do business are still too high. ” Di Stefano points out, gathering applause from the audience.
“Also, work is being transformed by distance working. Distance working is also known as “smart work” in Italy, the operative word being smart. We need a smart solution focused on work by objectives rather than a “taxi meter” approach. Quality of performance and quality of life can go on the same track: we are ready to take responsibility for finding the best solution, with agreements between companies and workers.” Di Stefano continued.
Yes, the entrepreneurs are ready, I have no doubt, but is the government? Will we be able to stop the bureaucrats by encouraging leaner and more modern working dynamics? My father always taught me that you should pay people for their brain work, not for their time. This is also why we have never adopted clocking system with badges at our premises.
“society needs us young people because we are the bearers of innovation, we are sustainable natives, and we may well be a risky investment, but it’s the only way to go!
And so if, like Greta, we are not satisfied with the blah blah blah of governments, we are not satisfied with the blah blah blah of the streets either. We strive to create a sustainable future every day, we invest capital and hope in it, and this is why we cannot accept unrealistic or impracticable proposals. You can’t switch everything off, because this would turn the world grey, rather than green.”
We don’t have a planet B, but we do have a green plan. I am optimistic about this: innovation and technology will save us from climate disaster. Bill Gates explains it well in his book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.” We all made a commitment, we are all changing our habits, businesses are ready to do it, governments are ready to support this green revolution, we just need to commit to it.
Lunchtime arrives, we meet with the whole of the youth group of Confindustria Centro Emilia for a “pizza”.
“Simme a Napoli ca’ te o’ dico a fa’.” “After all, we are in Naples.”
Ivan, Luca, Marco, Maria Eleonora, Amanda, Laura, Beatrice, Annalisa, Chiara and Sauro, a group of smart, outgoing people you can not help but find yourself immediately in tune with. Unbeknownst to them, they have all left a mark with me with their unique personalities, and made me feel well integrated in the group of young entrepreneurs of Confindustria Emilia Centro.
“Napule è na’ carta sporca”. “Naples is a scrap of dirty paper, And nobody cares.”
The countryside passes by quickly outside the train window and I think back to one particular passage from Di Stefano’s speech:
“It’s time to get back into politics. The time for ideals, to be nurtured in Parliament as well as in our homes, in the bars, in the squares, in the universities.”
Freedom is participation, said Gaber, a popular singer-songwriter famous for his political songs. We all have to contribute, without waiting for a power stronger than us to take initiatives of its own accord. We need to change today and we young people have great power in our hands. Are we ready? I say we do not lack ideas or courage.
Bologna central railway station. We have arrived back home.
