Reference center: Research Center Strategic Change “Franco Fontana”

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The country, its production sectors, and its public institutions are undergoing profound transformations: geopolitical imbalances, the fragmentation of the global economy into opposing blocs, and the digital and environmental transitions.

There is no doubt that an adequate response to some of the vital needs arising from these radical changes requires a European dimension, with common policies on defense, innovation and industry, energy security, and the supply of raw materials.

However, new policies are also needed at the national level. Quite a few have been taking shape in recent years, while others still need to be developed and effectively implemented.

Foreign policy, defense and national security, attracting foreign investment, a support system for internationalization, the ability to secure supplies of critical and strategic raw materials—including by reviving exploration and mining—energy and water policies, cybersecurity, and economic policies, from spending reviews to reducing the tax gap, and the definition of the state's role in the economy (in its various capacities as an entrepreneur, a grantor, and a guarantor of strategic sectors and assets) and in the education system—all of these areas are inevitably shaped by global developments, by the trends in the production system with its strengths and vulnerabilities, and by the state of public finances.

Moreover, change is also taking place in areas that, while often highlighted in discussions about the institutional system’s weaknesses, significantly impact the country’s competitiveness and appeal. These include the quality of laws, the mechanisms for their implementation, administrative simplification, the human capital within Italian administrations, and the justice system, particularly its lengthy dispute resolution times. These are all important aspects, each with its own critical issues to address.  

These are all policies that will be crucial in the coming years to ensure the country's healthy growth, to prevent a decline in the prosperity achieved over the past decades, and to preserve national security.

However, for each of these areas, the development of renewed policy lines must be accompanied by an adaptation—even a profound one—of certain institutional hubs, an evolution of organizational models within public administrations, and an update of professional skills.

The Observatory’s goal, therefore, is to offer a technical and neutral analysis not only of prevailing trends, the most effective public policies, and the impacts of current policies, but also of the adequacy of the institutional systems responsible for each sector.

Indeed, the scientific and academic debate (not just the political and public one) has recently focused primarily on the constitutional framework (from the functioning of the parliamentary system to the procedures for appointing the Head of Government and their powers, the role of the Head of State, and the relationship between the central government and the regions), with less attention paid to the health of state bodies and the functioning of the public administration. This oversight is not sustainable for the reasons mentioned.

The Observatory therefore aims to serve as a key hub for analyzing, understanding, and monitoring the most beneficial developments for the institutional components that are crucial to the country’s competitiveness and national security.