A 360-degree journey into cyberspace, into the dimension of the internet and the web. The 2022 edition of IGF Italy (Internet Governance Forum), organized by the Chamber of Commerce of the Marches, in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of the Marches, is underway in the splendid setting of the Sala Loggia dei Mercanti in Ancona.
The two days offer many face-to-face and online panels, with qualified speakers, for a range of ideas and reflections ranging from cybersecurity to the digital growth of businesses, from big data to the potential of artificial intelligence, from the digital divide to changes in the world of work, up to the computerization of public administrations, open data and the evolution of the concept of digital citizenship. Without forgetting the frontiers of telemedicine, sustainability issues and even the impact of new technologies on the agri-food sector.
IGF Italia (about 60 members including organizations, companies and associations) is the multilateral and ‘multi-stakeholder’ meeting place promoted by the United Nations starting from 2006 to make the internet more and more person- and citizen-friendly. The association’s goal is to structure projects and proposals in the field of policy and regulation to improve the Italian and global governance of the network, thanks to the broad participation of the most important scientific, technical, economic and institutional stakeholders.
In fact, among others, Agid, Anac, Agcom, Unioncamere, Cnr, Privacy Guarantor, National Cybersecurity Agency and then Meta, Amazon, Tik Tok, General Electrics, HPE, WINDTRE, Tim, Leonardo are present in Ancona. The results of the dense two days in the Marches will then fuel the discussion during the 17th IGF – UN Global Internet Governance Forum, scheduled in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 28 November to 2 December.
In terms of the competitiveness of the Italian economic system, for example, we reason around the data of Anitec-Assinform (Confindustria), according to which B2b spending on digital investments by companies reached 44.5 billion euros in 2021, with a growth of 7.4% compared to 2020: a boost due largely to the pandemic and which, however, still sees SMEs adapting more slowly to the inevitable paradigm shift.
However, Italy is trying to recover its historical gaps and in fact investments in digital technologies have involved 65% of our companies, a percentage higher than the EU average (61%) and in line with the USA. Interesting, among others, is also the study of PID-Osserva, National Observatory of Digital Business Points of the Chambers of Commerce of Unioncamere-Dintecaccording to which in the last four years cybersecurity appears to be the technological objective leading the spending commitments, with an increase of 9.05% in the period 2018-2021, even more than e-commerce (8.95%), mobile internet payment systems (8.13%) and the cloud (7.64%).
“Our mission is to help make the internet a democratic, safe place, able to make us grow and help us defend our rights – explains the President of IGF Italia, Mattia Fantinati – Technology doesn’t wait: just think of the metaverse, augmented reality or the Internet of Things. That’s why as IGF Italia we are engaged on a mandate from the United Nations in the development of the best proposals for internet governance. Let’s think about the importance of protecting privacy or the value of open data: full citizenship, by now, is such only if it is also digital. The aim is to use innovation to enrich ourselves, according to a principle that I like to define as ‘increased humanity’ and which pushes us to increasingly improve the intimate relationship we have with cyberspace”.
“We are honored to host the IGF Italia 2022 event – declares Gino Sabatini, President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Marches – and it is significant that this event takes place in the Marche region. Our region seems to have suffered more than others the effects of the crises that have occurred in the last 14 years, from economic-financial shocks, to the pandemic, and also to natural disasters; but the Marches are a vital region, and characterized by a high entrepreneurial vocation, a strong sense of cohesion and social inclusion. It is with this awareness that we have committed ourselves and will continue to do so, in trying to give effective answers on development issues, including, precisely, digital. With the action of our Punto Impresa Digitale we are already active and a reference for assistance to companies in the challenges of innovation. The debate on the evolution of the web that today starts from here confronts us with the bet of being able to go further and further together”.
Internet: in Ancona Igf Italia 2022, UN forum for network governance