What the women experts say
by Giovanna Pezzuoli
“Our look today on our tomorrow”: is the call that we launched within the community of 100esperte to share visions and perspectives, allowing authoritative and passionate women professionals to make their voices heard. When and how will we get out of this crisis? What future awaits us? What can this pandemic outbreak teach us? Through very brief video contributions, about fifty members of our database, which collects the profiles of 300 Italian women excellences in the STEM, Economy and finance, and International politics sectors, responded.
Among the scientists, the recurring idea of sustainability and the search for a new balance between humanity and the planet is striking, because the current decrease in carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide (25% and 40%, respectively) indicates the future direction. “Traveling less is good for the planet, it is a lesson that we must not forget,” says astrophysicist Patrizia Caraveo. The “revenge” of science, which for the first time is in constant dialogue with politics, directing its choices, is another important theme for our experts. Biologist Paola Bonfante, for example, warns: science does not coincide with the opinion of the individual scientist!
The keyword for physicist Paola Corradi, as for engineer Lucia Cattani, is smart working, of which today’s home working represents only one aspect. This means, once again, lower vehicle emissions, energy savings, but also a better quality of life with more effective family management and greater inclusivity.
Computer scientists Tiziana Catarci and Valeria De Antonellis envision a future in which automated manufacturingand the development of new digital technologies trigger a transformation that, if managed correctly, could create a better world. It is the integration of Artificial Intelligencein companiesthat will allow for more flexible production processes and new organizational models,reflects chemist Simonetta Gallerini. Engineering and robotics research,an example of which is the telemedicine used to keep Covid and chronic patients under control from home,open up other ethical, regulatory, and privacy rights considerations, says computer scientist Mirella Mastretti.
Engineer Antonella Ferrara places the magnifying glass on the current pandemic, highlighting the importance of mathematical models in providing methodological support to those who have to make decisions, especially since, as per virologists, in epidemics the contagion mechanisms are repetitive and regular.
For almost all the scientists, there’s a need for more recognition of women’s skills and a more active role of women in general in order to create a fairer society. A task force of Italian researchers, men and women,concludes oncologist Adriana Albini, would be able to answer the unanswered questions. And it could transform, as it happened for HIV, an initially fatal disease into a pathology that can be treated on an outpatient basis.
Stop wasting female talent: this is the plea of economists Roberta Rabellotti and Paola Profeta, convinced that positive energy and the ability to rebuild will come precisely from women. For women and men, according to Flavia Barca, it is a matter of governing the digital habitat, monitoring and directing the leap forward that we have made today because of the pandemic. Anna Gervasoni looks to 2021: in order to restart the marketsit will take a lot of liquidity, together with help provided by private capital and private equity funds, including venture capitals for the most innovative companies and start-ups.A combiningofthe forces of financial markets and a real economy still in great difficulty.
There is a focus on the most vulnerable families in Chiara Pronzato‘s proposal, which for phase 2 plans to give “educational bonuses” to families in need so that teachers and educators can spend a few hours a week with them.
Turning to European institutions is Cristina Finocchi Mahne, who is thinking of introducing the same professional requirements, the “fit and proper assessment,” required of the members of the board of directors of the European Central Bank, to ensure the competence of the political class.All while pushing for the realization of the Green Deal, which focuses on a circular economy, on ecological reindustrialization, and more sustainable mobility.
Among the experts in international politics, there is a widespread belief that at a geopolitical level, it is necessary to invest in a strong Europe where Italy holds a leading role. A new page for Europe, but not for Europe only. Luisa Chiodi launches the idea of re-founding international institutions to manage the multilateralism tools and discussions on a global scale, noting how the public debate on the pandemic is easily polluted by fake news.
Faced with the collapse of global trade, estimated at between 13% and 32%, one cannot lock in their own country, according to Giorgia Giovannetti, butone must have faith in international cooperation. This is also because the global value chains, especially in sectors such as the automotive or electronics industries, have always represented a great opportunity for small businesses. Annalisa Prizzon also deals with international cooperation, remarking the transformation of the donor-recipient model, where the support is independent of the recipient’s per capita income, since it is no longer financial aid, but the sharing of previous experiences and knowledge.
This virus seems democratic but it is not, stresses Veronica Riniolo, who notes the strong relationship between low income and exposure to the infection. Of the now-intolerable social inequalities also speaks Paola Rivetti, who observes how the pandemic has highlighted what are essential jobs: the care work of the elderly and the sick, the nursing staff, the educational and local services, all jobs often done by women and underpaid. In the future, it will be necessary to rethink who is making too much and who is making too little.
You can find the videos on the 100esperte social networks, on the 100esperte.it website and on the #100esperte Youtube channel (https://urly.it/35xhx)
