After the Meeting in Rome, What Comes Next? Diana Bracco has the Answers

by Letizia Airos

Italian scientists from all over the world, many Nobel prizewinners among them, spoke on March 10-12 at the First International Conference of Italian Scientists Abroad, organized under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with advisory assistance from the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MUIR), and the Ministry of Health. The Minister of the Italians in the World, Mirko Tremaglia, declared at the conference: "We wish to pay homage to a category of highly accomplished Italians, and to generate collaborations between Italian scientists abroad and their colleagues in Italy...This conference is the first stage in the project to diffuse the most grand and inimitable work in the fields of scientific knowledge of emigrants everywhere. I'm certain this event will generate extremely important understandings, synergies, and contacts."
We interviewed the Vice President of the association of Italian industrialists (Confindustria) Dr. Diana Bracco, who participated in the conference. In her answers to us she analyzed among other things the problem of fuga dei cervelli “brain drain,” and outlined concrete solutions.
Besides being Vice President of Confindustria, Dr. Diana Bracco is currently its Representative for Research, Innovation and the Net Economy. She is President and CEO of Bracco SpA, a leading company in diagnostic imaging. The Bracco Group is active directly and through joint ventures on the largest world markets: Europe, the U.S. and Japan. Joing three research centers, in Milan, Geneva and Princeton, N.J., and partnerships comprised of major national and international universities and research institututions, Bracco has created a leading international network; a great testament to its commitment to research and innovation.
In 2001 Diana Bracco was awarded the University of Pavia, Italy “Honoris Causa” degree in pharmaceutical science. In June 2002, President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi granted her the title “Cavaliere del Lavoro,” a high Italian distinction awarded to persons who have proven themselves especially well deserving in their contribution to the country’s economic development.
It goes without saying that Italy produces great scientists. But with everything from Nobel prizes in science won by Italians to patents registered by Italians, still we have a vast number of Italians working abroad...surely it's not just by chance. In your view what are the causes of the “brain drain” we're seeing in Italy? What must one do to resist it?
“First it must be very clear what "brain drain" is. Research is international by nature, and this dimension is what it lives on. It is therefore reliant on high brain mobility, and that mobility is nourishable only in a community without borders. The problem is to keep the traffic from running one-way. This aspect is becoming critical, and not only for Italy. Building "ivory towers" for the researchers isn't enough. We must bring alive a favorable environment for economic development based on knowledge, and thus on research and innovation. This is the only way the researcher can see himself realized, and therefore be encouraged to work in our country. We must introduce policies that valorize human resources, policies focussed on merit, on bringing our skills and achievements to account. And above all, policies that reward the researcher's enterprise and curiosity. Intellectual assets are in heavy deficit in Italy today, and we must "balance" this book.”
In a globalized world, and at the current stage of development of the new technologies, without a strong research sector there's the risk of ending up inexorably slipping toward the "Third World." And the Italian research sector has been habitually very badly tended to (and badly financed), compared with those in the other developed countries.
Is only the State responsible for this - the Universities and CNR - or also private enterprise? In your judgement what are the fundamental causes of this tendency to underestimate the importance of scientific research?
“In evaluating why we have lagged behind we must take account of the average size of our businesses, and our sectorial specializations. I would also like to note that till the 70s, Italy followed the trend to high technology of our principal competitors, with Italians in positions of international achievement both in public research and in the industrial sectors. Then the process stopped. In the presence of heavy restrictions on growth, a relatively high cost of labor and our inflexible labor market, and with insufficient research activities in our small and medium businesses, our business sector confronted the challenges of competition on the international markets by working on innovations in the production process - and successfully so. Resorting as we have in the past to devaluation for an artificial increase in our products' competitiveness is no longer possible, and concentrating our efforts for the most part on process innovation is no longer sufficient. A much more pressing demand is guiding the markets, and the technologies rapidly pervade even the traditional sectors, strongly recharacterizing them.
This situation is changing in Italy too. Businesses, the small and medium businesses too, are showing a revived dynamism in the Research and Innovation sector.
We must act to make national and regional policies in support of research, by introducing a mix of reforms which can create an economic environment that induces private investments in research and innovation. Public investment should be increased, and private funds should be started - bank and private. And the state incentives system for R&I should be perfected.
Research must be made a priority for the entire national system, not only for the researchers. Clear, courageous policies must be delineated, their aim to untangle the snarls in our development, and above all to bridge the divide between the business and research communities. Research can and must create value, and must be transferred to the production and business sectors, not for purposes of private interest, but to contribute to better life conditions for all.
What must we do to link the Italian research project to the research developments in the other technologically advanced countries? How do we recognize and create synergies beyond competition? Especially with the US, where there's a strong Italian business presence (including Bracco’s company), what should we do, what can be done?
“The internationalization of research is a fundamental step. Confindustria is collaborating with the Ministry of the Universities and Research, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in constructing interventions to strengthen the Italian national system, both within Europe and outside Europe. Through our network of science concellor, operating in our embassies, also, we're concentrating on bringing pilot interventions to realization, with several countries, among them the United States, Canada, and Israel. And our contribution to Europe is strong. With our presidency of the Union next term, we have a good chance to press forward with determination on the construction of the European research space.”
Let's talk about Confindustria's commitment to stop Italian “brain drain”, and its commitment to create synergies between Italian and international research. What has Confindustria done, and what can it do? How is your commitment being received by Italian industry and government?
“Confindustria has been very committed these years. And with good results. Research in Italy Day I, which we organized last November, with the President of the Republic present, resonated widely and has contributed to increasing attention to the problem of research, both in the sector itself and in public opinion. Many intiatives have been launched, by government and industry both. We are creating a Research Foundation, for example, and we'll be inviting businesses to participate. This will send out a strong message of concrete commitment to the diffusion of research and to the valorization of knowledge and skills.
And in the industrial area we've created the Innovation Network, uniting our territorial and industry associations (more than 300, situated all over the country) to increase and specialize R&I services to business.
Next fall will be Research in Italy Day II, when we'll call on the country to make a full assessment of what has been done and what steps we still need to take”.
What did you think of the Conference organized last month?
“First of all I must thank Minister Mirko Tremaglia for having organized it. The conference brought to light that science and research must not be considered internal, inside our national borders, but rather that its supranational character is a great aggregate value.
For this to occur however, it is necessary for Italy's businesses, public research institutions, universities, and researchers all to feel part of the world network of knowledge and research and to act accordingly, by adopting the necessary policies”.