“Digital innovation is still disruptive and when our posterity studies the historical period from the end of the 20th century to 2050, they will talk about Digital revolution. We only think if they suddenly deprive us of all the benefits of digitalization: I assure you that our life would be much more complicated. At the same time, producing innovation without being sustainable makes no sense. And we have understood this at Cisco for many years “.
The vision of the future outlined a Republic gives Gianmatteo Manghi, managing director of Cisco Italia, is clear: the boundary between digitization e sustainability not only is it crumbling, but soon it will no longer make any sense. The great challenges of sustainability, environmental and otherwise, are in fact changing the priority scale of our daily lives. And from this point of view, argues Manghi, digital innovation represents the ally with a capital “A”, if not the only ally capable of paving the way for truly sustainable economic, environmental and social models.
Innovation and sustainability are the two pillars of the NRP. What is the common thread that binds the two fronts today? And what are the reciprocal contributions that one can make to the other and vice versa?
“They are two sides of the same coin. More than a fil rouge, I would speak of an urgency that affects everyone, the climate one. Producing innovation without being sustainable makes no sense, and we have understood this at Cisco for many years. rightly, we talk about mutual contributions, I can only reiterate our challenge: to become carbon neutral by 2040, ten years before all the others. More than a challenge, it is a promise “.
Can digital innovation and must it still be considered disruptive? If so, from what points of view?
“As disruptive as the Industrial Revolution was at the end of the 19th century. When our posterity studies the historical period from the end of 1900 to 2050, they will talk about the Digital Revolution. Let’s just think if they suddenly deprive us of all the benefits of digitization: I assure you that our life would be much more complicated “.
The issue of sustainability is still driven by the environmentalist component, to the detriment of the economic and social fronts. How can technology contribute to the development of more sustainable models, not only from an environmental point of view?
“Among the great merits of digital there is also that of having expanded access to services and increased the opportunities of all. Smart working, which has spread exponentially with the advent of the pandemic, allows you to choose whether to work from home, or in the office or on the move, thus also reconciling personal needs. It is in fact a means that offers the possibility to work even for those who have serious problems moving around. Isn’t it an advantage? Another example is telemedicine, which expands access to care. What at Cisco we aim to do every day is to create tools that are able to offer a more inclusive future for everyone “.
What does it mean today to develop sustainable by-design technology?
“It means designing a technology taking into account the aspect linked to its sustainability from the beginning. A couple of years ago we presented the Internet of the Future, a set of software and hardware designed to support the digital evolution of the following 10 years: could only be a sustainable evolution. We have developed a Silicon One chip that drastically reduces consumption and physical resources needed in the huge data centers that are key hubs of the digital world: we have changed our way of designing, we have managed to reduce by 26 times the consumption of routers applied in these contexts. Systems that previously required dozens of components, to be delivered with a 900 kg pallet, are now enclosed in a single integrated system that weighs less than 15 kg. Less energy, fewer materials, fewer resources, but more performance as requested by customers “.
What are the Italian industrial and production sectors that have not yet grasped the development opportunities offered by the digital revolution? And what does it mean today to support and accompany a company along a hi-tech transformation path?
“At the moment there is no sector where the value of digitization is not clear, but taking action requires economic resources and skills that we must develop more to reach the fabric of micro and small businesses. Today, if there is something that it can be done with digital, it must be done with digital: it is the key to competitiveness, for resilience. We must respect the identity and diversity of each of these realities and propose ourselves as a partner that helps to combine the transformation of models business with technology “.
How can we reduce the digital divide that grips countries like ours, which emerged with all its hardness during the experience of the pandemic between school and work?
“The pandemic has clearly shown that the digital divide has two sides: technological, in terms of connectivity and the availability of efficient and secure tools, and cultural, linked to the skills needed to use services and applications. It is clear that we must maximize investments. , also available in the Pnrr, to fill these gaps. We, for example, have focused a lot on training with our 340 Netacads that have trained 250,000 students in the last 5 years throughout Italy. But there is also another aspect, relating to how we faced a totally new situation, that of collaboration. I think of digital solidarity initiatives, but also of the enormous effort made with our partners to help customers. The value of the partnership between public and private and the strength that comes from large and cohesive ecosystems are also fundamental for the country “.
What is the contribution that a company like Cisco has to offer to the Italian system? And what does the Italy system have to offer to Cisco in terms of research and development?
“In Italy we actively collaborate in innovation paths, in the development of the digital agenda. Above all we make investments: just think of the Digitaliani project, an initiative born in 2016 to accelerate the digitization of the country. In Italy we have two research and development centers, Cisco Photonics on optical technologies and Fluidmesh for high-speed wireless. Our country has always been a place of exchange and creativity. By creating a “network” of innovators, called Innovation Exchange, we put together many realities involved in various title in innovation “.
How does the role of leaders change in post-normality, especially in an era of hybridization of times and places of work?
“The pandemic experience transformed leadership. Some filters were removed, we experimented with a different way of collaborating and listening to each other, and the best leaders were the ones who transformed this into an opportunity for growth. The goal of hybrid work , which we can call flexible, is offering a better professional experience than before, from all points of view, to the benefit of productivity. Among the tasks of post-normality leaders there is also this: to build empathic work environments , flexible, open and promoting this culture in the company “.
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