Aldo Bisio, CEO of Vodafone Italia since 2014 and member of the executive committee of the entire Vodafone group since 2015, took the stage of «Alfabeto del Futuro» from Genoa yesterday. Interviewed by the director of Il Secolo XIX, Luca Ubaldeschi, he talked about digitization, data and the future of Italy in the digital world. Here is a summary of the dialogue.
From your point of view, at what point is our country in terms of digitization?
«Italy has a great future ahead of digital. Of course we are not starting from a position of strength, when compared to other countries, and there is still a lot to improve. But a lot of opportunities will come from the Recovery Plan and I am very positive about what lies ahead. It must be said that we are very competitive in some segments, for example on mobile networks which are better than those of Germany, Great Britain and Spain. However, we are growing on fixed network infrastructures also with the funds allocated by the government to accelerate in this sector. As The Economist says, in the third millennium the new oil is data. It is true. However, there are no refineries, which are the brains of the people who have to process the data ”.
This leads us to understand that there are difficulties in finding skills. Can they be overcome?
“This is a problem that all countries have. The mass of data is enormous. Our mobile network alone processes 25 billion state changes every day. The big job to do now is to look for the skills. In practice, there are about 200 thousand jobs that are missing but looking at the objectives of the EU Digital Compass to 2030, we can even reach 14 million ICT skills. For Italy there are about 1.2 – 1.3 million jobs ”.
It is a theme that involves universities, it means that they have to rush to create these figures.
«Yes, but universities have long development cycles. There is therefore a need to activate accelerators that can be implemented by universities in conjunction with companies. Also on the part of data science: there is a need not only for engineers but also for surveyors of the digital world, for site managers and so on. We have to work hard to develop all that level that is missing today. It is a great job of professional reconversion of people ».
The big game of these hours is that of the PNRR. Have the right choices been made?
«I am very positive on this level. The adjustment given, in particular to digital infrastructures, by the new government, has given an extra boost. We are now entering the executive phase. In the government there is a strong sensitivity on the digital issue ».
There is a lot of talk about 5G that looks set to change our lives. Why is it so important?
“It’s a necessity, if only because of the huge growth in data. 4G can’t carry the volume of traffic that will flood us in the coming years. Another reason is that many of the new services that will emerge cannot be done with 4G. 5G is a much better performing technology. The response times of the network are one tenth of those of 4G ».
Is it also important for the healthcare world?
«Yes sure. But the most important area of application is that of mobility. The moment we start talking about connected cars talking to other cars or traffic lights and so on, at that point reaction times become relevant. 5G speeds up responses, which 4G can’t do today and cars would crash».
Dwhat the implementation of 5G for Italy depends on?
«Right now we are making progress in covering cities with 5G. We will be 50-60 at the end of the year. A series of interesting experiments have been activated in Genoa. With the AMT we are working on the issue of road safety “.
Is technology also on the docks of the port?
«Yes, the port is a very high density logistic center. There are experiments that we are doing around Europe where we are covering the ports with 5G in order to favor their competitiveness “.