In today’s highly volatile environment, we need solid, resilient infrastructure that is open to innovation and able to adapt.
The changes we are experiencing are extremely rapid, which brings us to a concept that may seem, in some respects, contradictory: infrastructure needs to be flexible.
Flexible infrastructure means having the physical asset, as we have traditionally understood it,
but also giving that asset a “brain” capable of adapting the infrastructure to changing needs.
And by that, I mean data management.
In the past, when we designed infrastructure — take an electricity substation, for example —
we focused on protecting it with physical barriers and security personnel.
Today, alongside the physical infrastructure, we also have data.
And data needs to be protected with the same level of care.
Capital, even today, is not the issue.
What we need is a clear regulatory framework, particularly when we are talking about long-term infrastructure.
This also enables you to build and develop the necessary skills, because stability allows you to invest.
Capital itself is not a risk. Regulatory clarity matters. Stability matters.
Resources become a risk when there is no continuity of investment, because you cannot develop them and you cannot plan for them.
What is missing is a long-term vision, long-term planning, and a time-to-market and execution model that remain consistent, regardless of who is in charge at any given time.
The key is long-term planning. It is a cultural issue, and it is also about having rules that stem from a long-term vision and long-term stability.
When you have spent years doing the kind of work I have done and meeting with investors, you realise that the most important value is stability. But not stability for its own sake. Stability in carrying programmes through.
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