Flying car at the center of a Ucid Reggio Emilia round table

'The scenario of the Italian economy in the context of new geo-political balances and emerging technologies', organized by the Christian Union of Catholic Entrepreneurs and Managers

REGGIO EMILIA – We looked to the future in Reggio Emilia the other evening, during the meeting entitled: ‘The scenario of the Italian economy in the context of new geo-political balances and emerging technologies’, organized by Christian Union of Catholic Entrepreneurs and Managers.

The flying car project presented: prototype within 4 years, and incubator in Reggio Emilia. The evening was organized by Fabio Storchi, president of the Reggio Emilia Ucid, who invited his associates to debate these highly topical issues, together with Luca Paolazzi, scientific director of the Nord Est Foundation.

A glimpse of hope has been brought, despite the situation being objectively difficult, in a context of wars on the gates of Europe, of planetary political tensions, in the search for new global political balances which determine oppositions and conflicts even in international bodies .

The note of hope comes in particular from the intervention of the engineer Alessandro Giazotto, founder of EconScience, who presented his innovative project to the audience, which triggered his warning: “Let’s make sure that Italy become the world’s center of excellence for advanced air mobility. I am convinced that in four years we will be able to bring the first certified flying car onto the market.”

The automotive sector is currently experiencing a profound state of change and Giazotto has identified a solution which overcomes the debated issue of internal combustion, electric or hybrid cars. Giazotto explains: “A flying car powered by hydrogen that uses the airspace to move, a sort of drone that transports human beings, instead of traditional cars, powered by diesel, petrol, or electric”.

An intuition relaunched by Fabio Storchi who, first of all, is a shrewd entrepreneur. Reggio Emilia is no stranger to innovation and Giazotto brought his testimony as an innovator to the room, adding: “We are working hard on the project knowing that the economic resources necessary for research are enormous. In any case, we believe in it and we move forward” .

“We need to always be ready for the new, for what is innovation – Storchi explained to the audience in the Theological Library, in Piazza Vallisneri, guests of Giulia Iotti – in a short time what appears to us as futuristic could turn into reality”.

Paolazzi took stock of the increasingly critical situation in US-China relations, which has seen the imposition of duties on Chinese electric cars in recent days. There was also talk of inflation which, in the first three months of 2024, did not continue the expected downward path, calling into question the expected cuts in interest rates by central banks.

The interruptions of value chains at a global level, moreover, have had an indirect effect on consumer prices: by rarefying some strategic components (such as microchips), they have increased their cost and have induced manufacturers to convey those available on the more expensive products, where it was easier to make customers digest price increases.

In his forecasts Paolazzi reiterated that inflation will continue to cool in the coming months, and that central banks will adopt policies to progressively reduce the cost of money. Soon, Europe will also resume GDP growth, in line with the other economic and industrial powers of the world.
The audience echoed groans of hope for the future.

The opportunity for companies to implement the economic and social transformations that affect our era by adopting ESG regulations was highlighted, in a logic of integral sustainability, as recommended by the European Union.

The world that awaits us is increasingly complex and difficult to face, but it is also full of opportunities for those who know how to use new knowledge and new technologies to innovate in the direction of man, his well-being and his centrality , cornerstones of economic activity and society.

A task entrusted mainly to the new generations called to do their part, in a world in which they will increasingly be protagonists.