Facebook Italia critical of Trump protectionism

(ANSA) - Rome, March 30 - Facebook Italia country manager Luca Colombo on Thursday was critical of US President Donald Trump for threatening punitive tariffs on European goods including Italy's Vespa scooters and San Pellegrino mineral water in what would be a tit-for-tat move following an EU No to US hormone-boosted beef.
    Speaking at an ANSA forum, Colombo said "protectionism for us is a semi-disaster, it's in Facebook's mission to make the world open and connected.
    Colombo said protectionism "doesn't make sense for the many actors in this sector and the many digital platforms".
    The ANSA forum, also featuring the youth section chief of influential industrial employers group Confindustria, discussed the challenges and opportunities afforded by the digital economy. Confindustria deputy executive chairman Marco Gay, head of the youth section of the employers group, underscored at the ANSA forum that "ideas come before the business plan. Ideas first, always. When you begin with human capital, then everything else can be developed." He added that the business incubator Digital Magic receives about 1,500 requests per year for innovative start-ups, and that it "brings into being about 10 to 15 enterprises per year" with a "peak of 20". Thus, he said, it is not a war between traditional enterprises and innovative start-ups, but rather a "win-win contest. Both the traditional enterprise that innovates and the start-up entering the market win." Colombo, the country manager of Facebook Italia, stressed at the forum that "data management is important both for enterprises and users, and education is needed on these issues".
    "Enterprises must understand the regulations and manage personal data correctly, otherwise they will pay the price over the long term," he added. Colombo said that consumers are shifting ever more to digital means and that "the revolution is hard, but repaid with the advantages it brings with it". "In the European digitalization rankings, Italy is in 25th place out of 28. This is a position that absolutely does not reflect the intensity and will of a world that wants to use digitalization as a lever for the economy," Gay said, noting that this is an "absurd contradiction. Because we are the second top country in manufacturing in Europe but the third to the last in digitalization." Calling it the "first real industrial policy plan in 20 years," Gay said that the Industry 4.0 - the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies is leading to "a different vision" looking towards the medium-long term, and that there is greater attention to training. This, in his view, is a positive development and "a direction in which the entire continent is going. One speaks of European Industry 4.0 and of raising Europe's value in the manufacturing field, with Italy being able to take on a key role due to the skills it has." He added that the challenges of the digital economy redistributes jobs and does not eliminate them, but that it depends on "those engaging in it, since you are either subjected to change or you manage it. Digitalisation needs to be managed better than other challenges have been, such as globalization." "Today over 22% of the jobs available in Italy cannot be filled because they can't find qualified personnel", while "The EU estimates that there will be 500,00 new jobs available over the next three years for those with digital skills," he said.