Pandemic Knowledge

I CAPITELLI Pandemic Knowledge Managing the crisis, planning the future Luiss.MasterClasses edited by Andrea Prencipe Pandemic Knowledge This volume represents a selection of the MasterClasses held at Luiss between April and July 2020. © Luiss University Press ISBN: 978-88-6105-618-3 Layout Livia Pierini Translated by Translate Srl First published in January 2021 During the height of the lockdown, Luiss launched a series of virtual meetings in order to provide the conceptual tools suitable for interpreting this situation through “viable” ideas, that is to say, capable of having a tangible effect on reality. Thus, the Luiss.MasterClasses were born, dedicated to an in-depth exploration of pandemic-related issues. Internationally renowned experts presented comprehensive reflections based on their research and discussed the economic, social, political and legal implications with “guests of honour” from the industrial, professional and academic spheres. It was an initiative that sought to fill the void in our lives that resulted from the lockdown when we were confined inside the home. Andrea Prencipe is Rector of Luiss and Professor of Organisation and Innovation. He is also a member of the UNHCR Italy Advisory Group and the Scientific Committee of the Enel Foundation. Previously, he was Professor at the University of Chieti-Pescara “G. D’Annunzio”, Visiting Professor at the Rotterdam School of Management and the BI School of Management in Oslo and Honorary Professor at the University of Sussex. He has also been a speaker at international universities such as Harvard Business School, London Business School, the University of Michigan, the University of Oxford, the University of Linköping and Cass Business School. His research activities focus on innovation management issues (including technological and organisational innovation), project- based organisations and the relationships between social capital and innovative processes. He has published scientific papers in international academic journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Industrial and Corporate Change, Organization Science, California Management Review and for Oxford University Press. Table of contents Table of contents Introduction by Andrea Prencipe POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN THE FACE OF THE PANDEMIC 1. Global pandemics and future responsiveness of European health systems with Pierluigi Antonelli, Paola Mattei and Paola Severino 2. People, technologies and processes during the pandemic with Terri Griffith and Marco Morelli 3. Pandemics and Data Science with Giuseppe Francesco Italiano and Luca Tomassini 4. International politics during and after the pandemic with Raffaele Marchetti and Cecilia Piccioni 5. Addressing indifference to the truth with Ian McCarthy and Gianni Riotta 6. Digital resilience with Cristina Alaimo and Agostino Santoni, with an introductory note by Giovanni Lo Storto BUSINESSES AND THE PANDEMIC EMERGENCY 7. Pandemics and Value Chains: what future for globalisation? with Silvia De Dominicis, Valentina Meliciani and Paola Severino 8. Sustainability during the pandemic with Frans Berkhout and Francesco Starace, with an introduction by Paola Severino 9. Industrial policies in the post-Covid era. The State’s role in the Economy with Paolo Boccardelli and Marco Simoni 10. The uniqueness of “Made in Italy” coolness with Michele Costabile and Diego Della Valle, with an introduction by Paola Severino 11. Post-Pandemic Implications for Retail with Matteo De Angelis and Sami Kahale THE CHALLENGES OF THE POST-PANDEMIC FUTURE 12. Artificial humanism: beyond digital intelligence? with Giovanni Lo Storto and Jeffrey Schnapp 13. Emerging from the crisis with Open Innovation with Henry Chesbrough and Fabrizio Di Amato 14. Cities and communities in the post-pandemic era with Francesca Bria and Sheila Foster 15. After Covid-19 with Luigi Gubitosi and Helga Nowotny, with an introduction by Paola Severino 16. The new normal after Covid-19 with Aldo Bisio and Paola Severino Introduction The course of history is sometimes marked by events which, by their scope and relevance, characterise a social context or even an era. Or at least that is what emerges from the reconstruction of historians. However, it is not always easy for those who experience such moments to be immediately aware of their significance. Yet, in the case of the Covid-19 pandemic, there seems to have been a general perception of the exceptional nature of what we are experiencing and the changes it will lead to. However, while many have emphasised the uniqueness of the situation, it has been more difficult to assess (not to say predict) the socioeconomic consequences and transformations that will be necessary in the medium-long term. One wonder even if we will have to change our social dynamics once and for all, a subject which we had, perhaps, never considered before. An article that appeared in the New York Times, for example, questions the possibility that some distancing rules will be transformed from temporary countermeasures, dictated by a contingent necessity, to permanent habits that will become a part of our lifestyle. Will we stop greeting each other with a handshake, hug or kiss on the cheek? Will we hold fewer social gatherings, avoiding crowded places or limiting the number of people we invite into our homes for get-togethers or parties? Questions such as these are only seemingly trite; in reality, they give a clear idea of the change that could await us. We sense its extent, yet we struggle to understand it, due to the lack of previous experiences and the complexity of the context. In fact, we found ourselves facing a crisis that does not only affect health but social, economic and political spheres. However, these definitions are approximations and the very high number of which is an indication of how the problems deriving from the Covid-19 pandemic are transversal, multifaceted and largely unpredictable. To solve them, we need the ability to generate alternative interpretative hypotheses, namely to redefine the problems and reframe their contexts. In other words, we need to coordinate different disciplinary perspectives. During the height of the lockdown, Luiss launched a series of virtual meetings in order to provide the conceptual tools suitable for interpreting this situation through “viable” ideas, that is to say, capable of having a tangible effect on reality. Thus, the Luiss.MasterClasses were born, dedicated to an in-depth exploration of pandemic-related issues. Internationally renowned experts presented comprehensive reflections based on their research and discussed the economic, social, political and legal implications with “guests of honour” from the industrial, professional and academic spheres. Ample space was dedicated to questions from the public, who were able to attend the meetings thanks to a live stream on our website and the University's social media channels. It was an initiative that sought to fill the void in our lives that resulted from the lockdown when we were confined inside the home. Therefore, it was not necessarily a physical but, rather, an intellectual void, made up of those moments of reflection, uncertainty, doubt, but also creativity, hope and desire to restart: a void into which many were led by the forced interruption of the commitments and distractions that previously characterised our normality. When the health emergency is definitively resolved, and we have come out of this phase of containing infections, we will need to reflect on what the lockdown and the pandemic meant, on how they transformed our existence. What now seems evident to me is that the more we have been limited in our movements and the more our days have been marked by bulletins bearing the numbers of new positive cases, of cases of hospitalisation and, alas, deaths, the more we have felt the need for a conceptual investigation which would explore the moment we were experiencing to account for it and, thus, further motivate the various levels of sacrifice that were required of us. The Covid-19 pandemic has also been a lesson in humility. We have experienced our weakness and fragility in the face of phenomena of this kind and we have realised that our ability to understand events is sometimes limited. Human reason is weak when in the face of nature. The intellect that guides us is a faint and faltering light, like the flame of a candle. In An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) describes the light of reason as follows: How short soever their knowledge may come of an universal or perfect comprehension of whatsoever is, it yet secures their great concernments, that they [men] have light enough to lead them to the knowledge of their Maker […]. We shall not have much reason to complain of the narrowness of our minds, if we will but employ them about what may be of use to us; for of that they are very capable […]. It will be no excuse to an idle and untoward servant, who would not attend his business by candle light, to plead that he had not broad sunshine. The Candle that is set up in us shines bright enough for all our purposes. The discoveries we can make with this ought to satisfy us; and we shall then use our understandings right, when we entertain all objects in that way and proportion that they are suited to our faculties […] and not peremptorily or intemperately require demonstration, and demand certainty, where probability only is to be had […]. If we will disbelieve everything, because we cannot certainly know all things, we shall do muchwhat as wisely as he who would not use his legs, but sit still and perish, because he had no wings to fly. However uncertain and fallible as it may be, the intellect remains an indispensable guide, especially in times of crisis. Therefore, the role of universities is to provide points of orientation, stimulate discussion, find interpretations and interpretative tools that can give rise to effective practices for management and professions, but also innovative policies for the economy and industry.

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