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RBS Research Center Director speaking at XXX World Economic Forum and at Sorbonne University


Academic days on Open Governement and Digital Issues

On 9 and 10 November 2021, IMODEV organized at the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, the “6th Academic Days on Open Government and Digital Challenges, under the direction of Irene Bouhadana and William Gilles.

At the event Valerio Mancini, director of RBS Research Center, gave a speech dedicated to the future economic challenges of #SmartCities. RBS infact, just published a report on such a compelling and debated topic, authored by Valerio Mancini and Roberto Elias Ramirez Basterrechea, discussing the lights and shadows of the metropolises of the future.

These Academic days aimed to bring together all of academia concerned with issues related to open government and digital issues by favoring a broad and multidisciplinary dimension.


XXX Economic Forum

Valerio Mancini also recently participated in the XXX Economic Forum with the theme “Europe in search of leadership”. Each year the Economic Forum, the largest political and economic conference in Central and Eastern Europe, brings together representatives from more than 60 countries and is widely covered by the Polish and international media.

Approximately 4,000 guests from Europe, North America and Asia participate in the Forum each year. They are representatives of governments, politics, business, science and culture. Among the guests of the previous editions, it is worth mentioning: Valdas Adamkus, Caroline Atkinson, José María Aznar, José Manuel Barroso, Jerzy Buzek, Emil Constantinescu, Massimo D’Alema, Valdis Dombrovskis, Roland Dumas, Andrzej Duda, Mikuláš Dzurinda, Robert Fico, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Alfred Gusenbauer, Dalia Grybauskaitė, Václav Havel, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Luca Jahier, Viktor Yushchenko, Jarosław Kaczyński, Horst Kohler, Thomas de Maizière, Stjepan Mesić, Mario Monti, Mateusz Morawiecki, Viktor Orgsán Poroshenko, Viviane Reding, Jorge Sampaio, Karel Schwarzenberg, Bohuslav Sobotka, Mirek Topolánek, Donald Tusk, Günter Verheugen, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, José Luis Zapatero.

Some of other main topics covered by Valerio Mancini have been:

Organized Crime Groups and Their Impact on the State Economy 

Organized crime groups are the nightmare of many countries. Not only because of their direct threat to the security of citizens, but also because of their increasing negative impact on the economy. Criminal groups and the mafias that are popular in some regions are moving away from their traditional activities, investing in hotels, construction and waste disposal, among other things, and often committing corruption. What is the impact of organized crime groups on the state economy? How to effectively counteract criminal activities in the economy? 

Invited speakers: 

  • Rogelio Alonso Pascual, Member of the Academic Council, Security and Culture Institute, Spain 
  • Maksym Hryshchuk, First Deputy Prosecutor, Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, Ukraine 
  • Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director, European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL), Belgium 
  • Ilya Shumanov, General Director, Center Transparency International Russia, Russia 
  • Erik Wennerstrom, Director General, Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, Sweden 

China vs. West – a New Opening, or a New Cold War? 

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech in January, in which he called for unity, equality and joint action by the whole world in the face of the difficult period we are currently experiencing, was widely echoed in public opinion. However, he took the opportunity to warn of a ‘new cold war’ that could come if there are countries that want to act in the name of self-interest and supremacy. He called for a rejection of the Cold War mentality. Can the Western countries, led by the USA, really rebuild the world after a pandemic side by side with China? 

Invited speakers: 

  • Margarida Marques, Member, European Parliament, Portugal 
  • Darren Spinck, Managing Partner, Washington Consulting Solutions, USA 
  • Paul Irwin Crookes, Associate Professor of Contemporary China Studies, Oxford University, United