The Council of Europe’s anti-torture Committee (the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture - CPT) has today issued a public statement on the Russian Federation urging the Russian authorities to take decisive action to eradicate the phenomenon of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials in the Chechen Republic and elsewhere in the North Caucasian region of the Russian Federation, including through the conduct of effective investigations whenever relevant information comes to light. More...
Nove domande e risposte sul Rapporto Economico sull’Italia 2019 dell’OCSE
By . L’Italia ha implementato alcune delle raccomandazioni dei passati Raporti dell’OCSE sull’Italia e queste hanno prodotto risultati. Per esempio:
- Precedenti Rapporti hanno raccomandato di ridurre i contributi previdenziali per aumentare l’occupazione. Tale riduzione è stata attuata su base temporanea dal 2015 e l’occupazione è aumentata di circa 3 punti percentuali. La crescita dell’occupazione ha iniziato a rallentare quando le riduzioni dei contributi previdenziali sono stati gradualmente eliminati.
- Precedenti Rapporti hanno raccomandato di rafforzare le politiche di innovazione e gli incentivi per gli investimenti innovativi. Il programma Industria 4.0 has introdotto incentivi fiscali per gli investimenti in tecnologie digitali, che da allora sono aumentati rapidamente.
- Precedenti Rapporti hanno raccomandato di migliorare gli appalti pubblici e combattere vigorosamente la corruzione. Le procedure di aggiudicazione degli appalti pubblici sono state ristrutturate e armonizzate in tutto il paese riducendo il numero delle stazioni appaltanti, con conseguenti notevoli risparmi; l’autorità anticorruzione (ANAC) ha assunto un ruolo di primo piano nella prevenzione della corruzione ed è ora un modello per altri paesi.
Ci sono molte aree in cui in Italia non ha seguito le raccomandazioni dell’OCSE. More...
Nine questions and answers on the 2019 Economic Survey of Italy
By . Italy has implemented some of the recommendations of past OECD Surveys and these have been bearing fruit. For example:
- Past Surveys have recommended reducing social security contributions to raise employment. Such a cut was implemented on a temporary basis from 2015 and employment rose by about 3 percentage points. Employment growth started slowing when the reductions in social security contributions gradually expired.
- Past Surveys have recommended strengthening innovation policies and incentives for innovative investment. The Industry 4.0 programme has introduced fiscal incentives for investments in digital technologies, which have increased rapidly since then.
- Past Surveys have recommended improving public procurement and fighting vigorously corruption. Public procurement procedures have been restructured and harmonised across the country by reducing the number of contracting authorities, resulting in large cost savings; the anticorruption authority (ANAC) has taken on an important role in preventing corruption and is now a model for other countries.
There are many areas where In Italy has not taken action following OECD recommendations. More...
Sweden’s schools: lessons from history to build a better future
By . Swedish schools entered the 1990s from a position of strength, as one of the top performers in early international school surveys, including the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). School governance was centralised, and implemented locally by regional education boards. More...
How Italy developed a state-of-the-art school assessment culture
I first visited Italy’s National Institute for Evaluation (INVALSI) in 1989. In those days, when it was called the CEDE, it was a place where academics debated educational research and contributed to international comparative studies. Back then, few would have thought the institute would build a comprehensive national assessment of the Italian school system. More...
Open Calls from the European network on cultural management and policy (ENCATC)
The European network on cultural management and policy (ENCATC) has launched a call for applications for the ENCATC Research Award on Cultural Policy and Cultural Management and a call for submissions for the annual ENCATC Education and Research Session to be held during the 2019 ENCATC Congress "Diversity and sustainability at work". More...
VARIO-memorandum 2019-2024, Forging ahead. Aim: Top 5 knowledge regions
In the run-up to the Flemish elections of 26 May, VARIO, The Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation and Enterprise, has prepared a Memorandum for the Flemish policy makers under the title ‘Forging ahead. Aim: Top 5 knowledge regions’. More...
EIC pilot: European Commission announces €2 billion of funding for 2019-2020 and calls for members of EIC Advisory Board
The European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot was launched in 2017 under the current Horizon 2020 programme to support market-creating innovation. Since then it supported 1276 highly innovative projects with the total amount of €730 million. More...
Cologne University-Coimbra Group lecture series “Narratives of Europe, Narratives for Europe”
In light of the elections for European Parliament, the University of Cologne is organising, together with the Coimbra Group, an unprecedented initiative on views on European Integration within the EU member states. More...
Knowledge diplomacy and the digital world: does international tertiary education have a role? 13-15 May, Berlin
The British Council is holding its 2019 Going Global annual conference for international educational leaders on the theme “Knowledge diplomacy and the digital world: does international tertiary education have a role?”. More...