Tim, what is Conte doing with Vivendi?
Three tips to Prime Minister Conte on 5G, Cisr and Recovery Fund role. The speech by Marco Mayer, Professor of History of Intelligence at Link Campus.
Press indiscretions (not denied) tell of Giuseppe Conte strongly committed to bringing "serenity" and suggesting mediations to unravel a significant corporate dispute in the sector of media and telecommunication networks, particularly complicated for its geopolitical implications at European level and global.
In a pre-Christmas meeting with the CEO of the French multinational Vivendi, the Prime Minister would have discussed and proposed solutions and governance structures for the delicate Tim and Mediaset dossiers in which the French group has a leading role in terms of shareholding . From what we can guess, Vivendi – also to compensate for the losses deriving from its presence in Tim and Mediaset – has for some time been building strategic alliances with the two Chinese digital giants Huawei and Tencent.
The first, Huawei (on which the spotlight of Western intelligence services has been open for years), is already engaged in a partnership with Mediaset; the second giant, Tencent is known all over the world for its Wechat App (a sort of Chinese "WhatsApp" that integrates a monopoly payment system that is mandatory in many areas of China (so check what you communicate, where you are and what you buy) . Incidentally, the WeChat app in these is the subject of protests because, in some Chinese provinces, citizens cannot get on the bus without downloading it; this irritates the particularly numerous elderly in China since the one-child law dragged on. too much over time has produced a massive aging of the population.
Palazzo Chigi is certainly an important building and Conte has an excellent expertise in financial and corporate mediation, but it is unrealistic to think of resolving a long dispute in Rome that has weighed very negatively on the technological development of our country, but in which the Europe and global players have an influence that cannot be ignored. With all the utmost respect for his extremely difficult work in this phase in which new political tensions are added to the dramatic pandemic, I would like to convey three suggestions to President Conte:
a) involve the Cisr on the matter to coordinate the launch of a confidential prevention activity on possible influences of illiberal foreign countries in our country, of which there is already concrete evidence in the field of 5G. In its latest version of January 7, the Recovery Fund continues to allocate a substantial package of billions to public and private digitization: they must not fall into the wrong hands;
b) in examining the dossier on media and telecommunications networks, the Government should immediately announce its willingness to open discussions with the EU and the new Biden administration. Woe to forget that Huawei and Tencent are in the US crosshairs and under severe observation by the European Commission;
c) allocate an adequate part of the Recovery Fund to 6G to avoid what happened with the delays on 5G and the consequent penetration of Chinese companies in our peninsula. Fortunately, Europe is at the forefront of 6G and Italy can be a candidate for a privileged place for research and experimentation.
For once the government anticipates the future. It would be a far-sighted choice for the new generations that can bring a lot of international prestige to Italy and strengthen its Euro-Atlantic vocation. In terms of foreign technological policy, Giuseppe Conte underestimated the relatively “weak” role that the Italian Constitution entrusts to the Prime Minister who cannot do much alone. For example, not enhancing the role of the Cisr and its Ministers on the most sensitive dossiers, not looking for a trusted personality to delegate or a part of the intelligence have up to now been signs – at least in my humble opinion – of an excessive security not so much of one's own abilities, but of the institutional limits of the Presidency of the Council, consider the comparison with the organizational and functional dimension of the Mef.
Palazzo Chigi has a lot of charm, but it also involves the risk for Conte of falling into the same syndrome of political solipsism from which Massimo D'Alema and Matteo Renzi were affected in the past once at Palazzo Chigi. Giuseppe Conte is a high level academic and jurist, highly regarded also in the administrative justice community. But to become a "people's advocate", or rather a popular political leader (to express the same concept in less demagogic terms) is another thing. It means not doing melina on the Mes / health care for months, but having told the truth to the citizens from the beginning: "I know that the Mes would be very useful for an immediate strengthening of the National Health Service, but Speranza and I found opposition in the 5 stars total. Should I stand firm and open a government crisis in the dark? Or bite the bullet because in the middle of a pandemic it would be a worse remedy than the disease? " A clear, direct speech as a statesman. To be a "people's advocate" it is also necessary to express clear yes and no. Just one example. Even if the idea was launched by the "filibuster" of Rignano, the proposal deserves great attention and a clear answer. Is it right and possible to vaccinate more than 400,000 teachers as soon as possible with obvious benefits for students and families? Either yes and yes or no and no.
Going from the limbo of the plush salons where disputes between multinationals are discussed at the tip of the foil into the hell of politics is difficult, but not impossible. For weeks, the lawyer Conte has locked himself in his "fort", the time to reason and decide for his future. But now – as they say in Florence – “we are at the gates with stones”, the time has come to dispel the Hamletic doubt. If not now, when?
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/tim-cosa-combina-conte-con-vivendi/ on Sat, 09 Jan 2021 06:19:43 +0000.