Digit’Ed Fast Forward 2023: The future we can expect

Digit’Ed Fast Forward was held for the first time on October 25, in what was a new opportunity to talk about the job market and professional education, listen to special guest speakers, award companies that stand out for their innovation in education, and present our new platform, Open Learning.

The running theme for the event was innovation technology—an imperative today, also when it comes human capital development. Artificial intelligence was the focus of a roundtable discussion—and the key asset behind two major presentations made during the day.

A breakthrough study, made possible by AI and machine learning models, surveying 30,000 job profiles and 650,000 job postings from 2017 to today, to identify new trends in the job market in Italy.

The study looked at “hiring behavior,” in terms of trends and figures in recruitment processes for acquiring new talent and skills, and the “great resignation” trend sweeping Italy, before turning its sights to the real impact of education on careers.

The data highlighted the major changes underway affecting not only experienced professionals, but also, since the pandemic, junior profiles showing greater dynamism and propensity for change.

Future-oriented design underpins every aspect of our new Open Learning platform—from the user experience to the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) systems, a discussion room to engage with other users, and systems for measuring the effectiveness of training, based on data and advanced analytics.

Easy to use and extremely versatile, the platform is perfectly adaptable to the requirements of organizations and individuals, thanks to modular content that can be mixed and matched to the needs of different users.

Open Learning enables people to chart their own personalized learning paths, dialogue with a chatbot for information, track their learning progress, and socialize within their communities, putting an end to the stark gap between consumer experience and learner experience.

Emma Marcegaglia, Chairwoman and CEO of Marcegaglia Holding, Luigi Ferraris, CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Fabrizio Palermo, CEO of Acea, and Father Paolo Benanti, lecturer at the Pontifical Gregorian University and member of Digit’Ed’s scientific committee, as well as the sole Italian expert recently nominated to the United Nations’ AI Advisory Board, joined on stage for a debate on human capital, ethics, and artificial intelligence. As they all agreed, AI is not necessarily a by-word for conflict between creativity and technology. Rather, “It can be a means for improving training and, therefore, the profitability of enterprises. But it needs to be studied. The problem is when a task is delegated entirely to a machine,” explained Father Benanti.

“In a situation of growing complexity, seeing that technology-enabled business is constantly changing, reskilling has become the new normal. People need to be prepared to deal with various waves of reskilling in their professional lives, because the true legacy in organizations isn’t technology, but people, who enable growth and economic development,” remarked Mario Vitale, speaking to Niccolò Bossi, Chief Operating Officer of 24ORE Business School, about the challenges of training.

That is why one of the more than 1000 initiatives developed in 2023 involved, thanks to the work of our scientific committee, the identification and assigning of Digit’Ed Awards to the four best projects promoting HR and business strategy, in the categories of HR Advisory, HR Empowerment, Management & Innovation, and Academy.

An event rich in data, insights, and food for thought, which we trust can help guide the HR community in tackling the latest challenges facing a working world in continuous transformation.