by Redazione
Andrea Poggi of Deloitte highlights three strategic priorities: accelerating the digital transition, closing the skills gap, and promoting inclusive innovation.
“The awarding of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics to Mokyr, Aghion, and Howitt for demonstrating how innovation drives economic growth represents a recognition of historic significance — one that transcends the boundaries of theory and directly addresses the challenges of our time.” This is how Andrea Poggi, Head of Public Policy & Stakeholder Relations Centre and Innovation Leader at Deloitte Central Mediterranean, opens his article published on Voices.
Mokyr, he recalls, showed that modern growth stems from the convergence of “prescriptive knowledge” — the practical know-how of “how to do” — and “propositional knowledge,” the scientific understanding of “why.” Aghion and Howitt, meanwhile, developed a model in which innovation becomes an endogenous variable within the economic system, describing a dynamic equilibrium fueled by competition and institutional incentives. “At the heart of the three economists’ research lies the concept of creative destruction — the process through which new technologies, organizational models, and production structures progressively replace the existing ones, generating cycles of renewal and economic progress,” Poggi writes. “It is undoubtedly an extraordinary and highly relevant recognition, with far-reaching implications,” he adds. “And it comes at a time when innovation stands as one of the key global strategic themes, as reflected by the growing attention of European institutions — from the Green Deal to the Draghi Report on European competitiveness — as well as by national and multilateral development agendas.”
Poggi stresses that “innovation, as understood by these scholars, is not only about technology, nor merely about new organizational solutions and processes. It is also a social, institutional, and cultural transformation — one that goes beyond digitalization or the adoption of AI, and instead concerns our ability to build resilient, inclusive, and sustainable economic systems.” He adds, “For innovation to be truly transformative, it must be governed in a systemic and cooperative way.”
“Innovation can generate immense benefits only if embedded within a framework of rules, ethical choices, and public policies capable of steering it toward the common good. The real question is how to make this vision tangible and effective. To that end, innovation must be translated into concrete operational priorities. Based on data, empirical evidence, and current experience, it is crucial to act along three essential lines of intervention: accelerating the digital transition, closing the skills gap — not only technological — and promoting inclusive innovation with a strong social dimension,” Poggi explains.
As highlighted in the article, digital data shows that digitally mature companies achieve profit margins 6% higher than their peers, while a 10% increase in “digital adoption” correlates with a 1.6% rise in per capita GDP. Yet, according to UNESCO, 2.6 billion people worldwide still lack Internet access — meaning that without widespread digital infrastructure and skills, much of innovation’s potential remains untapped. “Bridging the digital divide between the Global North and South through technology transfer, infrastructure investment, and international cooperation is not only an ethical responsibility but a necessary condition for balanced global progress,” Poggi writes.
“The skills gap,” he continues, “is now the main barrier to fully realized and truly sustainable growth. The transformation of work by 2030 demands immediate action: nearly 40% of current skills will become obsolete, and an estimated six out of ten workers will need reskilling to remain competitive.” “New public–private partnerships,” he adds, “are crucial to developing the professional profiles needed in innovation-driven processes. We must act at a systemic level, recognizing that innovation must be human-centered: technology must serve people, enhance human capital, and create opportunities accessible to all.”
“The third strategic dimension concerns the inclusiveness of innovation itself. It must not polarize, but multiply opportunities for everyone — creating not only economic but also social benefits, and fostering virtuous cycles between the economy and society. Mature democratic economies bear the responsibility of spreading the fruits of innovation beyond already developed areas — reaching smaller supply chains, less connected regions, emerging countries, and still-excluded communities,” Poggi remarks.
The potential, he notes, is enormous: closing gender participation gaps in developing economies alone could raise real GDP by 22–23% — a figure that reflects both the economic impact and the magnitude of current exclusion. “However, these three priorities can translate into real impact only if two enabling conditions for innovation — emerging as essential prerequisites — are met,” he warns. “The first,” Poggi explains, “is ensuring a true strategic governance of innovation: a planning framework that integrates the capacities and responsibilities of public and private actors, aligning investments, industrial policies, and technological choices toward shared and measurable goals. Only through a coherent institutional design can innovation become a lever for cohesion and collective progress.” “The second condition,” he continues, “is adopting a systemic approach that actively involves business, institutions, academia, and civil society. The challenges ahead exceed the capacity of individual actors and demand structured collaboration mechanisms. Permanent platforms for joint action are needed to foster co-design of solutions, sharing of resources and knowledge, and integration of public incentives with private investment.”
“Turning these priorities into tangible outcomes is, therefore, a challenge within the challenge of innovation — and everyone must play their part,” Poggi concludes. “At Deloitte, we promote innovation as a catalyst for economic and social growth, serving as a platform for dialogue and collaboration among diverse stakeholders. This commitment translates into concrete solutions for businesses, as well as content and forums where institutions, enterprises, universities, and civil society work synergistically to identify actionable paths toward innovation that drives not only economic growth but measurable social progress. As the concept of creative destruction reminds us, innovation renders obsolete only what fails to evolve. The real challenge is to be proactive — to build interconnected economic and social systems where one’s growth sustains the other, capable of regenerating themselves and transforming disruption into shared renewal.”
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L’articolo Poggi (Deloitte), “The 2025 Nobel Prize and Innovation as a Driver of Growth” proviene da Associated Medias.
