"G20 2021: economic recovery passes through the digital revolution.

The year 2020 will be remembered as the year of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. The response to the emergency and the need to adapt habits, lifestyles and relational dynamics were the characterizing elements of the year just ended. The year ended with images of the first doses of vaccine administered to healthcare personnel. An encouraging sign for the future, even though the crisis is far from over.

In the list of good intentions for the new year, at the top of the 'Wish list' of the international community stands the desire for a return to normality and the shared desire to lay the foundations for a sustainable, inclusive and transformative economic recovery.

In 2020, the G20 countries, under the chairmanship of Saudi Arabia, had to adjust their agenda with rapid and immediate action in response to a shock unprecedented in recent history. In April 2020, the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 agreed on a plan of action - the so-called G20 Action Plan - with the aim of ensuring global coordination of fiscal and monetary policies adopted by individual countries in response to the crisis. This plan was subsequently revised in October 2020 to better respond to developments in the pandemic crisis.

Underlying the G20 Action Plan is the desire to develop strategies to support a transformative recovery towards a more sustainable and inclusive society. Pre-crisis economic indicators showed modest margins of productivity growth in many countries. Given the severe effects of the crisis on the economy, a return to the pre-crisis status quo would be costly to achieve and unprofitable. On the contrary, it will be necessary to seize the opportunity in the midst of difficulty, to change course and set the restart on an innovative, ambitious and transformative basis. In this context, global strategies will have to take into account both the specific circumstances of each individual economy and the impact that the pandemic has had on them.

The focus on economic recovery is today, Tuesday 12 January, the central subject of discussion at the first official meeting of the Framework Working Group, organized by the Italian G20 2021 Presidency.

The Framework Working Group is responsible for discussing the development and coordination of policies and recovery plans identified in the G20 Action Plan, providing analysis and guidelines in preparation for ministerial meetings in the finance sector, the first of which is scheduled for February 26.

In today's meeting, held in virtual mode, the main work strands of the Framework Working Group for 2021 were presented. Among these, the common will to build a robust, balanced, inclusive and sustainable recovery stands out. A recovery that for the Italian Presidency, in agreement with the other G20 members, passes through policies aimed at promoting productivity growth and digital transformation, which must, among other things, bridge the gap with the most vulnerable population. Global growth must not be considered an end in itself, but a means to improve the quality of life of all through policies aimed at upgrading skills and promoting social inclusion.

The agenda of the Italian G20 Presidency is framed within a framework built around three key themes: People, Planet and Prosperity. The balance between people and the environment must be sustained by transformative global growth, which starts from the opportunities offered by technology and the digital transition.

The trends in the development and adoption of pre-pandemic digital technologies already showed an inevitable transition to the digital economy of many productive sectors. A transformation that, for some sectors, is still rather slow, especially for realities characterized by competitive disadvantages linked to the presence of numerous small and medium enterprises. However, the change in lifestyles and, consequently, in consumption dynamics imposed by the measures to contain the pandemic, have determined an unprecedented acceleration in the use of technologies that many define as a true digital revolution.

In particular, the Framework Working Group will assess the dynamics through which the transition to digitization can sustain productivity gains, identifying the need and shared opportunity for regulatory responses from individual countries.

This work will be closely linked to the implementation of the G20 Action Plan and will be developed with a view to creating the conditions for a rapid and lasting economic recovery.

It will also be the task of the Framework Working Group to guide the digital transition towards an inclusive expansion, with the aim of breaking down any barriers to access to new digital systems for an extended participation to the most disadvantaged population groups and countries with greater difficulties in innovative adaptation. In this sense, digital inclusion is configured as the main road to follow, to ensure a development as global as possible and fill the knowledge or skills gaps in the sectors and realities that struggle most to access digital technologies.

In addition to its crucial role as coordinator of the recovery, the Framework Working Group will undertake to develop a timely mapping of new global risks, in prevention of possible future systemic shocks with high economic and social impact.

Finally, the theme of digitalization as a driver of recovery will be the focus of 2 symposia. The first will be held on January 25 entitled "Digital Transformation", while the second entitled "Finance and Digitalisation" will take place on January 26. The symposia, which will be attended by representatives of the G20 Ministries of Finance and Central Banks, will be held on the occasion of the first G20 Deputies meeting, scheduled for January 25-26 in virtual mode."

Original article by G20.orghttps://www.g20.org/it/g20-2021-la-ripresa-economica-passa-per-la-rivoluzione-digitale.html