Last Friday (July 14), daily La Repubblica published a report entitled "Partecipate del Comune, il 70% in rosso" (Municipal Companies: 70% in Debt). The article on Foundations, which was entitled "Piccole e voraci, pochi dipendenti e grandi sprechi" (Small and Voracious: Few Employees and Great Waste), provides faulty information on the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, which overlooks 16 years of passionate civic work by all of us. The article is signed by Daniele Autieri.
FMD Director General Mirta Michilli immediately replied to the daily directed by Mario Calabresi to demand the information be rectified. To date, the letter has still not been published and the information has not been rectified.
Here is Mirta Michilli’s letter:
We may be small, but our excellence is out of the question. We are neither voracious, nor wasteful.
Dear Director,
I was very surprised by your article on the municipal foundations of Roma Capitale. I have not only administered the Fondazione Mondo Digitale for many years, but also helped to create it. I dedicated all of my professional energy and much of my civil passion to this pursuit.
I was surprised by the superficiality with which such a prestigious newspaper, albeit in the local section, faces such an important issue for our country: the use of public money.
I firmly believe that, more than ever before, we need individuals who can understand specific situations and portray the positive aspects of our country, even safeguard them, to help remove issues and obstacles that hinder change.
The media not only have great power on these issues, but also a great responsibility, a civic responsibility.
The Foundation that I manage addresses how technology is changing the world and prepares young men and women for the complex challenge that awaits them, teachers and the many excellences of Italian schools in this modern age, as well as all those who would never have access to opportunities without knowledge, such as elders, immigrants, refugees, the unemployed and NEETs.
We have developed a new educational model, which we call “Life Education.” We have created an environment dedicated to innovation – the Phyrtual Innovation Gym and 110 schools throughout Italy are developing this idea. We have developed an inclusion model for elders – the Intergenerational Learning Model – which is currently used in 30 Italian cities and that has even inspired a national programme promoted by the Irish Government.
And I could continue. I could tell you that we collaborate with the most prestigious global ICT companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Intel, Cisco, Ericsson or with Embassies, such as that of the United States of America, and with large national enterprises, like Poste Italiane, as well as hundreds of top quality schools throughout Italy.
We are absolutely proud of what we have accomplished for Rome and Italy, as we are proud of our management excellence. In any case, we are not part of the “municipal companies that the 2016 Bill has scheduled for closure” (as the article erroneously indicates). First of all, this bill does not apply to foundations (such as ours, recognized by Prefecture Act N. 439/2006), but rather it only concerns public administrations in limited companies. Moreover, this is not caused by forgetfulness as that bill specifies that foundations will continue to be governed by other legislation (Art. 1, Paragraph 4, Section b).
And even if we were a limited company, which we are not, we would still not be included in the companies scheduled for closure as indicated in Art. 20 of the Bill. In fact, we have more employees than directors (who are not paid for their work). Our activities are completely different from those of other initiatives and companies managed by Roma Capitale. Moreover, we have a budget of one million euro and have never had a loss.
These have been very difficult years, but we have worked because, notwithstanding our limited size, we want to make a difference.
I demand a formal rectification of the information provided in the aforementioned article and invite both you and Daniele Autieri, the author of the article, to come visit us at Via del Quadraro 102 in the lively Roman suburbs.
Cordially,
Mirta Michilli
Director General, Fondazione Mondo Digitale
