Italy's cultural sector lags behind rapid technological change

The relationship between technology and culture in Italy is fraught, with the cultural world split between 'dinosaurs' who ignore tech developments and 'pioneers' who exploit it economically. The author argues that culture's role in preparing society for available technologies is forgotten. While Ferrara discusses adding value to cultural heritage via NFTs, other areas don't know what a CRM is. A recurring pattern is identified: explosion of a new tech frontier, early adoption by cultural players for image returns, widespread adoption across profit/nonprofit sectors, ministerial directives forming committees that slow pioneers, inflation of the tool, emergence of new tech, and belated pronouncements from roundtables. The author notes few Italians understand the implications of technologies like ChatGPT, Midjourney, quantum computing, and IoT over the next five years. Parents lack strategies to educate children for a sci-fi-like future. Institutions like museums have poor websites, libraries are undervalued, and schools struggle. The piece calls for proactive anticipation rather than reactive lagging.