In June 2010, a press conference of national importance marked the opening of experimentation on the 112 European Single Emergency Number at the Command and Control Room in Varese. A new model came into operation: the desire to listen to each person’s needs, the ability to integrate on several levels and, once again, the concrete, effective collaboration between public and private individuals. The project promoted the common good, with an eye on Europe as well. The pamphlet was the opening publication in the series of books called “I quaderni di AREU” (“The AREU notebooks”) and contains a contribution from Beta 80 Group’s Chairman, Alfredo Lovati: “La strada tracciata dalla tecnologia” (The road traced out by technology”).

The AREU publishes its first book on the 118 emergency service in Lombardy. Emergency-Urgency is an area of great interest, not just for the service that it gives to the community, but for the value it brings in its many aspects. This is seen especially in the ability to unite public and private bodies, harmonize different knowhows and cultures, and turn innovation into a continuous process. “Al cuore della Centrale: il sistema informativo" ("At the heart of the Control Room: the information system”) is the contribution from Alfredo Lovati, Chairman of Beta 80 Group.

Internet has certainly been a revolution. This is now a well-known fact, and social networks are the crowded streets of the new geography. Internet is the place of free, friendly and informal conversation, of which business, too, forms part. Cluetrain was the manifesto that sensed the potential and the consequences of the Internet. “The human being at the centre” is the explicit leitmotif of this volume, before and beyond Web 2.0. One insight in the manifesto stands out from all the rest: markets are conversations.

It isn’t important what you say, but how you say it. In an era of global and incessantly interactive communication, it’s healthy to return to our origins and find explanations for this. Communication, we should remember, is always communication of itself: it’s people participating among people. Nobody can “own” a relationship, but everybody needs one, otherwise they are isolated and totally closed. From Palo Alto, in California, comes research that has fixed the five axioms of human communication. Interpersonal relationships are the archetype of all forms of communication, including advertising and marketing.

Fluid intelligence and global knowledge capitalism. More than trendy slogans, these are the experience of those who have had to deal with the development of business and the relationship with the local area. The book is an ongoing summary of a different, new way to do business, and offers very concrete answers in a period of recession: starting to question oneself does not mean creating doubts, but trying to find certainties. Sergio Galbiati, General Manager of Micron Technology Italia, is the leading player in this quest.

It’s always fascinating to find out more about people. A few social cooperatives, under the leadership of director Luisa Oneto, tried their hand at a scenic representation of the Divine Comedy. The main actors were differently-abled people, and they made an impact on the audience that was indelible, just like Dante’s adventure. “Seeing the stars again” is the book containing all the backstage human events of the actors. It’s a fascinating journey to discover oneself and others, and to understand yet more about the importance of relationships.