the bank of italy sponsored a hackathon, a worldwide competition on applying big data, natural language processing and artificial intelligence techniques to green and sustainable finance, that was jointly organized with the bis innovation hub of singapore under the italian g20 presidency. in 2020, we created milano hub, a technological hub supporting the development of innovation and the digital transformation of the italian financial system. after the great success of the first two calls for proposals, we will launch a third one in the next months in the last few years, we have redesigned our recruitment and hiring process by seeking out new skillsets such as big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence. this is just the beginning. we need to rethink our processes and foster the adoption and development of the right skills. to achieve these goals, we have sponsored special data science training programmes in some italian universities. the new cohort of hires have already started their journey, which aims to create a flatter organizational structure. in 2020, the total amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally was around 100 zettabytes ( an astounding value of 1023 bytes ), and it is expected to rapidly increase, reaching 180 zettabytes in 2025. 1 the mind - boggling amount of data that is now available to us, provided we are able to analyse it effectively, can give us a better picture of the economy at both the micro and the macro level. the bank of italy has constantly striven to be at the cutting edge in developing software and hardware platforms, enabling big data analytics2 for statistical and economic applications. one of the most significant takeaways from this workshop is recognizing that data is not just a resource : it is essential for effective decision - making in central banking. the quality, quantity, and timeliness of data can make all the difference in crafting policies that safeguard our economies and maintain financial stability. by harnessing the power of data science, central banks can enhance their capabilities, anticipate trends, and respond swiftly to emerging challenges. data taken from https : / / www. statista. com / statistics / 871513 / worldwide - data - created / on september 25 2023. see, for example, ‘ big data processing : is there a framework suitable for economists and statisticians? ’, 2017 ieee international conference on big data ( big data ), 2017, pp. 2804 - 2811, doi : 10. 1109 / bigdata

of an independent enforcer of eu rules. sanctions have been highly uncertain, as eu council members were supposed to fine each other via lengthy procedures involving discretionary steps that would lead to theoretically large, but actually unlikely, pecuniary sanctions. reforms such as the interest bearing deposits and the european semester aim at tackling the first problem. a greater automaticity in procedures, the reduction of eu funds and, possibly, the loss of voting rights would help in tackling the second problem. national fiscal rules and procedures can also help to pursue fiscal consolidation and anchor fiscal expectations. the 2009 reform of the german fiscal framework sets an important benchmark. 6 other countries may decide to assign a greater role to expenditure rules and to independent fiscal authorities. with respect to the proposals advanced to make the debt criterion operational, the commission ’ s suggestion of allowing excessive deficit procedures for insufficient debt reduction ( vis - a - vis an annual 1 / 20 reduction of the excess over the 60 per cent standard for the debt - to - gdp ratio over a three - year period ) has been praised for its automaticity as well as its simplicity. it has been argued that “ the practical translation ” of the debt principle is “ elegant, but short - termist ”, even if this “ way of turning around the 60 % nonsense is undoubtedly clever ”. there is no question, however, that a consistent and progressive reduction of the current high debt levels over the cycle is absolutely necessary ; they are a major constraint on our countries ’ adjustment possibilities, especially in the event of shocks that could have irreversible consequences ( due either to the unwillingness to pay or to the socio - political unfeasibility discussed by balcerowicz ). in this perspective, it seems beside the point at this stage ( and impossible given the letter of treaty ) to question the reference standard, as well as the speed of convergence, even if we may readily acknowledge that “ business cycles usually extend over more than three years ”. the debate on how to cope with the accumulation of public debt following the crisis has led – inter alia – to some proposals for european countries to pool their debt at least up to a certain level ( 60 per cent of gdp ) 9 or to pool in a fund operating in the market ( and possibly financed with a levy on financial transactions ) the share of their debt directly tied to rescuing the financial system ( a proposal not limited, in this case, to the eu ). 10 both types of proposal are