Coronavirus Forcing Italy To Become A Digital Country
Coronavirus Forcing Italy To Become A Digital Country
Every cloud has a silver lining, they say, and Italians do need to find some consolation, at a time when our usual life hangs in a sort of limbo, waiting to be reactivated. It’s certainly a small thing, compared to the grief and losses of many, but the Coronavirus emergency is forcing citizens and institutions to come to terms with digital technologies, at last.
For many years, the country steadily ranked among the less advanced European countries in the Digital Economy and Society Index published by the European Commission. As of 2019, three out of ten people in Italy were not regular internet users yet, and more than half of the population still lacked basic digital skills. Only Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland fared worse. That’s very likely going to change.
Closed in their homes, not even allowed to take a stroll without carrying a self-signed document that explains where they are going, people are inventing new ways to stay together, work and have fun. Ways that, needless to say, rely on the Internet.
From theatres to museums, culture moves online
Lots of live events have been canceled, but culture doesn’t stop. From Genoa to Turin, from Palermo to Milan and Parma, theaters have found alternative channels to communicate with their audience.
Under the #iorestoacasa (I stay at home) hashtag the Carlo Felice Theater in Genoa is streaming every day pearls from its archive: connect at 8 p.m. (CET) today, and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker will be waiting for you, followed by La bohème, tomorrow.
Opera and ballet are not your thing? What about some classical music, say Ludwig Van Beethoven directed by Zubin Metha? They’ve got you covered: just head to Palermo’s Teatro Massimo website to get that.
The YouTube channel of Venice’s La Fenice is another unmissable bookmark if you want to enjoy some top-level shows for free. Museum and cultural institutions are also adapting.
