EDITOR’S LETTER
#EverythingWillBeFine Richiedi la versione in italiano a info@ipcm.it
As I write these lines, Europe is in a state of emergency due to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. ipcm®’s office is unusually calm and silent: our whole staff is working from home, continuing to show the utmost professionalism, dedication, passion, and social and human solidarity. Although distant and connected only through the bits of the network, our team remains united to face this unprecedented situation, which has changed our lives suddenly, but profoundly. Everyone, from people to governments, financial institutions, and central banks, was taken aback and groped in the dark before figuring out how to react. Many mistakes have been made, often in good faith, because the exceptional and fearful nature of the situation called for equally exceptional and fearful, but also unprecedented measures. We are in the middle of a “black swan event”, i.e. a situation that is as frightening as unlikely, for which no reaction model available as there are no past experiences to draw from. We are living history: we will teach the next generations through our behaviours, our mistakes, and our recovery. The industry is in the midst of a storm, not due to financial or economic reasons (these are side effects) but to an exogenous factor: COVID-19. It is not a structural crisis like the 2008 one, but a contingent crisis: due to the virus, the movement of people is forbidden, so that they cannot work or travel for work, and the movement of goods is limited. As a consequence, consumption is zeroed and production slows down. It is for a good cause, for the common good – but it is devastating for the real economy. It will take liquidity injections as well as fiscal and monetary policies to get out of it, but we will make it. The first countries to tackle this emergency with strong healthcare and regulatory measures (defined by someone “draconian”), now so scary especially for companies, will also be the first ones to recover. Meanwhile, ipcm® will continue to recount the strength of the European industry in the world through the tool we know best: information. We will unite people through our content, because we firmly believe that providing updated information and tools to take advantage of this period’s slower rhythms can be useful to seize all the opportunities that will surely arise at the end of the health emergency. These days, we are learning even more to work and live in a virtual world, where the importance of digital content is growing by the hour. Luckily, we were far-sighted. For a long time now, our website, www.myipcm.com, has made all our magazines’ issues and a daily-updated “NEWS” section available for free. Even if we were not able to send you your hard copies (but we are working hard to make it happen), you will be reached by our content. We are preparing an updated version of our “Trade Shows, Conferences and Events Calendar 2020”, which will be online in the next few days, to give you a complete overview of the events that will dot your and our autumn season.
Alessia Venturi Editor-in-chief Direttore Responsabile
The issue you are about to read was conceived as a special edition for the world’s most important trade fair on coating technologies, PaintExpo 2020, which was postponed to October, 12 to 15. Indeed, it is one of the most beautiful, richest, and most stimulating numbers we have ever written. We have had to struggle to finish it and print it, but it can now offer you top-notch articles about great technological innovations, cutting-edge systems, and success stories, testifying that this industry was being highly dynamic and in full development. And it will be again, because the virus of mistrust and fear must not prevail!
international PAINT&COATING magazine - MARCH/APRIL 2020 - N. 62
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