EDITOR’S LETTER
Contamination and hybridisation Richiedi la versione in italiano a info@ipcm.it
Alessia Venturi
Contamination and hybridisation: the mixing of shapes, the fusion of elements of different origin, the combination of different functions and models to generate new and unexpected ones. Is this the future? Is it hybridisation understood as an escape from the limits imposed by this pandemic, which has subverted the world, erected walls and borders where they had been torn down, and suspended globalisation (while highlighting all its limits)? For the first time ever, half of humanity has been locked up in their homes for quite a long time, subjected to unprecedented restrictions of personal freedom and with disruptive effects on social, emotional, economic, cultural, educational, recreational, and tourism life. We had the perception of limits, as opposed to the openness proclaimed and supported by globalisation. What has happened will bring about radical changes in perspective and those who will first adapt to that new perspective will first emerge victorious from this situation. For instance, the hybridisation of technologies and forms of communication has been extremely helpful in overcoming the current limits placed on social relations and the mobility of people and goods but, when we will return to normality, it will also be a tool to be exploited to give added value to one’s own work or business idea. Let us think about the sector of events. Only-digital events, held in virtual environments and with avatars instead of people, will never replace live events: the inclination for unmediated interaction is inherent in human nature. The future are hybrid events: live for a small audience and, at the same time, streamed to increase visibility, guarantee access to anyone who does not want (or cannot) move, or contain costs. The world of work has also benefited from the hybridisation of operating models. Investments in digital networks and tools have enabled companies to continue their activities remotely, with minimal physical presence in the traditional workplace, thus ensuring business continuity. In addition, contamination between digital and paper has been fundamental to guarantee people information and updating even when newspapers, magazines, and books could not be printed or distributed with the usual regularity. With an already well-established digital version of our ipcm® magazines, we have been able not to stop publishing any issues and not to delay any releases despite nearly three months of lockdown. Using the most advanced digital tools and platforms, the ipcm® editorial staff produced four magazines in three months. You are holding in your hands the (hopefully) last one created during lockdown – one of the main issues of the year, our long-awaited Automotive Special. I will not say it was easy: far from it. Working remotely also means losing the sense of team, the community of purpose, pace, and synergy. However, also thanks to the collaboration of our customers and interviewees, who have enthusiastically accepted new ways of meeting to enable us to write our exclusive articles, we have managed to report about FCA’s pioneering project for the Panda Hybrid and the new Alfa Romeo CUV, about the new coating plant for Lamborghini’s first Super SUV, the Urus, and about Tesla’s first European investment. Above all, we have devoted an entire section of the magazine to the efforts that the surface treatment industry has made to put itself at the service of the battle against Covid19: a series of articles that testifies how dynamic, multifaceted, and active this sector is.
Editor-in-chief Direttore Responsabile
international PAINT&COATING magazine - MAY/JUNE 2020 - N. 63
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