I’m currently working as the Head of Internal Audit at SAVE, the company managing the airport of the most beautiful city in the world, with an astonishing history of self-government and leadership in commercial, cultural and diplomatic relationships: Venice, Italy. SAVE is also the parent of the companies managing other airports in the Italian North-East Airport System: Treviso, Verona and Brescia.
Venice is a state of the soul, where I love to walk in Piazza San Marco and visit the Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the Procuratie and the Leads, and be immersed in a story of enormous humanity and extraordinary wealth, wisdom, courage and power. Only in Venice can one have the experience of walking on the same stones as mythical characters such as Marco Polo, Sebastiano Venier, Giacomo Casanova and many others, including the unfortunate last doge, Ludovico Giovanni Manin.
I could keep going, but back to my professional life. It is an interesting but challenging role, especially considering the legislation governing the business can be deeply convoluted. And this year, naturally, has been very hard for just about everyone in the aviation industry, which has been seriously affected by travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 virus. Like many other companies in the industry, we were forced to use temporary state-subsidized furloughs and drastically slow down our activities. Overall, we reacted with great determination and dedication, giving priority to the protection of the health of passengers and staff, so much so that in August the Marco Polo Airport in Venice obtained the Airport Health Accreditation of ACI (Airports Council International), and also starting immediately to plan for the “new normal” ahead of us.
At the beginning, I didn’t realize the magnitude of the changes that the pandemic was going to bring into our lives. I notice lately that we are increasingly impatient both about travel and daily life restrictions. I hope a vaccine will give us back our normal life, and also hope we will learn the hard lesson that while we have a lot of technology these days, we still are humans, with our frailties and limitations.
My most important accomplishments at SAVE are having brought a sense of the culture of internal controls and risk management based on the most relevant international standards, either from COSO or ISO, and an approach to the management and monitoring of internal controls based on a deep understanding of the company’s goals, regulatory nuances and stakeholders’ needs and expectations.
My career path has taken interesting twists, and ISACA has been there for me along the way. I was a young developer with a degree in computer science, working in the R&D department of a software company based in my hometown of Treviso, Italy, when a colleague told me that the accounting company Arthur Andersen was looking for an assistant in the computer auditing field. I called twice, the first time just to say that I was interested but I didn’t feel ready, and the second time, after a few months, to say that I was ready, and I was soon hired.
When I started at Arthur Andersen, almost all the members of the Computer Risk Management practice in Italy were members of ISACA’s Milan Chapter. I joined the chapter, too, and quickly became involved in chapter activities because I became a devout fan of COBIT. Being a member of ISACA has meant countless opportunities to grow, to meet with amazing professionals, to challenge my status quo, and to stay up-to-date with technology, regulatory and professional trends. In 2011, with other friends and colleagues, I helped establish the ISACA Venice Chapter, which started a new amazing story of professionalism and dedication to the profession. In the new chapter, I served as a board member, membership director, academic and government relations director, and I’m still serving on the elections committee.
As for the future, I still have many goals to pursue. I’m working on the integration of risk management and compliance practices and the development of the continuous monitoring approach, as well as studying for a new professional exam. I’m also collaborating with Treviso Forensic, a forum for judicial experts, on the role of company compliance programs within the proceedings concerning white-collar crimes, as well as with the University of Venezia and the University of Verona on promoting the knowledge of the internal audit profession; I’m still involved with ISACA Venice, on the election committee. I am also on the board of a local charity that provides help to women carrying out a difficult or unexpected pregnancy. Moreover, I’m working with my wife on the restructuring of a new house, among other priorities. I am a multi-curious person, so maybe my main goal should be improving my focusing skills?!