Front-page headlines about the internet in Italy are concentrating on the stock exchange. As in the United States and in many other places, here as well "new technology" shares (especially those related to the internet) are making sudden leaps. Mostly up, but also down. There are torrents of comment in the press about this "craze", but most of them miss the point.

On the bright side, this may encourage the business world to take the network economy more seriously. And financing may help some new companies to grow. But all of this is too hasty. A few people will make a lot of money – good for them. But the last thing we need is another short-term "fashion". The business world is already warped by too many hunts for quick-and-easy profit at the expense of strategic investment. The internet isn't a fad. The evolution of technologies is fast and turbulent, but communication networks are here to stay; so far we have seen only the beginning of a strong, fast-growing trend that will be meaningful for most, if not all, companies.

In the general, superficial hype there are a few, but relevant, exceptions. On November 28 Ferruccio de Bortoli, chief editor of Corriere della Sera (the newspaper with the largest circulation in Italy) published an editorial that sets a new tone compared to what his paper, and most of the press, have been saying so far. We should look beyond the stock intoxication – he wrote – and ask ourselves if we are ready to understand the digital revolution. Most companies aren't. E-business? We are too busy with other things. E-mail? My secretary takes care of that. The internet? No problem, somewhere in our company someone it doing something about it. Innovation isn't a priority, the communication economy is just a philosophical theory, we're up to our ears in "business as usual". Our companies, and therefore our entire economy, are losing their competitive edge; it's time to wake up to the new realities – and it's getting late.

I can hear the yawns. This isn't news for the readers of this newsletter – or of what several other people around the world are writing in articles and books about the new economy. What's new is that, at last, it's coming to the attention of mainstream media.

The truth is beginning to surface; and that's a good thing. But several "top" business people still don't understand what's going on. Cesare Romiti is one of the leading figures in Italy's business and political circles; he is also the chariman of a large communication conglomerate that owns important newspapers, including Corriere della Sera. According to a newsagency flash on November 26, he said that "e-commerce is impossible in Italy" and that it's not up to business to fix the problem; it must be done by the government. It's hard to understand, from a short news item, what he really meant; but that, unfortunately, is a widespread attitude.

A quite different position was taken in a convention organized by Centromarca (the powerful association of producers of branded goods and services) about "Branding in the digital age". Speakers pointed to the fact that national infrastructures (including schools and the administration) are, indeed, behind; but business must change its attitude. It's up to companies to understand the increased customer power; they can't just rely on traditional brand values; they must learn how to build a bind of trust in a new, and still unfamiliar, environment.

It seems pretty obvious that the speakers at Centromarca are right, and the attitude reflected in Mr. Romiti's comments is wrong – and dangerous. Business simply can't wait for solutions to drop pout of the sky as government subsidies, infrastructure investments or technical solutions. It's a cultural, educational and training problem; and nothing can replace entrepreneurial dedication and investment. The routine and short-term management style that dominates most companies finds it quite uncomfortable; but the internet, and more broadly the network economy, aren't a passing fad. They are here to stay; they are no longer a dream of the future. It's happening now; it can no longer be ignored, delegated to a few people in some corner of the company's structure, or handled superficially with a few cosmetic tricks.

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