Former Vodafone CEO Colao to head Italy’s post-COVID-19 task force

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced that former Vodafone Group chief executive Vittorio Colao will head a high-level task force of experts, economists and jurists given unprecedented powers to map the country’s exit from strict coronavirus (Covid 19) restrictions. At a press conference confirming that the nationwide lockdown would be extended until 03 May, Conte described Colao as “one of the most respected Italian managers abroad” and confirmed the task force would be handed ministerial powers to help rebuild the country during phase 2 of the coronavirus crisis response.

He will be tasked with leading a team of 17 experts that will not only plan how to kickstart the economy following the crippling lockdown, but will be encouraged to take advantage of the crisis to “invent new organisational models” that transform Italy into a more modern and competitive country through the use of technology, said Conte.

Colao stepped down as Vodafone Group CEO in October 2018 after 10 years at the helm, to be replaced by CFO Nick Read. During his tenure, Colao transformed Vodafone from a pure mobile player into a converged operator, doubling the group’s customer base from 269 million to 536 million.

―Telecompaper