Contacts
University Angelo Cardani

Farewell to Angelo Cardani, Economist and Leading Figure in Digital Regulation

, by Andrea Celauro
A Senior Professor at the University, where he taught Fundamental Rights Protection in the Digital Age in the LL.M. in Law of Technology and Automated Systems in the 2025–2026 academic year, he was a key figure in both academia and public institutions. He also served as President of AGCOM from 2012 to 2020

A Senior Professor of Economics at Bocconi University and a leading figure in the Italian and European institutional and academic landscape, Angelo Cardani has passed away at the age of 76. He devoted his work to the fields of regulation, competition and the protection of fundamental rights, with a particular focus on the transformations brought about by the digital age.

He graduated from Bocconi in 1972 with a thesis on "Foreign trade and Italian economic development, with particular regard to the role of imports," under the supervision of Innocenzo Gasparini. During his academic career at the University, Cardani also served as Program Director of BIEMF, the Bachelor in International Economics, Management and Finance. In the 2025-2026 academic year, he taught ‘Fundamental Rights Protection in the Digital Age' in the LL.M. in Law of Technology and Automated Systems.

His academic career was intertwined with extensive and significant international experience: a Professor at the SDA Bocconi School of Management, he was also a Visiting Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research in New York and a Visiting Assistant Professor at New York University.

Cardani also played a prominent role in European institutions. Between 1995 and 1999 he served as a member of the Mario Monti Cabinet, then European Commissioner for Internal Market, Services, Customs and Taxation. Subsequently, from 1999 to 2004, he was Deputy Head of Monti's Cabinet during his tenure as European Commissioner for Competition, contributing to European policy-making at a crucial time for market integration.

Angelo Cardani served as Director General and member of the Board of Directors of the International Management Institute of Saint Petersburg (IMISP) and collaborated with the United Nations: between 1992 and 1995, he was a consultant to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), working on management development programs in Eastern Europe.

A central figure in the regulation of communications in Italy, Cardani was President of the Italian Communications Authority (AGCOM) from 2012 to 2020. During his tenure, he led the Authority through a period of profound transformations in the sector, marked by the rise of digital platforms and a growing focus on user rights.

With his death, the academic and institutional communities lose an economist, a dedicated public servant of European and national institutions and a clear-sighted interpreter of the challenges posed by technological innovation.

University