The growth of the Italian digital market accelerates: in the first quarter of 2017 it reached 2,8% compared to the same period last year and confirming the growth forecasts for the three-year period 2017-2019 (+2,3% to 67.652 million euros in 2017; +2,6% to 69.432 million euros in 2018 and +2,9% to 71.453 million euros in 2019). In 2016, the Italian digital market (IT, telecommunications and content) had already grown by 1,8% reaching 66.100 million euros. This is documented by the Assinform Report presented on Monday in Milan and Rome.
"In a scenario that confirms a newfound vitality, thanks to the driving role of the most innovative components and a general leap in awareness of the digital potential achieved by the country, however, there are still critical issues that need to be responded to quickly", the report specifies. ” The first – he continues – concerns the pace of recovery which, however good, is still not enough to make up for the accumulated delay and to involve the many SMEs that animate our productive fabric. The second concerns the gap of digital specialists, which risks influencing corporate investments and the effect of policies to stimulate innovation. These are the main findings of the report "Digital in Italy 2017", conducted in collaboration with NetConsulting cube and Nextvalue and presented in Milan and Rome.
The Italian Digital Market is back in motion, promising constantly improving growth rates at least until 2019 on the impetus of digital transformation processes in all the main sectors. The average annual growth rates estimated between 2016 and 2019 are 4,4% each year in industry (from 7.044 million euros, +2,4% in 2016), 4% in banks (from 6.813 million euros, +3,5%, in 2016), 4,5% in Utilities (from 1.576 million euros, +3,5%, in 2016), 4,2% in Insurance (from 1.800 million euros , +3,7%, in 2016), 3,6% in Transport (from 2.209 million euros, +2,5%, in 2016), 4,7% in Distribution (from 3.991 million euros, + 3,5%, of 2016). All encouraging dynamics, which however are less reflected in the PA, where digital spending is expected to drop with an average annual growth rate of just under 2%, with the exception of Healthcare, which instead promises an average annual growth rate of approximately 3% (from 1.450 million euros, +1,6%, in 2016). From a territorial point of view, the polarization in the North West is increasing, which contributes to 38,3% of the country's total digital spending with a growth of 2,3% in 2016.
“Digital is starting to contaminate the Italian economy, but the trend needs to be accelerated and strengthened, to increase its competitive capabilities in line with international trends,” commented the president of Assinform Agostino Santoni. This is echoed by Elio Catania, president of Confindustria Digitale: “The recovery of investments testifies that companies have begun to understand the importance of innovation and to take action. But we are only at the beginning. To close our innovation gap, we need to aim for a doubling of investments over the next five years. Industry 4.0 could play a fundamental role, but it requires everyone's commitment well beyond 2018″.
