The Italian decline in the hi-tech industry continues. This is confirmed by a study by ENEA (the Agency for technologies and energy), which found that in the world ranking of the 20 largest exporters of hi-tech products, Italy is only in 15th place with a market share of just under 2%, behind smaller players such as the Netherlands (2,6%) and Belgium (2%) and far behind Germany (9,9%), France (5,3 %) and the United Kingdom (4%). The study is entitled "Italy's technological competitiveness at a global level: a challenge still open", by the ENEA Observatory, and was published in the magazine Energy Environment and Innovation.
The ENEA analysis highlights in detail that in the reference period 2000-2016, all major domestic high-tech sectors have lost ground in terms of commercial shares: pharmaceuticals fell from 6,5% to 4,5%, fine chemicals from 3,8% to 3,2%, aerospace from 3,7% to 2,7% while l thermomechanical and electrical energy remained stable at 3,4%. The only positive exception is industrial automation which jumped from 4,8% to 6,8%.
The problem is low investment in the technological innovation of the production system, which condition its competitiveness. "However, the challenge is not yet lost - underline Daniela Palma and Gaetano Coletta, the ENEA researchers who edited the report - if policies capable of modifying the structure of the production system are implemented, strengthening the hi-tech supply chain". The Italian scenario is therefore increasingly critical and this is also confirmed by the trend of trade in high technology: in the period under examination, the impact of high-tech products on the demand for foreign products was in line with the EU average , while the share of high-tech products on total exports is significantly lower than competitors such as Germany and France.
There are only three sectors of the high-tech sector in Italy that have not recorded a constant trade deficit: thermomechanical energy, aerospace and industrial automation. For the latter, however, there has been a marked deterioration in recent years. "An alarm signal - note Palma and Coletta - especially in relation to the new increase in the overall deficit of high technology in the two-year period 2015-2016".
According to the study by the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, a real improvement in Italy's competitive position in high-tech markets it can only be realized through a recomposition of the productive offer, currently still too biased towards traditional sectors, envisaging interventions that strengthen the presence of national industry in the high-tech supply chains. “Alternatively – add Palma and Coletta – the strong technological lag accumulated by our country with respect to the major European partners is only destined to widen”.
Globally, however, the Report highlights a significant advance by China, a consolidation of the Asian area (which covers almost half of the sector's trade) and also a sharp decline in the United States, with a share that halved in 2016, reaching values just under 10%.
