Capable of innovating despite a context that is not always favourable: it is Italy photographed by the research carried out by I-Com - the Institute for Competitiveness led by the economist Stefano da Empoli - on behalf of ING Bank, one of the main banking and insurance groups international events, on the occasion of the event “Italia Think Forward! Digital innovation for the growth of the country".
The survey on innovation according to Italians conducted on a sample of 1.011 people, representative of the national adult population, focused on the idea that Italians have of innovation. These are the most significant results:
• 91,1% of the sample of Italian adults believes innovation is important for the country's economic growth and the revival of employment. This is an overwhelming majority which however drops significantly, while remaining high, for the over 65 age groups and for low levels of education (middle school certificate or lower qualification);
• 54,1% of the sample believes that SMEs are the most innovative entities. 36% indicate large companies and only 7,9% public administrations;
• overall, according to the interviewees, the public entity should be the main financer of innovation (42,6%). This is not the case in the North East, where recourse to bank loans is preferred (42,8% vs 38,5%);
• among the forms of private financing for innovation, banks (34,8%) outnumber equity and bond channels (21,3%);
• 74% of the sample think that over the next 35 years teleworking will replace the current organizational models. 65,3% believe robots will replace humans in most current occupations. 61,9% believe in the complete realization of the sharing economy. The percentages relating to the first two answers rise significantly among the female interviewees;
• 48,9% of the panel believes that education is the crucial and necessary factor for innovation, clearly ahead of the ability to adapt to circumstances (23,2%), talent (21,2%) and luck (6,3%).
The survey then explored the issue of digital innovation in the bank with these results:
• among those who carry out at least one transaction weekly, home banking is more popular than physical branches (22,4% vs 9,4%);
• 90,7% of the sample check their account online on a monthly basis. 58,3% make wire transfers at least once a month;
• for a third of the sample within the next 5 years mobile banking will be the main channel for banking transactions. For 59,6% this will happen within the next 10 years;
• the financial consultancy of the future will be online: for 29% of the interviewees this is a scenario that will take place in 5 years, while for 56% in 10 years.
On the diffusion of digital services in the comparison between Europe and Italy, the following results were recorded:
• In Italy, the internet is the tool for interacting with the Public Administration in 21% of cases. Well below the 41% of the European average and of the cases of excellence, represented by Denmark (85%) and Holland (79%);
• in terms of e-commerce among the over fourteen year olds, insurance, banking and financial services are the sector with the greatest growth, going from 6% in 2012 to 13,7% in 2013. This is followed by the purchase of books and magazines (since 25,1% to 34,3%);
Finally, on innovation and infrastructure in the comparison between Europe and Italy, the results were these:
• In Italy, 68% of homes are connected to broadband. In Europe the average is 76%. In Finland, the UK and the Netherlands the figure exceeds 87%, while in Romania and Greece it is around 55%;
• in 2013, Italy made more progress than all other EU countries, going from 55% of homes connected in 2012 to 68% in 2013.
• the speed of the fixed connection leaves something to be desired: around 80% in Italy is between 2 and 10 Mbps. Only 0,6% exceeds 30 Mbps, while in Europe this happens on average in 21,2% of cases;
“Despite often unfavorable contextual conditions, the facts show that Italy is a country that can and knows how to be more innovative than one thinks. This is confirmed by the double-digit growth in the last two years of some digital services, such as mobile banking and e-commerce" - noted Stefano da Empoli, President of I-Com - "Technological, structural and cultural barriers do not allow us , however, to keep pace with the rest of Europe. Therefore, we believe it is urgent to intervene by increasing investments in fixed and mobile networks, digitizing public services and implementing digital literacy programmes, starting from schools".
“I am particularly pleased to discover that Italy believes so strongly in innovation and in its power to improve people's daily lives – finally commented Don Koch, Country Manager of ING Bank Italia. ING has been present in Italy since 1979 with activities dedicated to corporate clients and since 2001 as pioneers of digital banking; in this period we believe we have made an important contribution to the development of innovative projects in the country. Some of the most significant examples: support for important renewable energy projects, the development of direct banking in Italy and, more recently, the commitment to reward young technological start-ups. More than looking to the past however, today we like to keep thinking about the future and act concretely to offer our customers the tools necessary to be a step ahead in life and in business ("be a step ahead in life and business"), such as indicated by ING's global strategy – continues Koch -. We have ambitious plans for Italy with the aim of doubling our assets by 2020, expanding our offer to the SME segment over the next 2 years and supporting at least another 50 start-ups over the next 5 years".
