Westside

A questo indirizzo il Report stilato dalla Commissione Europea sulla competitività digitale del nostro continente. I dati interessanti da notare sono che  oggi il 56% degli europei usa regolarmente Internet, di cui l'80% mediante un collegamento ad alta velocità (rispetto a solamente un terzo nel 2004), facendo così dell'Europa il numero uno mondiale di Internet a banda larga. L'Europa è il primo continente al mondo realmente mobile, dal momento che conta più abbonati a servizi mobili che cittadini (il tasso di utilizzo è del 119%).

Convintissimo fosse l’Asia.

Oggi oltre la metà elle famiglie e oltre l'80% delle aziende hanno una connessione a banda larga. Ma, nonostante questi numeri altisonanti, un terzo dei cittadini dell'UE non ha mai utilizzato Internet. Solo il 7% dei consumatori ha effettuato acquisti on line in un altro Stato membro.

Di seguito un dipinto di quanto sta avvenendo in Italia, che, ancora una volta a mio modo di vedere, sembra essere pericolosamente in ritardo rispetto agli altri 25 Paesi che formano la UE.

Italy presents a mixed picture of information society developments. It shows good scores in terms

of availability of eGovernment services and eBusiness adoption but still lags behind for fixed

connectivity, eCommerce and the use of the internet by households. An important framework

initiative has been launched in 2008 to enhance public services (the " new Strategic Plan for

Innovation of the Italian Government"). The “Linea Amica” (friendly line) has been launched at

the beginning of 2009 to enhance citizens' accessibility to public on-line services. Those who are

not familiar with internet can contact Linea Amica by calling a toll free number either from a

fixed line or from a mobile phone. A “Programme for infrastructural broadband coverage”, was

activated by the Government in coordination with Italian Regions, to reach 99% of population

with a broadband connection with speeds between 2 and 20 Mb/s by 2012. The programme will

increase the capacity of access networks, both through fixed and wireless technologies.

Broadband

Fixed broadband penetration increased in 2008, but is still roughly 4 p.p. below the EU27

average. Total DSL coverage is high, and the latest figures reveal that this is now the case in rural

areas too, thanks to significant progress in the past two years. Almost 70% of broadband

subscribers access speeds above 2MB/s but the percentage of internet-connected households

remains one of the lowest in Europe. Although the figure has doubled in two years, less than one

in three households has a broadband connection. Enterprises' broadband connectivity on the other

hand is comparable to the EU average. Mobile broadband appears well established.

Internet Usage

Only a minority of Italians use the internet on a regular and/or frequent basis and half of the

population has still never used the internet at all. Progress in getting more people online has also

been rather gradual. As such, Italy ranks as one of the least internet active countries in Europe.

Correspondingly, the take-up of internet services is also weak. The most popular activities are

also the most common ones undertaken at EU level; namely, sending emails and looking up

information about goods and services. Italian citizens are also approaching the European average

in terms of looking up information for the purposes of learning.

Italy scores relatively well in the provision of eGovernment services, with 58% of public services

for citizens and 88% for enterprises available online. While take up of these services is relatively

good for enterprises, as with general connectivity, take up by citizens is low.

ICTs in the Economy

The importance of eCommerce in the Italian economy is negligible. For eBusiness, the situation

is far more positive. For most indicators, the EU27 average is exceeded. Only applications for

employees to access HR services are much rarer than in other countries. Most enterprises thus

seem to acknowledge the importance of the Internet as a business tool. The ICT sector is

comparable to the European average in terms of GDP and employment contribution. The ICT

R&D share to total R&D is at EU average, but R&D spending as a whole in Italy is particularly

low. Finally, the percentage of employees with ICT specialist skills is below average; while ICT

user skills are at EU average.