President Pimpinella, what is Italy’s role in the global digital economy scenario?
Our country is a leading reference point for the world economy particularly in the sectors expressing the made-in-Italy macro area.
The digitization of the economy and services, however, poses the need for us to move away from the purely manufacturing model and represents a revolution that requires companies, governments and workers to take on two interrelated processes: the retraining of skills and their redirection to the production sectors of greater incidence of these technologies.
At present, as far as digital skills are concerned, Italy holds, the 18th position in the European Digitization Index (Desi), up from 25th in the previous survey. This figure immediately points to two factors: the first and most important is that this is poorly reconciled with the relevance of the Italian economy. The second factor shows that despite an obvious growth in the time series compared to the recent past, there is a considerable way to go. Consequently, it can be said that with regard to the digital economy, Italy has come a long way and made a lot of progress compared to the past, which saw it systematically at the bottom of the rankings, but it is precisely now that we need to push harder because, as we shall see, digital is transversal to all sectors by enabling services and creating opportunities and jobs.
Before we delve further into how digital can prove to be an added value in various sectors, I would like to take up with you the concept of cyber security, which is seen as an element to guarantee the digital economy. What is the Italian situation in this area?
At the moment, the situation for Italy is rather delicate. Ours is a country that has long been exposed to hacker attacks, and the most recent geopolitical events have put us further on alert. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach 2024 report, the average global expenditure related to a data breach reached $4.88 million, a 10 percent increase from the previous year. The highest ever. Italy ranks fifth among the countries covered by the study, with average spending related to data breaches reaching 4.37 million in 2024. These are significant figures, in line with the protection needs of our country. Indeed, a significant aspect that must always be kept in mind is that the process of digital transformation is not only destined not to stop but even to accelerate and be even more pervasive than it already is today. For this reason, without digital and without technology everything risks coming to a halt: from services to investments, creating potentially irreparable damage. This is why cybersecurity is a guarantor not only of the economy but also of digital society, because among other things it guarantees on the trust of citizens.
Having said the state of the art, the protective and guarantor role of cybersecurity, it remains at this point to mention what is the third element of this examination: digital identity, which is the means through which citizens can access services (digital and otherwise) made available by both PAs and private entities.
That’s exactly right. Identity is one of the pivotal elements of the digital economy and on which access to all services that are delivered via platforms, but also physical ones such as an electricity supply for example, depends.
The entry into force of the eIDAS2 regulation last May 20, 2024 on the one hand (with the provision of the EUDI wallet) and the entry into national law of the Data Governance Act on the other impose a reconsideration of prerogatives in the area of personal data management, also making available to businesses opportunities for sharing and enhancing the same previously never probed. In Italy, then, we started before other European partners with the IT Wallet that allows the uploading of certain identity documents, but projects are also being launched in consortium form that bring public and private together with the intention of enhancing digital identity and sharing it to create value, simplify procedures and save costs in the hands of businesses and citizens.
As you rightly said, digital transformation is a phenomenon that cuts across all sectors, from the economy to public administration to the civic life of citizens. Can you indicate what its role could be in sectors such as tourism and mobility?
Tourism and mobility are two strongly connected contexts. Tourists and travelers, in fact, need to move both from abroad to Italy and within our country to reach their favorite destinations, both the most popular and the lesser known ones. It is therefore evident in this regard that there are two main elements governing this interconnected system: the first is physical and digital infrastructure the second is information and accessibility of attractions, sites and accommodations. Digital technologies can, in fact, improve the tourist experience, increase the competitiveness of tourist destinations and promote sustainability. According to a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), digital innovation in tourism could generate a 1.5 percent increase in GDP and create 7.2 million new jobs by 2028. The challenge of the future will be to make tourism in Italy of higher quality, preserving territories and enhancing them by highlighting traditional Italian hospitality. This aspect cannot be ignored in a country like Italy that is rich in culture, art, traditions and landscapes. Then regarding mobility, it must be understood that this is assonant with two closely related concepts: sustainability and de-fossilization. Mobility is changing, less ownership and more sharing. In a sense, we are partly overcoming at the same time both the concept of car (or transportation) ownership and public transportation. The choice, especially in large cities, is now moving toward autonomous but shared solutions. If we are to seize the opportunities offered by the NRP, we must do so with a view to improving everyone’s quality of life. That is why it is so important to pay the utmost attention to the economic sustainability of new works, and the exploitation of digital technologies that enable solutions that innovate, simplify and streamline is crucial. What at the same time can also result in economic savings compared to the implementation of some major works that risk remaining “cathedrals in the desert.” From this point of view, in Italy we are ready: we have the skills, professionalism and technologies to innovate and to meet the challenges of digitalization. Abroad, our made in Italy is competitive and appreciated. At the same time, however, it is unthinkable to proceed without a progressive, though not immediate, infrastructural adjustment of cities, reconceived in a smart form to accommodate a mobility that is changing and evolving compared to the past, offering more innovative solutions.
The financial sector then is particularly permeable to innovation, what is the impact of digital in this context?
In the last so years, the financial sector has experienced an acceleration in terms of innovation that it had not seen in the previous 50. The advent of fintech-fostered by regulatory reforms and precisely by technological innovation-has meant that traditional financial institutions have been joined by newer ones, orienting their activities more and more toward customer satisfaction. Open banking and open finance are the contexts in which the value of data was first understood (and used) both to offer personalized services in line with customer expectations and to implement development strategies based on the information collected. In this context then, the digital payments sector represents a specification that acts as a litmus test for the entire financial sector. Electronic payments are, in fact, one of the areas where the digital footprint is most evident. According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, the widespread adoption of electronic payments could generate an increase in global GDP of 0.4 percent per year, which in times of growth (when even that occurs) of 0 percent is a remarkable boost that should be taken into account. When we talk about electronic payments and digital finance, we are talking about services that foster innovation, jobs, growth opportunities and the development of new conditions for prosperity. From car sharing to e-commerce, from dinner delivery to booking services, all are services enabled by electronic payments. The payments industry also represents one of the few ecosystems capable of attracting young talent and actively creating jobs which is certainly not a detail but which in Italy should be related to the degree of digital literacy with which I began and which concerns not only the users of services but also those who are called upon to create and deliver them. The phrase that best exemplifies their support for the world today is that the digital economy in fact could not exist without them.
Artificial intelligence is the technology of the moment what can be its impact in Italy, should we fear it more or go along with it?
Let us begin by saying that one fears what one does not know, and this is the real problem not only in Italy but in all countries. AI should neither frighten nor be a further tool for widening gaps and inequalities it is, instead, a tool in the service of the human being, and that is where the role of literacy takes over, so we need to commit ourselves to better and more training people to govern machines and not instill in them the doubt that they are being replaced. If digital is across all sectors, potentially artificial intelligence is even more so. According to research conducted by Deloitte, the AI market is set to grow by 20 percent annually through 2025, reaching a value of $190 billion. Specifically, AI support can be an operational aid to businesses, public administrations, mayors and citizens in processes of administrative and operational simplification and in processes of acceleration and improvement of brand reputation, especially with regard to local governments and locally dispersed businesses.
Artificial intelligence is an ally and not an enemy; it can offer significant support to the development of the digital economy by providing advanced tools and technologies for data analysis, process automation, creation of new products and services, and optimization of business operations. The applications of AI are diverse and span multiple sectors, from e-commerce to industrial manufacturing, marketing to finance.
The article Maurizio Pimpinella: “Digitization of the economy represents a revolution” comes from TheNewyorker.
