There are far too many Italian companies completely unrelated to the digital world, and it is no coincidence that these companies are not very competitive and not very innovative, as emerges from the latest report on the competitiveness of the various productive sectors published by Istat.

As many as 63% of Italian companies consider investments in communication technologies as irrelevant to their business.

This category mainly includes companies operating in the traditional manufacturing sector, companies offering services to other companies, or specializing in postal services, small-scale and low-productivity companies.

Among the other categories of companies covered by the Istat surveys, there is a 2.3% of companies called digital unfinished, which consider the central ITC for their competitiveness.

In the vast majority of cases these are medium-to-large companies, characterized by a high level of digitization and low human and physical capital, which believe that innovation is a strategic asset; these companies mainly deal with trade, vehicle repair and tourism, intended both as travel agencies and as accommodation facilities.

22% of the total corresponds to sensitive restricted companies, for which the ITC represents a fundamental investment.

This category mainly corresponds to medium-large companies, with low human and physical capital and the average level of digitization, companies with low profitability and for which the skilled workforce is decreasing; these companies operate mainly in metallurgy, mechanics, automotive, catering and paper production.

9.7% of the total corresponds to “sensitive” companies, for which the ITC is considered very relevant for growth purposes.

These companies have a medium-large size and are very profitable, as far as the operating sectors are concerned, they mainly concern the production of beverages, PCs and electronic devices of various types, or they are companies operating in the transport sector or legal or accounting firms.

The remaining 3% corresponds to the digital businesses accomplished, for which the ICT constitutes a strategic asset: these are mainly large and very profitable companies, which invest in an important way in innovation and marketing and have a personal very qualified; the most frequent operating sectors are telecommunications, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, IT consulting, beverage production.

67% of Italian companies declared to have made investments during 2017, and this is certainly an encouraging figure; from this point of view, however, some changes guaranteed by the Government, such as the so-called super-amortization, have had a positive impact.

The fact that 63% of Italian companies show no interest in ITC investments cannot be neglected, as it is certainly not a positive factor for our economy.

This negative figure makes us reflect on how many Italian companies have immense but not fully exploited potential, probably due to an excessively traditional entrepreneurial mentality, not very sensitive to new developments and digital opportunities.

Today, even the smallest companies, if they want to be truly competitive, can not help but invest in digital, even a small percentage of their turnover, even small amounts could really make a difference.

And what do you think? How are your company’s investments in digital? Are you sure that your company is fully exploiting the potential of the web, communication and technology?

Contact us, we are ready to put our experience at your disposal!

Source: Ilsole24ore.com