Digitization lags in Italy, where technology just means Zoom for businesses

Brussels – Technology, this great unknown: in Italy, it is poorly understood and, consequently, little used — with all the negative repercussions that this entails in terms of competitiveness. The 2025 edition of the Guide to Digitization in Europe, which was conducted and disseminated by Eurostat, shows a country struggling to keep up with the times and its competitors. Basic literacy is struggling: only 45.8 percent of the Italian population has elementary digital knowledge and skills. It is one of the lowest rates in the EU: only Lithuania (45.3 percent), Poland (44.3 percent), Bulgaria (35.5 percent), and Romania (27.7 percent) know less than their Italian peers.

Little corporate culture and training

Looking specifically at the labor market, Italy’s skilled workers in new information and communication technologies are few: just 4 percent of the active workforce in 2024, the third-lowest index in the EU. Only Romania (2.8 percent) and Greece (2.5 percent) are ranked worse in new business frontiers.

Regarding businesses, Italy ranks last in Europe for companies using artificial intelligence solutions for their production activities. In 2024, only 8.2 percent of companies of all sizes were ‘AI-driven,’ compared to an EU average of 13.5 percent. Behind Italy are Cyprus, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania.

Italy is also in last place in the EU for corporate professional training. Few companies offer technology courses and training in new technologies to their staff, just 17.9 percent, placing Italy 21st in the EU for targeted corporate training, which could make them more competitive.

No e-commerce, Italy is only on Zoom

Italy is in the EU ‘top ten’ for online meetings: One company out of two (48.2 percent of the total) regularly uses platforms for business meetings. Eurostat shows that new technologies translate more into an organizational tool than a productive one in Italy. It is especially true for large companies (those with more than 250 employees and a turnover of over 50 million euros per year). In 2024, 96.3 percent of them in Italy were consistently connected on platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, and Webex.

Otherwise, Italy has trouble keeping up with the evolution of technology and its way of doing business. In a world and in a single European market where shopping is increasingly online, Italian companies are among those that sell the least on the Internet. In 2024, Italy ranks 20th out of 27 for online sales. E-commerce is a source of business for 20.4 percent of active companies.