During the summer, the European Commission published the 2025 Digital decade state report, a tool through which the Commission annually assesses the Union’s progress in achieving the objectives of the European Digital Decade 2030 and makes any recommendations.
Italy’s performance in the EU Digital Decade 2025
In the
section of the report dedicated to Italy, it emerges that the country stands out for its achievements in healthcare and digital public services, as well as progress made in quantum technologies and semiconductors. However, it still lags behind in artificial intelligence and startups. There are ongoing issues with digital skills and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, with the number of specialists remaining below the European average. Network infrastructure is improving, with strong 5G performance, but a gap remains in high-capacity connectivity. At the European level, the report highlights continuous dependence on external technologies, energy shortages, and limited collaboration between the civil and defence sectors.
Digital skills and STEM education gaps
Increasing citizens’ digital skills is one of the main objectives of the Digital decade, only 56% of the European population possesses at least basic digital skills yet.
Italy is working to enhance citizens’ basic digital skills, combat disinformation, improve media literacy, and ensure online safety. Furthermore, we are the most active country in the area of digital education and training, holding the record for having promoted over 100 initiatives to implement the Joint
European declaration on digital rights and principles for the digital decade.
However, our country is below the European average both in protecting and strengthening the digital environment for children and young people, and in the presence of ICT specialists, which is linked to the still low interest in STEM education training course.
With regard to general sentiment, 73% of Italian citizens believe that the digitalisation of public and private services will make their lives easier, and 90% consider it important to monitor and mitigate the situation regarding fake news and online disinformation.
Infrastructure progress: fibre, 5G and connectivity
The report highlights that the European Union is still far from achieving its digital infrastructure development objectives. Italy has seen an 11% growth compared to the previous year in both local fibre optic coverage (FTTP), thereby aligning itself with the European average, and in very high-capacity network (VHCN) coverage, although it still remains below the European average. The country is well above average when it comes to 5G, although an improvement in service quality is suggested.
As for the number of “edge” nodes, there are 152 installations, marking an increase of over 100% compared to the previous year.
SMEs, startups, and innovation challenges
The country has made progress in the digitalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises, reaching a significant level of at least basic digital intensity, except for the percentage of businesses adopting at least one artificial intelligence technology (8% compared to a European average of 13.5%) and those using big data. The start-up system remains particularly critical, with only 9 unicorns (start-ups that have reached a valuation of one billion dollars).
Recent announcements on quantum computing open up prospects for significant advancements, while the national semiconductor strategy strengthens Italy’s role as a leading country in this sector. At the same time, initiatives have been launched to enhance cybersecurity capabilities, from monitoring to incident response, as well as the development of specialist skills.
Growth of digital public services and IT-Wallet
The level of digitalisation of public services for citizens (the percentage of administrative procedures that can be carried out entirely online) has increased from 68% to 84%, while for businesses (the percentage of administrative procedures necessary to start and manage a business that can be carried out entirely online) it has risen from 76% to 81%.
This is the sector in which Italy has performed best, thanks in part to several measures aimed at increasing interoperability and sustainability (for example, the introduction of better user experience, the adoption of pagoPA and appIO, and the creation of the National digital data platform).
The report highlights that Italy has initiated the development of the national digital wallet (IT-Wallet) with some pilot projects available within appIO, where citizens can access and use a few initial documents (Driving licence, Health card, and the European disability card).
EU recommendations for Italy’s digital future
The report contains a series of recommendations for Italy, highlighting the need to continue developing and adopting artificial intelligence and digital technologies, strengthening the role of research, universities, and technology transfer centres, with potential targeted incentives. It is crucial to support small and medium-sized enterprises in innovation by promoting support services and continuous training, ranging from reskilling workers to digital education in schools, and up to higher education aligned with the market and more inclusive for women. At the same time, it is necessary to enhance infrastructure and connectivity, extend the digitalisation of public services with a focus on simplicity and accessibility, and give the highest priority to cybersecurity, an increasingly critical area in both private and public sectors.
European challenges to digital transformation
At the European level, structural challenges that slow down digital transformation are emerging. Progress in fibre optic and 5G connectivity remains limited, while submarine cables and satellite systems are still vulnerable and dependent on external sources. The adoption of artificial intelligence, cloud, and big data is growing but not sufficiently, with a strong dependency on non-European providers and critical issues in semiconductor production and quantum infrastructure. Basic digital skills are possessed by just over half the population, while the number of advanced information and communication technology specialists is inadequate and characterised by a significant gender gap. Digital public services are expanding, but many government infrastructures still rely on foreign providers. Furthermore, energy stability is a decisive factor to support technological growth, while the lack of collaboration between the civil and defence sectors limits the development of dual-use digital technologies.
