The EU has 10-year digitization targets, “we want to be more ambitious and set 5-year targets: by 2026 we want 70% of the population to use digital identity and be digitally capable, bringing 75% of Italian PAs to use Cloud services, reach at least 80% of public services provided online and 100% households and businesses reached by ultra-broadband. For the first time, Italy would have an advantage, ”said the Minister of Innovation and Digital Transition Vittorio Colao in a hearing in the Chamber. The minister then insisted that the change, including the digital one, must be “radical, pervasive and long-term”.
The goal of the former CEO of Vodafone is decidedly ambitious also in consideration of the current state of the Italian network: 60 percent of families do not have Internet or lack a fast connection. “The problem – explained the minister recently – is not only in the creation of the fiber network”, but also in the renouncing choice of many people who do not have a subscription to the web or do not feel the need for fast services.
Consequently, Italy is one of the countries in Europe with the greatest digital divide: “Only 42% of our compatriots between 16 and 74 have basic digital skills compared to 58% in Europe. 17% of Italians in the same age group have never used the Internet, compared to 9% in the EU, almost double ”.
This is why the minister wanted to reiterate what for him is “a very important concept. It concerns the current state of uncertainty due to the pandemic crisis, which has been going on for over a year, and which pushes many to look to the horizon with concern. It is comprensible. That is why, as a government, we must work decisively to transform this period of worry into an occasion for transformation, restoring trust to our citizens. To get there we do not have to wait for events, but we must plan, today, interventions that citizens can appreciate in their daily life. Interventions that significantly improve their lives. In Italy we need to reactivate growth as and perhaps more than any other European nation. Although we all apparently support innovation and investment, we have traditionally experienced resistance to change and very low speed of investment implementation “.
Also for this reason, the new tenders for the coverage of gray areas will begin at the end of 2021 and the goal is to arrive “at the beginning of 2022 with the process completed. Agcom is mapping the coverage in place, Infratel will ask for 3-year commitments, we will make everything converge in a single “scheme, both for fiber but also for 5G and we are” evaluating how to make these mappings ‘very demanding’ “or that are only promises. “We plan to leave in May, it will last 30-45 days and we will give visibility to what we are doing,” said Colao explaining the timing of the mapping.