This is reported by the Anitec-Assinform Report, and the ICT sector is soaring.
In 2022, the digital market in Italy grew by 2.4%, reaching a total value of over 77 billion euros. This growth played a decisive role in the recovery of the national GDP (+3.7%). The most significant growth was observed in the ICT sector (+8.5% and 14.8 billion euros), mainly driven by cloud computing and cybersecurity services.
However, it is essential to continue to push forward, as the growth of the digital market has slowed down in 2022 compared to 2021. This information comes from the 54th annual report on the ICT market, entitled “Digital in Italy 2023“, produced by Anitec Assinform, the Italian Association for Information and Communication Technology, affiliated to Confindustria, in collaboration with NetConsulting cube.
Other segments with positive growth were digital content and advertising (+6.3% and 14.5 billion euros) and ICT software and solutions (+6.2% and 8.6 billion euros). On the other hand, the market related to Devices and Systems, after significant growth in 2021, experienced a notable trend reversal, with a decrease of 1% (20.9 billion euros) in 2022 compared to the previous year, mainly due to the negative performance of personal computers, both desktops and laptops, and TV sales. In addition, the negative trend for telecommunications and TLC network services continues (-2.7% and 18.2 billion euros respectively).
In 2023, the market is expected to continue growing, with an increase of 3.1%. Forecasts for the following three years (2024-2025-2026) indicate even more significant growth, based on the assumption of a lower impact of inflation and greater use of the economic resources provided by the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) for digitalisation. As a result, the average annual growth rate of the digital market for the period 2022-2026 is projected at 4.5%, reaching almost 92 billion euros in 2026.
Greater spending capacity was observed in Lombardy, Lazio and Veneto.
Public administration, both central (+10.5% and EUR 2.5 bn) and local (+9.6% and EUR 1.5 bn), and the health sector (+10.1% and EUR 2 bn) were prominent players in this challenge, in line with last year’s findings. Banks (+7% and 9.2 billion euros) supported significant investments in the digitalisation of customer relationships and architectural evolution.However, the Industry sector (+4.4% and 8.9 billion euros)
Experienced a slowdown in growth due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and rising energy and raw material prices.
Spending in the Energy & Utilities sector continued to grow (+4.9% and 2.2 billion euros), driven by the introduction of smart energy technologies. Positive trends were also observed in Defence (+6.7% and 1.2 billion euros), Distribution & Services (+3% and 4.7 billion euros) and Travel & Transportation (+3.6% and 2.6 billion euros).
The trend was less positive for Telecom & Media (+0.9% and 9.4 billion euros).
Growing trend for Digital Enabler and Digital Transformer
The Cloud sector continued its growth (+24% and 5.2 billion euros) and remained among the primary technologies facilitating digital transformation and business model innovation. Similarly, the fields of Artificial Intelligence/Cognitive (+32.4% and 435 million euros) and Blockchain (+28.1% and 42.5 million euros) showed significant double-digit growth. Despite their relatively small market sizes, investments across various sectors are expected to sustain their strong growth trends.
Solutions for Big Data management also grew at a double-digit rate (+14.1% and 1.5 billion euros), playing a crucial role in organizing and managing the information assets of businesses and public institutions. Additionally, Cybersecurity platforms (+14% and 1.6 billion euros) experienced robust growth, ensuring the protection of data and technological assets amid the exponential increase in cyber threats.
