Why Internet in Italy is Far Behind the Rest of Europe
Italy is way behind the rest of Europe in terms of Internet usage and Internet businesses. The main culprits are ageism, lack of meritocracy, and education.
Il Sole 24 ORE‘s weekly technology supplement Nova ( link to online version) is often packed full of interesting nuggets of information.
Ageism and Zero Meritocracy
Last week Nova carried an article which, when reading between the lines, explains just why the Internet in Italy is so undervalued and underused. What Nova mentioned in the article by economics professor Pier Luigi Sacco, was that only 0.1% of senior managers in Italy are under 35. When compared to Germany with 14% of under 35s holding top management positions, the situation in Italy does sound a little disturbing.
The fact that many graduates leave university in Italy at around 27 or 28 years of age does not help matters.
All the above means that in the ‘young’ internet industry in Italy, which is run by mere youngsters in the US and elsewhere, the thinking is often geriatric.
I’ve heard of examples, such as senior and old journalists, with zero technology knowledge, being asked to run the on-line equivalents of daily newspapers. These people who are simply not tech savvy, just don’t know what to do, aside from attempting to replicate the published versions of daily newspapers. Hence Italian internet sites which are not all that appetizing to the internet generation. Those who do know what to do just don’t get a look in.
As the Nova article points out, and as I know very well from working with youngsters in one of Italy’s top business schools, the talent is there, however meritocracy isn’t. Only the lucky few, coming from well heeled backgrounds actually manage to set themselves up in business in the Internet field in Italy.
Other youngsters have the talent but, as mentioned before, not the opportunities, and the lack of fresh blood is quite possibly one of the main reasons why on-line ventures in Italy are 10 years behind countries such as the UK and the US.
Education
Something else which worries me a little, is that I often find that I’m much more internet savvy than the vast majority of my 23 to 30 year old students. I’m 43, and I would expect most youngsters to be streets ahead of me in terms of tech knowledge. This indicates to me that the education system in Italy just does not devote enough time to new technology, which is not good, seeing as the world just about revolves around IT. Countries, such as India, are way ahead of Italy in terms of preparing young people for the modern world.
There isn’t even a decent tech program on Italian public TV, unless I’ve missed one of those after midnight shows which nobody stays up to watch. Italy could do with dumping Rete 4, and setting up a TV channel devoted to technology.
Some Hope
Fortunately, there are a few Italian organisations such as Codice Internet which are working towards raising awareness of Internet in Italy and which I recently joined after receiving an invitation from Sean Carlos of SEO firm AnteZeta.
Let’s hope that Codice Internet manages to generate waves that are strong enough to push Italy into flooding the market with all the talent which exists here. Otherwise, Italy is going to find itself in the middle of a virtual ocean, stuck on a virtual island.
Still, at least the lucky few here manage to find work with Google, E-bay, Yahoo and Microsoft. But these are non-Italian companies who are creaming off all of Italy’s tech talent, and they can afford to be as choosey as they like, seeing as very few Italian companies think that anyone can make a valid contribution to a business unless he is over 60.
It’s no wonder that I regularly hear young Italians stating that the only way they can get anywhere is to get out of Italy.
Great post, but I’m afraid Italy is a long way off from truly embracing the Internet and all its possibilities. After all, this is a country that hasn’t yet fully embraced the TELEPHONE for setting up appointments, conference calls, meetings, etc….
Goodness I wish I was being facetious.
Hi Michelle,
Glad you liked the post.
“After all, this is a country that hasn’t yet fully embraced the TELEPHONE for setting up appointments, conference calls, meetings, etc….”
Yes, I know, Italy can be frustrating at times – quite probably much more so down south – up here in the north, luckily, telephones and email are the norm.
As for being facetious, it’s understandable;-)
Cheers,
Alex
I have to say I was lucky when the region’s ASL understood that I didn’t need to be there in person to translate documents; unfortunately, though, on the whole, the health system is the worst with the “in person” stuff around here…getting test results, making appointments for certain tests (unless your information is in your pharmacy’s computer(!)), signing docs and delivering papers/forms that could easily be done by scanning and emailing. Of course they *do* rather enjoy their faxes! I know of expats in Milan and Rome who have had similar annoyances with the health system, so I don’t think it’s even a northern/southern thing.
I *do* have high hopes that the younger generation will push for such changes though…otherwise where will they use all those SMS skills?!
Well, Alex, I have noticed that too, and I’m a bit frustrated and surprised actually. It seems that the young people here are only interested in kissing each other in public transport and parks (I’m interested in that too, but thats not everything you should do when you are young lol)
I’m surprised because Italy has what it takes to be a leader in the technology niche. It is open to the world, as you said, it has talents, it pretty much has everything, but maybe it is because of the culture or other aspects that make kids like me ignore technology. However, comparing Italy to North African and other countries, c’mon it is still in the modern age. Yet again, it is pity that technology is ignored here.
It is true that in Italy it seems that you are a ‘young’ person for much longer than everywhere else.
At one stage I was thinking to move back to Italy in my 30′s because when reading Italian newspapers people in that age range were still called ‘ragazzi’ while here in Australia I was already considered middle-aged!
It is a pity that Italy seems not to have got on to the new technology wave. I remember the old days of the 60′s with Olivetti etc. They are far away.
All,
Thanks for all the interesting comments! I’ll have a go at replying this evening – busy day ahead, and little one possibly in hospital.
All the best,
Alex
Oh no Alex! I hope all turns out well
@Rajab – interesting to hear that you’ve noticed that young Italians do not, in the main, have a penchant for technology.
@Michelle – I hope things turn out well too – I should know more, one way or another, a little later on this week. My son certainly seems fine in himself, but it’s what is going on inside him that is potentially worrying. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the support:-)
@Guido – you are a mere ‘ragazzo’ until you hit around 45 here! New tech here is, more often than not, a fashion accessory.
Can you name any current Italian technology innovators? Olivetti was a long time ago – millennia in ‘tech time’!
Cheers to one and all,
Alex
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When I left Italy in 2005 I was on a T1 fiberoptic line in Rome. In New York City, where I live now, they are still using DSL which is very old technology. Italy is very far ahead of the U.S. I was using text messages in 1997 in Italy, when the technology for such didn’t even exist yet in the U.S. Don’t talk to me about being behind. The U.S. is practically the Third World.
Hi Mary,
Interesting to hear that the US is behind connection wise. Italy does have some good connections to the www, even if they are generally more costly than other countries in Europe. It’s just that the internet is not really being exploited as fully as it could be in Italy. Not just me that has noted this – I have an American friend who works in the internet sector who says the same.
In terms of internet usage, the US does not appear to be third world!
Best regards,
Alex
In Romania if you have a broadband connection from Ilink (local ISP) you can have 100mbps with only 18eur/month… how cool is that!?
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