Chapter 20 Measuring the Digital Gap in Italy: A NUTS-2 Level Index

Technological progress in recent decades has driven a true digital revolution. The promise of greater efficiency, immediacy, and effectiveness of processes accompany this digital transition. However, to prove effective, it needs the development of quantitative instruments to assess the quality and competitiveness of the national and international digital strategies. Under this perspective, the study proposes the construction of a statistical index in the Italian context built on the five digital development dimensions of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), that is, connectivity, human capital, use of Internet services, integration of digital technologies and digital public services. The elaboration of a DESI at a regional level (NUTS-2) allows to identify more precisely the possible digital gaps existing in the national territory. The findings make it possible to explain Italy's extreme backwardness within the European rankings. The study identifies the strong digital gap between the northern regions and the southern area of the country as one of the main criticalities, as well as human capital and integration of digital technologies.