AI, digital, green: Italia ranks 22nd in the world for future skills

When it comes to human capital, Italia’s main problem does not so much concern its university system. Rather, it is the mismatch between the supply and demand for skills in high-growth sectors: first and foremost artificial intelligence, followed by the digital and green sectors. This is according to a new report from QS Quacquarelli Symonds (a company we are familiar with for its university rankings): the recently published QS World Future Skills Index 2027, which assesses how global economies develop, align and deploy skills in the age of AI.

Our country’s lag is evident, given that it ranks 22nd in the world. It trails far behind both the leading trio (the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom) and the rest of the top ten: Germany, Canada, South Korea, China, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. Italia’s ranking is the result of a combination of a satisfactory performance in academic preparation (where we are, in fact, ninth) and a less flattering 41st place for our overall ability to make the most of the skills produced by our universities, with one of the widest gaps amongst advanced economies.

Turning to the four parameters used by the QS World Future Skills Index 2027 (academic preparation, skills alignment, the future of work and economic transformation) and starting with the positive news, Italia ranks amongst the top ten economies for the quality of training in future-oriented skills, including those related to artificial intelligence, digital technology and sustainability. After all, last week’s latest QS World University Rankings 2027 (see *Il Sole 24 Ore* of 18 June) showed that 26 out of 47 Italian academic institutions had improved their rankings, with the Politecnico di Milano topping the list at 87th place.

Unfortunately, however, we struggle to translate these skills into productivity and growth, to the extent that we rank 41st in terms of economic transformation capacity, due to a lack of skills among the workforce (where we rank 56th). According to the report’s authors, this is where the battle is being fought. Businesses are calling for managerial, interpersonal and leadership skills that universities do not always develop to the full. Hence our 22nd place overall, with a ‘gap’ between the various indicators that clearly highlights the underlying mismatch: on the one hand, a world-class education system; on the other, an economy still ill-equipped to make the most of talent. These figures risk fuelling the brain drain we are all too familiar with. And which, between 2011 and 2023, has already cost us over 130 billion, according to an OECD estimate cited by QS. The danger remains the same: shouldering the cost of education only to see the benefits go to others.

All this is taking place at a historic moment when the balance between new jobs and those automated by AI will determine long-term competitiveness. The top performers (the US, Australia, the UK and Germany) are leading the transformation of work not because they are adopting artificial intelligence more quickly, but because their economies are more focused on professions in which technology enhances human capabilities rather than replacing them. Reversing this trend is not a challenge that universities can tackle alone: it requires alignment between policies, funding and key stakeholders. According to Nunzio Quacquarelli, president and founder of QS Quacquarelli Symonds, to achieve this, ‘it will be necessary to strengthen collaboration between universities, businesses and institutions so that the human capital developed in Italia can translate into greater innovation, productivity and development’.