Digital skills, the great mismatch slowing down the Italian transformation

But cybersecurity also shows double-digit growth rates (+70% for cybersecurity engineer) and one of the widest gaps between supply and demand. Similarly, cloud and edge computing are now necessary skills for the digital factory and the modernisation of IT infrastructures, just as software development and DevOps are indispensable for building and maintaining flexible application systems.

There are also multidisciplinary skills that are becoming increasingly indispensable within companies to integrate technologies, industrial processes and management skills. Thus, it is not only hyper-specialised profiles that are on the rise, but also the demand for digital skills for non-ICT professions that deal with digital: project managers, process engineers, supply chain experts and industrial operators now find themselves working with digital platforms, sensors, 5G robotics and embedded AI tools. Digitalisation is no longer confined to IT departments: it affects the entire organisation.

Alongside advanced skills, the report emphasises an even more relevant structural issue: the fragility of the Italian population's basic digital skills. This is now one of the elements that most distances us from the European average and limits the country's ability to generate advanced skills. European data show a clear situation: Italy is permanently at the bottom in terms of the spread of basic digital skills among citizens and workers, starting with the most basic ones, such as the Office suite.

This means that a significant proportion of adults find it difficult to use digital tools in a conscious manner, the pool from which specialised skills can emerge is smaller than in other countries, companies have to invest in in-house training even for activities considered elementary, subtracting resources from growth on advanced skills, the digitisation of production processes is slower because it encounters cultural and operational resistance.

The result is a vicious circle: few basic skills generate little specialisation and little specialisation generates low competitiveness. With the risk that Italy will remain on the margins of global technology value chains at a time when new trends - AI, cloud, intelligent automation - are reshaping the labour market.

The report on new skills also tries to identify ways to bridge this mismatch by highlighting a key point: it is not enough to increase the number of Stem graduates, but training courses must be aligned with the real needs of companies. Today this alignment is still partial. Companies are looking for profiles with operational and up-to-date skills, but schools and universities - with some excellences - are still moving at insufficient speed compared to the pace of innovation.

Action is needed on several levels. This involves innovating training programmes by including practical modules on AI, cybersecurity, cloud, software development, making collaboration with companies systemic, and strengthening the Its Academy component, which has very high employment rates but is still too few.

It is also necessary to expand the talent pool by encouraging female participation in technology careers, increasing guidance in secondary schools and supporting policies to attract foreign talent and retain Italian talent.

In the world of work, it is becoming urgent to push for continuous training that can keep up with evolving skills: with technologies that change every 12-18 months, the truly fundamental skill today is the ability to update oneself. It is therefore necessary for companies and workers to invest in reskilling and upskilling, to develop accessible and flexible training platforms, and to valorise short and modular paths, which allow for the rapid updating of operational skills.

This whole strategy remains a blunt weapon unless a virtuous and effective ecosystem is created between business, university and vocational training. The winning model is not vertical but reticular: research, companies, start-ups, technology centres and educational institutions must work together in a continuum in which knowledge circulates, is tested and adapted to real needs.

Digital transformation is not a neutral phenomenon: it creates enormous opportunities but requires solid, up-to-date skills. The Anitec-Assinform and Talents Venture report clearly shows that the gap between demand and supply of digital skills is one of the main obstacles to the country's competitiveness. Bridging this gap does not just mean training more ICT experts, but building a country in which digital skills - basic and advanced - are widespread, up-to-date and at the service of innovation.

It is a national challenge, but also a great opportunity: to put Italy back at the centre of the new global digital economy.