Which policies for strategic digital technologies?

In a global context characterised by growing geopolitical tensions and strong dependence on foreign technologies, digital independence emerges as one of the most urgent strategic challenges for Italy. This is what emerged from the first national conference on digital independence, held in Rome, which recorded a significant convergence between the political and business worlds on the need to build a resilient digital ecosystem, capable of protecting critical services, economic competitiveness, security and citizens' fundamental rights.

The conference strongly reiterated that technological autonomy is no longer an option, but an unavoidable necessity. The path requires transparent and structured collaboration between public and private players, in order to align the country system's strategic priorities and guide Italy along a shared path of digital development. It is clear, however, that this is a challenge that cannot be tackled alone: the Italian goal is part of a broader European vision of technological sovereignty.

Symbolic, in this sense, was the visit on the same day by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to the Tecnopolo DAMA in Bologna, home of the supercomputer managed by the CINECA consortium. On that occasion, Francesco Ubertini, President of the consortium, and Antonio Zoccoli, President of ICSC - Centro Nazionale di Ricerca in HPC, Big Data and Quantum Computing, emphasised Italy's growing role in the European artificial intelligence landscape, which is also evidenced by the arrival in December of the AI Factory's supercomputer IT4LIA, one of the projects destined to become a continental AI hub. 'Leonardo is the face of European innovation,' said President Metsola, confirming the international recognition for Italian industry.

Supporting this trajectory are the policy recommendations jointly drawn up by the Observatory on Supercomputing Trends and Applications (promoted by the ICSC and managed by the International Foundation Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Human Development - iFAB) and the Astrid Foundation's Artificial Intelligence Observatory. The document identifies strategic actions to strengthen the country's digital competitiveness, particularly of SMEs and medium-large enterprises.

In the development of the policy recommendations, four key categories were analysed for the digital transformation and economic competitiveness of SMEs: Digital Strategy, Big Data, High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Cloud. Supporting policies in these areas can reduce the technology gap, promote innovation and foster sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The analysis thus reveals some levers of public intervention for the Italian digital ecosystem.