Publications

2018 was a very positive year for the Internet of Things market in Italy. It maintained an excellent growth rate (+35%), to reach a value of €5 billion by end of year. Companies are showing increasing interest in the topic; creating internal departments and managerial roles dedicated to the IoT and taking business initiatives with an open innovation rationale.

Collaborations between banks, technology providers, trade associations, logistics providers and fintech companies are multiplying, new technologies are spreading, such as Blockchain, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence and the use of innovative solutions is gaining in strength. In Italy, Supply Chain Finance - the set of working capital financing solutions that can leverage the role of companies within the supply chain - is now a well-established ecosystem that involves many players, offers concrete opportunities for financing companies and is also becoming accessible to SMBs.

Mobile Proximity Payment grew by 650% in Italy and in 2018 it was used 15.6 million times by over one million people to pay in-store. Meanwhile, new devices and new technologies herald even more innovative payment scenarios.

During 2018 the Smart Home market in Italy reached a value of €380 million, registering extremely high growth (+52% compared to 2017) in the wake of smart home speakers, which were finally launched on the Italian market.

The Cloud is entering a new age of maturity, companies perceive its digital innovation enabling value and design their transformation path with increasing awareness. IT systems have become complex and technologically heterogeneous, evolving into Hybrid and Multi Cloud environments. This has introduced new challenges for companies that, to respond to change must reach the right level of technologic and organizational. agility

In a context where eCommerce is increasingly relevant and with a less restricted range of action, doubts and questions regarding the sustainability of the business now come clearly to light. The most important: the market is growing but does the value for companies that have accepted this challenge increase at the same time? And for the Country System?

Compared to traditional identity, digital identity can contain other types of information other than basic personal details, such as information related to the online interactions of the business or individual. Smartphones, due to the technology they contain and the fact that they have become ubiquitous in everyday life, can play a fundamental role in the area of digital identity: many people are rarely without their smartphone at hand, making it a more constant companion than their wallet. These technological characteristics and the particular way in which they are used make smartphones a very useful and adaptable device for identity management, for both physical and digital identities.

Mobile Proximity Payment is taking its first concrete steps thanks to investments in communication and the entry into the Italian market of big international players. Mobile Commerce is winning an increasingly large slice of online purchases and now accounts for 25% of eCommerce transactions.

In 2017 the market for Internet of Things solutions for Smart Homes in Italy grew significantly (+35% compared to 2016, reaching 250 million euros), although there are still many obstacles to overcome: installation of products, integration of the offer with valued services and the presence of established brands are the three points on which we need to work over the coming months.

Despite the economic upturn, Italy still has the dubious honour of having the largest potential market for Supply Chain Finance in Europe. How is the market (potential and served) for SCF solutions evolving in Italy and in Europe? What business models do the new startups in the sector use? How can new players, such as logistics service providers, find business opportunities in SCF? What is the evolutionary outlook for SCF, considering the impact of digital innovation?

2017 was a very positive year for the Internet of Things (IoT), both in Italy and worldwide, with businesses operating on a global scale creating internal departments and managerial roles dedicated to the IoT and showing a strong interest towards entrepreneurial initiatives, in view of open innovation.

B2C e-commerce is gradually taking on a more relevant role and its scope is becoming less restricted and circumscribed. This is increasingly the case in the Italian market, even though B2C e-commerce in this country has yet to reach a level of maturity that exists in other more developed markets abroad. In 2017, the Italian e-commerce demand grew by 17%, the number of web shoppers went up by 10% and its share of overall retail purchases now stands at 5.7%.

Compared to 2015, 20% of companies are using digital instruments for B2B business in Italy, with numbers more than doubling in the five years between 2011 and 2016, from 50 thousand up to 120 thousand. Over half of the large companies (with at least 250 employees) and over one quarter of SMEs (with between 10 and 249 employees) use B2B e-commerce tools, for a value of about 310 billion euros in 2016 on a total of business transactions worth 2.2 trillion euros.

The Italian context appears to be extremely attractive for the Supply Chain Finance market, especially due to the outstanding amount of working capital of Italian companies. However, some elements of investigation are necessary. Who are different actors that are entering this world? Which are their business models? Which are the costs and benefits of SCF solutions? How does a company choose the best solution for their suppliers? Which are the different sources of information that need to be taken into account when implementing a SCF solution?

The Smart Home is increasingly positioned as the central key point of the Internet of Things. Services, channels, business models, data value, privacy, cyber security, alliances, ecosystems, communication protocols and interoperability are just some of the pillars of this revolution that ignites the Italian and international competitive scenario, while new global players are starting to make their entrance in this market.