1.05 MB PDF - LEAD - e

e-Leadership Skills for
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
Country Report Italy
A Snapshot and Scoreboard of e-Leadership Skills in
Policy, Higher Education and the Labour Market
Authors:
Karsten Gareis
Philipp Markus
Eriona Dashja
Tobias Stabenow
Contact
For further information, please contact:
empirica Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und
Technologieforschung mbH
Oxfordstr. 2, 53111 Bonn, Germany
Tel: (49-228) 98530-0 * e-Mail: [email protected] *
Web: www.empirica.com
Bonn and Brussels, March 2015
Country Report: Italy - e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do
not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. Neither
the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the
Commission is responsible for the information provided in this
document.
About this document
This document is a Country Report produced in the course of the
service contract “e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized
Enterprises”, or short "LEAD”. Services are provided under
contract for the European Commission, DG Internal Market,
Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs – Unit H/3 - Key Enabling
Technologies
and
Digital
Economy,
Tender
No.
288/PP/ENT/CIP/13/C/N01C012
About LEAD
LEAD develops targeted actions for start-ups and fast growing
SMEs to provide them with relevant e-leadership skills and
qualifications for entrepreneurs, managers and advanced ICT
users that are recognized trans-nationally.
The LEAD consortium includes the partners: empirica, INSEAD, IE
Business School, Henley Business School, Aarhus University, New
Bulgarian University, Antwerp Management School, European
Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), IDC Europe,
PIN-SME and CIONET.
LEAD analyses the role of e-leaders in SMEs and entrepreneurial
firms based on engagement with SMEs to gain insights into what
kinds of leaders SMEs rely on to ensure they can use ICT to
develop, grow and compete, how SMEs use ICT to develop, grow
and compete and what kind of e-leadership skills they need to
succeed.
This work represents an important step forward towards helping
business schools and SMEs collaborate and develop insights and a
common language for SMEs to access and foster leaders who are
both business and ICT-savvy (“e-leaders”) and who ensure SMEs
use ICT effectively. It is laying the groundwork for the planning of
targeted educational offers for SMEs and entrepreneurs by
business schools and universities, which will be demonstrated
within the project duration.
LEAD also engages with other stakeholder groups from education
and the labour market, associations representing SMEs, start-ups
and gazelles and others to take into account the target groups
evolving requirements for e-leadership.
LEAD aims to sharpen the e-leadership definitions and metrics,
specify data requirements for establishing monitoring
mechanisms which can be used as a basis for policy making and to
improve monitoring of demand and supply of these skills.
Technology trends are analysed to understand their impact on
new business models and organisation of companies and their eleadership requirements. An overview of the present European eleadership policy landscape for the different target groups is
developed as well as an overview of the present European
landscape of
e-Leadership courses and MOOCs. In addition a search and
analysis of initiatives from industry, education and training
organisations is carried out.
Content
1
e-Leadership Scoreboard
3
2
Policies of relevance to e-Leadership skills development
5
3
Stakeholder initiatives for the promotion of e-Leadership skills development
8
4
Assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on development of skills in eleadership and digital entrepreneurship
11
5
Best practice policy and stakeholder initiatives
12
6
Examples of e-leadership education in Higher Education in Italy
15
Methodology
17
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Country Report: Italy - e-Leadership Scoreboard
1
e-Leadership Scoreboard
The scoreboard offers an approach to monitoring and assessing issues related to e-leadership skills
development, such as: education offers, workforce potential, exploitation opportunities, and
enabling policies or other driving mechanisms. It compares European Member States, allowing for a
comparative assessment of e-leadership performance of Member states. Doing so, it showcases
relative strengths and weaknesses of national e-leadership ecosystems, thus informing and
enabling policy discussions.
Italy
27
Rank:
2.40
Index score:
Value
Score
(0-10)
Master/Exec Ed level programmes with a mix of ICT & business
57
- per - per 100,000 population aged 20-59
100,0
E-leadership candidate programmes
0.2
2
1.82
6
1
- per - per 100,000 of workforce with potential e-leadership skills
100,0
Enterprises that provided training to ICT/IT specialists
0.4
1.70
9
0.4
EU 28 Rank
EU 28 avg.
2.84
7
40
0.40
25
1
e-leadership skills
promoters
e-leadership skills exploitation
e-leadership workforce potential
e-leadership skilling
Education and training
The e-leadership scoreboard
comprises four levels: 24
indicators, 7 building blocks, 4
dimensions to be further
aggregated to one overall e leadership Index (eLI).
The “e-leadership skilling”
dimension consists of one
4%
1.33
26
9.6%
- SMEs that provided training to ICT/IT specialists
4%
2.14
25
8.4%
building block, “Education and
SMEs
Quality of management schools
5.0
5.83
14
4.81
Training”. This building block
e-leadership skilled professionals
aims to capture e-leadership
Line managers
37,101
0.6
13
99,726
Line - as % of total workforce
0.2%
0.0
28
1.3%
education and training through
mana
ICT managers, architects and analysts
89,996
2.1
5
63,021
four indicators: The number of
ICT - as % of total workforce
0.4%
1.3
23
0.8%
mana
Master's/Exec Education level
e-leadership pipeline
ICT practioners - professional level
154,092
1.8
7
115,205
programmes with a mix of ICT &
ICT - as % of total workforce
0.7%
0.2
27
1.48%
business (per population), the
practi
ICT graduates (per 1000 population aged 20-24)
1
0.0
28
3.5
number
of
e-leadership
Business administration graduates (per 1000 population aged 20-24)
8
0.0
28
22.14
Business environment
candidate programmes (per
High growth enterprises in ICT sector
481
2.7
3
235
population), the share of
%
- as % of total number of high growth enterprises
4.1%
2.7
13
4.7%
share
High growth enterprises in ICT intensive sectors
1,451
2.4
3
771
enterprises
that
provided
%
- as % of total number of high growth enterprises
12.4%
5.2
14
13.3%
training
to
ICT/IT
specialists
and
share
Employment in ICT sector
446,785
5.6
4
154,090
Empl - as % of total employment
quality of management schools.
3.0%
3.9
12
3.0%
oyme
Employment
in ICT intensive sectors
2,373,412
4.4
4
789,975
In the second dimension, “eEmpl - as % of total employment
15.9%
6.1
12
15.0%
oyme
leadership
workforce
Percentage of enterprises that employed ICT/IT specialists
14%
3.2
25
23.8%
% of % of SMEs that employed ICT/IT specialists
13%
3.0
24
22.4%
potential”,
the
e-Leadership
SMEs
Innovation opportunities
Skilled Professionals and eState of cluster development
5.5
10.0
1
4.17
Leadership Pipeline building
Capacity for innovation
4.2
4.4
14
4.22
blocks aim to gauge the extent
Firm-level technology absorption
4.2
0.5
26
5.18
Impact of ICT on new services and products
4.1
1.8
24
4.88
of e-skills/ICT practitioners and
Technology trends
e-leadership in the workforce.
Availability of latest technologies
5.0
3.2
23
5.65
The expectation is that e% of enterprises using social networks
21%
2.1
22
29.8%
% of enterprises using RFID technologies
3%
2.9
14
4.14%
leadership competences, as
National policy and stakeholder initiatives
defined in the context of this
ICT Practitioner Skills
2.5
2.9
13
2.87
study, prevail in or recruit from
e-Leadership education and training
3.5
7.1
3
2.25
these two selected categories.
Skills for digital entrepreneurship
2.0
2.0
16
2.45
Overall this dimension of the
scoreboard looks to offer a proxy for the potential estimates of e-leaders in each country. A third
dimension is entitled “e-leadership skills exploitation” and attempts to assess the friendliness of a
country’s business framework and extent of its preparedness in exploiting opportunities provided
by ICT. It contains three building blocks capturing aspects from Business Environment, Innovation
Opportunities and Technology Trends in each country. The fourth dimension: “e-leadership skills
promoters” rests on the proposition that countries with efficient enabling mechanisms (policies,
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Country Report: Italy - e-Leadership Scoreboard
initiatives, etc.) are well positioned to produce the right mix of e-leadership skills in line with the
dynamics of the job market demand and talent requirement. This dimension is composed of one
building block which looks to capture insights on available programmes and initiatives focusing on
e-leadership education and training targeting large companies as well as those targeting digital
entrepreneurs and high-growth SMEs (gazelles).
EU
e-Leadership performance per indicator
IT
Master/Exec Ed level programmes with a mix of ICT & business
E-leadership candidate programmes
National policy &stakeholder initiatives on Skills for
digital entrepreneurship
Enterprises that provided training to ICT/IT specialists
National policy and stakeholder initiatives on
e-Leadership education and training
Quality of management schools
National policy & stakeholder initiatives
ICT Practitioner Skills
Line managers
% of enteprises using using RFID
technologies
ICT managers, architects and
analysts
% of enteprises using social
networks
ICT core professionals
Availability of latest technologies
ICT graduates
Impact of ICT on new services
and products
Business administration graduates
Firm-level technology absorption
High growth enterprises in ICT sector
Capacity for innovation
High growth enterprises in ICT intensive sectors
State of cluster development
Employment in ICT sector
% of enterprises that employed ICT/IT specialists
Employment in ICT intensive sectors
Performance-based indicator ranking
State of cluster development
National policy and stakeholder initiatives e-Leadership skills
Employment in ICT intensive sectors
Quality of management schools
High growth enterprises in ICT intensive sectors
Capacity for innovation
Employment in ICT sector
% of enterprises that employed ICT/IT specialists
Availability of latest technologies
National policy and stakeholder initiatives ICT Practitioner Skills
% of enterprises using RFID technologies
High growth enterprises in ICT sector
% of enterprises using social networks
National policy and stakeholder initiatives Skills for digital entrepreneurship
Impact of ICT on new services and products
E-leadership candidate programmes
Enterprises that provided training to ICT/IT specialists
ICT managers, architects and analysts
Firm-level technology absorption
Master/Exec Ed level programmes with a mix of ICT & business
ICT practioners - professional level
Line managers
ICT graduates
Business administration graduates
0
1
IT
4 / 23
2
3
EU
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Country Report: Italy - Policies of relevance to e-Leadership skills development
2
Policies of relevance to e-Leadership skills development
The Agenda Digitale Italia (ADI) was launched on
March 1, 2012 by the Minister of Economic
Development, in consultation with the Minister
for Public Administration and Simplification; the
Minister for Territorial Cohesion; the Minister of
Education, Universities and Research and the
Ministry of Economy and Finance. The Agenda
was prepared using a strongly participatory
process using various tools of civic engagement:
face to face interviews, a public consultation and
an online forum on the social web. In this period
the opinions and suggestions of thousands of
citizens and stakeholders have been received and
processed along six strategic goals (Infrastructure
and Safety, E-Commerce, e-Gov/Open Data,
Digital Skills, Research and innovation (R&I) and
Smart Communities). The Agenda was published
in Decree Law of 18 October 2012 "Further
urgent measures for the growth of the country".
For putting the Digital Agenda into practice, the
Agency for Digital Italy (AGID) was established in
the same year. The Agency is also responsible for
periodic updating of the strategy.
An Expert Advisory Team was appointed by
President Letta to explore the main challenges to
meeting the Digital Agenda's objectives. The
team, lead by Francesco Caio, published its report
"Achieving the Objectives of the Digital Agenda
for Europe (DAE) in Italy: Prospects and
Challenges" in early 2014.1
Eventually the Italian Strategy for the Digital
Agenda 2014-20202, containing dozens of
individual Actions, was published in April 2014.
One strategic goal is called Digital Competences
and covers e-skills related policy objectives. In
addition to actions which seek to boost digital
literacy and ICT user skills of the general
population and within companies (e-learning) and
public administration, the Digital Competences
strategic goal also covers actions of immediate
relevance to the present study, including
Definition of e-leadership skills and provision of
e-leadership training courses to central and local
1
2
Policy & Stakeholder Activity
Summary Assessment
e-Leadership education and training:
The new Italian Strategy for the Digital Agenda
gives a prominent place to the e-leadership
skills issue. It foresees measures for definition
of e-leadership skills with reference, were
possible, to the European e-Competence
Framework (e-CF) and calls for e-leadership
training programmes especially for public
administration staff and SMEs. At the level of
the Italian regions, regional digital agendas are
currently being drafted. The available agenda
for Lombardy also includes dedicated
measures explicitly addressing the need for
promoting e-leadership skills. Education and
training offers have been developed by a
number of higher educations providers both
from the public and private sector.
Skills for digital
entrepreneurship
Policies and
Stakeholder
Activities
e-Leadership
education and
training
Skills for digital entrepreneurship:
The national Strategy for the Digital Agenda
and, in particular, the regional digital agendas
put some emphasis on the need to support
digital entrepreneurship in the country, but
there are few concrete actions in operation or
planned.
Training
offers
on
digital
entrepreneurship come mainly from business
incubators and start-up accelerators focusing
on the digital domain. Universities have set up
organisations to promote spin-offs and spinouts that seek to exploit research outcomes
commercially.
http://de.slideshare.net/Palazzo_Chigi/achieving-the-objectives-of-the-digital-agenda-for-europe-dae-in-italyprospects-and-challenges#
http://www.agid.gov.it/agenda-digitale/agenda-digitale-italiana
5 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Policies of relevance to e-Leadership skills development
government staff.
Based on the Digital Agenda, the Guidelines for a National Programme for Culture, Education and
Digital Skills are currently being drafted in an open, participatory process coordinated online via
the website http://culturadigitale.partecipa.gov.it.
Regional Digital Agendas are being developed by AGID in cooperation with the regions. The work is
coordinated by CISIS, the technical body of the regions for the themes of the Digital Agenda.
Regional Agendas are available at the time of writing for:

Lombardy: Digital Agenda Lombarda 2014-18 includes "digital competences" as a priority area
of intervention. Starting from the observation that Lombardy lags behind the EU average in
terms of e-skills development, the document calls for measures amongst others to boost eleadership skills as a target for professional growth, in order to improve productivity and
increase competitiveness of the business system. Concrete actions planned include: a) Set up
of an observatory for monitoring and dissemination of professional e-skills standards, in order
to observe a more precise pictures of the situation in Lombardy and the actual needs that
must be met; b) Improvement of training provision to address identified shortcomings; c)
Implementation of new tools and techniques training (including distance learning, discussion
forums, "social" Wikis, "training pills" and other web 2.0 tools; d) Creating higher awareness
about existing training offers e) Adjustment of professional knowledge, even for those who are
already working professionally in the ICT area, in order to foster the development of new
professional profiles required by the market.

Veneto and Tuscany: Both the Agenda Digitale del Veneto and the Agenda Digitale Toscana
seek to support establishment of new innovative companies in the region and strengthening
use of digital technologies for improving internal efficiency of local enterprises; boosting ICTenabled innovation in products, services, processes and business models; foster relationships
between firms and actors in the value chain; enabling successful internationalization. With
regard to the digital competence strategic goal, the Agendas do not address e-leadership skills
but call for action to monitor and further develop knowledge and expertise in business
applications of ICT with a clear focus on increasing the competitiveness of the local economy.
The Veneto Agenda also mentions the need to attract ICT practitioners to the Veneto region.
Tuscany has a powerful e-learning service in place, i.e. TRIO “the web learning system of the
Region of Tuscany”, which is available completely free of charge and offers approximately
1,700 courses and a range of training services. Some of these are of direct relevance to digital
entrepreneurship and e-leadership.

Umbria: Agenda digitale dell'Umbria focuses, as far as ICT related education and training is
concerned, on measures to support the competitiveness of the region's SMEs, especially the
large number of small manufacturing enterprises which form the bedrock of Umbria's
economy. The focus here is on equipping companies with basic skills in strategic use of ICTs
(e.g. e-commerce, process modernisation). An example of an action is the deployment of
"Digital Angels", i.e. students with advanced ICT skills, to enterprises to contribute to a process
of acculturation to operating in the digital sphere.
Responsibility for support of (digital) entrepreneurship lies with the Ministry of Economic
Development, complemented by the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and
Sustainable Economic Development. At regional (and municipal) level, Chambers of Commerce
play an important role; they offer enterprises services to facilitate market intelligence and skill
trainings, to stimulate companies and businesses in innovative efforts and to support
internationalisation.
As far as training and education in e-leadership is concerned, initiatives are seen in Italy as under
the responsibility of the market itself. Namely, supply and demand (in terms of education and
training, the school system, including university and vocational training, as well as ICT professionals
6 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Policies of relevance to e-Leadership skills development
and enterprises) have to find common agreements locally to develop proper initiatives answering
labour market requirements. Concerning secondary school, the school autonomy allows any of
them to identify specific courses and initiatives meeting the companies’ needs, locally. The so called
interprofessional funds support vocational continuous training according to companies’
requirements. Recent legislation on apprenticeship regulates it at several proficiency and
qualification levels, including the so called Alto Apprendistato (“high” apprenticeship) addressing
postgraduate young people. At any levels, it is a two years programme of training and job very
similar to the German “dual system”. The Alto Apprendistato is managed by universities together
with enterprises and it is built according to the real needs perceived by the business.
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Country Report: Italy - Stakeholder initiatives for the promotion of e-Leadership skills development
3
Stakeholder initiatives for the promotion of e-Leadership skills
development
3.1
Initiatives within the established education system
Several universities organize MBA and executive MBA addressing young people, professionals and
young managers. ICT training initiatives related to the e-Leadership have been developed as part of
MBA courses and in the form of some dedicated executive MBA courses; the “Politecnico di
Milano” (the Polytechnic University of Milan) has also some specific courses on e-Leadership skills
at Bachelor and Master degree levels. These university courses are included in the standard
curricula subject to annual university enrolment fees; MBA and Executive MBA courses are private
initiatives with quite expensive rates. The same for any further initiatives from private training
institutions addressing professionals and managers.
The University LUM Jean Monnet’s School of Management offers a higher education course
(Information Systems – SME / IT4Business) that aims at managers and CIOs in SMEs that want to
learn how to effectively implement, use and administer an up-to-date information systems. The
course has been selected as Best Practice (see detailed description further below).
The other Italian course selected as Best Practice is being offered at Polytechnic University of Milan.
It is a general Master in Management that offers the possibility to specialize in ICT Management
(see detailed description further below).
Universities also offer e-leadership related training in the context of spin-off and incubator
programmes. For example, I3P is a business incubator established at the Politecnico di Torino,
ranked as first in Italy and fifth in Europe by the University Business Incubator Index (UBI), while the
business incubator established at the Politecnico di Milano, managed by Fondazione Politecnico di
Milano and supported by the Milan Municipality is called PoliHub. Both I3P and PoliHub offer an
entrepreneurship empowerment programme, a business network for start-ups, dedicated
workspaces and a set of value-added services for start-ups including training and consultancy.
Initiatives from the business and start-up community PoliHub is based on the strong experience of
Acceleratore d’Impresa del Politecnico di Milano, founded already in 2000 with the support of the
Milan Municipality. Politecnico di Milano has been one among the first Italian institutions to
support the creation and growth of high-potential technological start-ups, including such successful
examples as Neptuny, Fluidmesh Networks and Khamsa.
The CINI Consortium3, which involves 1,300+ professors of both Computer Science and Computer
Engineering, belonging to 39 public universities and the Itais4, which involves the prominent Italian
professors and researchers in the field of Business Information Systems are working to develop
training curricula on e-leadership (applied to different sectors) at universitary level.
The National School of Public Administration (SNA) and FORMEZ, in the context of the National
coalition for digital competences, are cooperating with AgID and other Italian universities to define
new curricula for public managers, to be officially presented by June 2015.
3.2
Initiatives from the business and start-up community
Business sector initiatives striving to increase understanding of and awareness about e-leadership
skills include the following:
3
4
http://www.consorzio-cini.it/
http://www.itais.org/
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Country Report: Italy - Stakeholder initiatives for the promotion of e-Leadership skills development

RETE Competenze per l’EconomiaDigitale translates ‘Italian Competence Network for the
Digital Economy’. The network aims to raise awareness about e-competences and to
disseminate the European Competence Framework. It also aims to develop and supply training
programmes focused on the 36 e-competences to create e-leadership based culture among
ICT-driven SMEs. The network is currently being supported by leading Italian employers'
associations, ASSINTEL, Assinter Italy, CNA Communication, Digital and Unimatica
Confindustria as well as the Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, through which Italian companies
support research and education at the University in Milan.

UNI/UNINFO national standard for ICT Professions is also based on the e-CF. UNI is the
federal standardization body; its subsidiary UNINFO is responsible for developing standards in
the ICT area. The objective of this initiative is to agree on a reference standard for developing a
competence-based ICT culture within SMEs, focusing on e-Leadership skills and proficiency
levels. The result is the UNI 11506:2013 that is a standard allowing the Certification of the
Personnel based on the eCF professional profiles. The initiatives is related to UNINFO's
participation in the CEN international working group "PC 428 - Professions for Information and
Communication Technology (ICT)"5.
Some of the industry's initiatives for the promotion of ICT career choices to young Italians have also
started to put a special focus on e-leaders, such as Future IT Leaders, an Initiative by the AICA CIO
Forum and the Fondazione Politecnico di Milano. The objective is to provide an integrated, very
concrete, experience-based picture of the future IT leaders. This is meant to promote awareness
about IT professionals and their growing role within Italy's economy. Furthermore the initiative is
aimed at professional development of future IT leaders. The initiative started September 2012. Ten
e-leadership webinars followed by conversations and discussions in the IT leaders’ web community
have been held in 2013. The webinars addressed ICT practitioners aiming to grow and were held by
CIOs of large ICT end-user companies in Italy. In 2014 the activities are being continued through
four on-site meetings in Milan that, followed by another round of in-depth webinars.
Beside Future IT Leaders, AICA (the Italian Association of ICT professionists) is offering and
promoting ICT4jobs, a course oriented to students of high schools. The required skills are wholly eCF compliant and are in line with the competences defined by the digital agency for the figure of eleader. The activities carried out by two pilot schools intend to suggest the methodological model
that could be used by any other educational institution. The elearning version of the course is
actually available in TRIO (“the web learning system of the Region of Tuscany”).
Other Research centres (i.e. Scuola di Robotica di Genova – School of Robotics6), universitary
departments (i.e. University of Trento) and voluntary associations (i.e. Wister) are involved in
“viral” training initiatives whose aims are to spread the spirit of e-leadership amongst girls and
women.
AgID, Assinfor, Assintel and Assinter are working on the second edition of the "Observatory on
Digital Skills 2015". A chapter will be focused on e-leadership skills in Italian enterprises. Before
summer 2015 the four partners are going to launch the initiative “we are looking for e-leaders!” on
their web sites to find - with a bottom-up approach - stories and best practices which can represent
models of competences for e-leadership in different economic and public sectors.
5
6
http://www.uninfo.it/index.php/partecipare/aree/category/attivita-professionali-non-regolamentate
http://www.scuoladirobotica.it/
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Country Report: Italy - Stakeholder initiatives for the promotion of e-Leadership skills development
3.3
e-Leadership training in the context of SME and entrepreneurship support
Offers for training in digital entrepreneurship skills come mainly from business incubators and startup accelerators focusing on the digital domain. Some of the more successful examples from Italy
include:

The Forum Ricerca Innovazione Imprenditorialita (Research Innovation Entrepreneurship
Forum) is organizing several activities, forums, workshops, conferences and seminars to
support entrepreneurs and promote the entrepreneurial spirit and research. The Forum has its
roots as a department of the University of Padua which was set up to promote
commercialization of research outcomes through spin-outs and spin-offs;

We Tech Off was a project (2008-2013) that supported the creation of innovative companies
through the provision of services and support in favour of business ideas and technology startups. It was sponsored by Aster, a consortium between the Region of Emilia-Romagna,
universities, public research institutions CNR, ENEA and the regional system of Chambers of
Commerce and the Italian Ministry of Economic Development;

Campania In.Hub and its regional ecosystem for the promotion of innovative
entrepreneurship support SMEs and entrepreneurs through funding and consultation in the
Campania region in Italy. It also brings together incubators, accelerators and business experts
to support start-ups and regional SMEs;

Dinameeting 2010 caters to all the micro and small enterprises in Lombardy, belonging to
manufacturing, business services, logistics, commerce and tourism who want to implement a
growth path through information technology. Experienced professionals help SMEs to invest in
ICT to fully exploit its potential;

Polo Innovativo (Coalition for innovation) of Molise is a regional competence centre designed
to support the creation of innovative start-ups and increase the technological competitiveness
of existing businesses;

PST Business Incubator based in Benevento aims to promote the creation of innovative
businesses in the ICT sector. It also works on the development of business networks as well as
innovation and technological improvement of the economic system.
Providers of training programmes with an explicit focus on digital entrepreneurship include the
Wwworkers Academy, the training school of the organisation of the same name. Wwworkers was
established in 2010 by Giampaolo Colletti with the intention to provide a forum by and for people
networking in the digital economy. Wwworkers are thus defined as ”those who work thanks to the
network on their own farm, in an Italian SMEs, in public administration or in multinationals
operating in Italy or abroad”7. The academy programme consists of a series of thematic modules
and practical workshops, offered on demand as a service to companies and organisations. The
courses are taught by experienced teaching staff for new technologies and are focusing on strategic
use of ICT and e-leadership in organisations.
Federmanager Academy8, the management school of the Association of around 31.000 Italian
managers in Industry (Federmanager9) in 2014 organized seminars or courses for companies and
SMEs, but also for unemployed managers, on issues such as Big Data, Intangible Assets, Smart
Working supported by ICT, Demand Driven MRP, and eLearning blended courses in some Italian
Regions. In 2013-2014 Federmanager Academy supported around 180 Italian unemployed
managers to exploit Social Network and ICT to find a new job.
7
8
9
http://www.wwworkers.it/pagine/chi-siamo-cosa-facciamo [emphasis added]
http://www.federmanageracademy.it/
http://www.federmanager.it/
10 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on development of skills in e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship
4
Assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on development of skills in e-leadership
and digital entrepreneurship
Exhibit 1: High-level assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on development of skills in e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship
Assessment:
No / Type
Title of policy / initiative
Main stakeholder(s)
Government
Business
Unions/ NGOs
Education
MSP fit (0-2)
Target fit (0-2)
Policy fit (0-2)
Scope /
Continuity (0-2)
Maturity (0-2)
Stakeholders from:
Policy 1
Agenda Digitale Italia (ADI)
Ministry of Economic Development
---
---
---
---
---
1
---
2
2
Policy 2
L'Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale (AgID)
---
---
---
---
---
2
---
2
1
Policy 3
Italian Strategy for the Digital
Agenda 2014-2020
Digital Lombarda 2014-18
---
---
---
---
---
2
---
2
0-1
Policy 4
Agenda Digitale del Veneto
---
---
---
---
---
1
---
2
0-1
Initiative 1
RETE Competenze per
l’EconomiaDigitale translates
‘Italian Competence Network
for the Digital Economy’
Future IT Leaders [2012-]
Assintel, Assinter Italia, CNA
Comunicazioni, Confindustria Digitale,
and Unimatica

  
2
1
2
2
2
CIO AICA Forum


1
1-2
1
1
1
UNINFO National standard for
ICT Professions
Wwworkers Academy
UNINFO
2
1
2
1
2
1
1-2
1
0-1
1
Initiative 2
Initiative 3
Initiative 4
Central Directorate Integrated Planning
and Finance, Lombardy Region
Regione del Veneto
Wwworkers
11 / 23


   

  
Country Report: Italy - Best practice policy and stakeholder initiatives
5
Best practice policy and stakeholder initiatives
From the policies and initiatives mentioned above, the following has been selected as candidate for
best practice.
5.1
Italian Strategy for the Digital Agenda 2014-2020
The Italian Strategy for the Digital Agenda 2014-202010, containing dozens of individual Actions,
was published in April 2014. One strategic goal is called Digital Competences and covers e-skills
related policy objectives. In addition to actions which seek to boost digital literacy and ICT user
skills of the general population and within companies (e-learning) and public administration, the
Digital Competences strategic goal also covers actions of immediate relevance to the present study:

Definition of ICT Professional skills that are emerging on the market, referring to the European
e-Competence Framework (e-CF). This is expected to ensure recognition of professional
profiles, e.g. in ICT related procurement contracts; better match between supply and demand
for ICT skills on the labour market;

Definition of the level of school, college and vocational education and training required to
equip the newly emerging ICT professions with adequate skills;

Definition of e-leadership skills, including ICT but also soft skills, which everybody who is
responsible for "imagining, proposing, promoting, animating" digital innovation is required to
have – in any organization, public and private, large and small. E-leadership skills are described
as the expertise of that allows an individual employee to look ahead and to introduce digital
innovation within the context in which they operate (marketing, finance, logistics, public
administration, environment, tourism and cultural heritage);

Provision of e-leadership training courses to central and local government staff;

Following the example of the "Great Coalition for digital jobs" at EU level, constitution of a
national coalition on digital competences, composed of the stakeholders already involved in
the Digital Agenda for Italy, with the objective to set targets for the impacts of the Agenda on
the labour market and in particular employability of young generations.
Based on the Digital Agenda, the Guidelines for a National Programme for Culture, Education and
Digital Skills are currently being drafted in an open, participatory process coordinated online via a
dedicated the website http://culturadigitale.partecipa.gov.it.
The objectives behind the Guidelines are to:

Propose a shared definition of e-skills, including those related to ICT professionals;

Initiate a mapping of already existing offers related to e-inclusion, digital literacy, ICT
professional training in the country, and identify good practices;

Define the objectives and modalities of implementation for a "National Program for Culture,
Education and Digital Skills";

Choose a method for a campaign to build upon and go beyond existing initiatives;

Define how to promote and finance selected new initiatives;

Initiate a multi-stakeholder discussion and collaboration on projects and initiatives to be driven
forward;
10
http://www.agid.gov.it/agenda-digitale/agenda-digitale-italiana
12 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Best practice policy and stakeholder initiatives

Ensure integration between the activities of the programme and the guidelines of the other
strategic priorities of the Digital Agenda for Italy (e-commerce, e-government, open data,
research and innovation, smart cities).
The preparation of the Guidelines has been entrusted to five working groups:

Digital literacy, e-inclusion and basic ICT user skills;

ICT Professional skills;

Horizontal digital skills required by all employees (non-professional ICT) and e-leadership skills;

Digital skills in Public Administration;

Communication and promotion of the Guidelines (e.g. through a series of online seminars
(webinars) free and open to all, scheduled to take place at the time of writing.
The working group on horizontal and e-leadership skills has published some first results11 according
to which the policy objective should be to "develop a culture of e-leadership and spread it not only
across the most advanced economic sectors, but also in central and local Public Administration".
The working group also suggests seeking systematic ways in which to provide "the largest possible
number of persons, at school or at work" with e-leadership skill, with the goal to generate new jobs
through a combination of digital skills with competences for mastering change and pushing through
innovation.
5.2
Digital Lombarda 2014-18
Digital Agenda Lombarda is an initiative promoted by the region of Lombardia to direct and support
the growth of technological innovation in Lombardy, as part of the European 2020 Strategy and the
European Digital Agenda in particular. Lombardy region, first in Italy, adopted in late 2011 the
Digital Agenda Lombarda 2012-2015 to promote, guide and support the growth of technological
innovation in the Lombardy region, with the purpose to define a digital strategy in line with the
European Union 2020 objectives and in particular the European Digital Agenda.
In continuation of this path and within a policy framework consistent with the new EU programming
2014- 2020, the new Digital Agenda 2014-2018 aims to address and best support digital growth in
Lombardy, in close synergy with the regional strategy for smart specialization. Digital Lombarda
aims to facilitate change and modernization of economy among sectors, from the most specialized
to the more traditional ones and particularly in the manufacturing sector.
Digital Agenda Lombarda 2014-18 includes "digital competences" as a priority area of intervention.
Starting from the observation that Lombardy lags behind the EU average in terms of e-skills
development. The document calls for measures amongst others to boost e-leadership skills as a
target for professional growth, in order to improve productivity and increase competitiveness of the
business system. Concrete actions planned include: a) Set up of an observatory for monitoring and
dissemination of professional e-skills standards, in order to observe a more precise pictures of the
situation in Lombardy and the actual needs that must be met; b) Improvement of training provision
to address identified shortcomings; c) Implementation of new tools and techniques training
(including distance learning, discussion forums, "social" Wikis, "training pills" and other web 2.0
tools; d) Creating higher awareness about existing training offers e) Adjustment of professional
knowledge, even for those who are already working professionally in the ICT area, in order to foster
the development of new professional profiles required by the market.
For collecting the actual needs regarding retraining and re-skilling, it is important to encourage the
direct involvement of the companies and other employers. The Digital Agenda Lombarda represents
a multi-stakeholder initiative with involvement and active participation of citizens, businesses,
11
http://commenta.formez.it/ch/PianoCulturaDigitale/?id_speech=73
13 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Best practice policy and stakeholder initiatives
universities and research centres, schools, representatives of the productive sectors, consumer
groups, and the third sector.
14 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Examples of e-leadership education in Higher Education in Italy
6
Examples of e-leadership education in Higher Education in Italy
Title of study Program
Level of degree
Name of programme
provider
Responsible
institution
URL
Target group
Payment / fees
Duration
Learning outcomes
Title of study Program
Title of study degree
Level of degree
Name of programme
provider
Responsible institution
URL
Target group
Payment / fees
Duration
Learning outcomes
Information Systems – SME
Higher Education Course
School of Management
Università Lum Jean Monnet
http://management.lum.it/corsi87f1.html?id=14


CIOs
Prospective systems managers
2400 € plus VAT
3 years - 80 hours (meetings will be held on Friday from 14-18 and Saturday
from 9-13)
The aim is to update the knowledge of CIOs and those who want to approach
the role of systems manager in a scenario handled constantly changing and
subject to continuous specializations.
Master in Management
Master
Master
Polytechnic University of Milan
Polytechnic University of Milan
http://www.mip.polimi.it/mip/it/Master/Master-in-Management.html
 Managers who wish to broaden their education in the areas of
competence typical of the General Management
 Professionals who wish to deepen their training on specific areas (for
example, by dialling the Master Executive with a path in the first year
and a management training on issues transversal the second year)
 Managers or entrepreneurs willing to hold positions of responsibility
within their own company or who have the desire to "make the
system" what they have learned during their professional career, or
wish to build the skills to realize their entrepreneurial dream
€16.500 (+ VAT)
2 years, part-time (1-2 days per month)
22 Modules, each 1 to 3 days. The modules belong to the following thematic
areas:








Corporate Strategy
Energy Management
Entrepreneurship
Finance
HR and Organization
ICT Management
Innovation and Project Management
International Business
15 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Examples of e-leadership education in Higher Education in Italy



ECTS credits / other
credits
Marketing and Sales
Operations and Supply Chain Management
Risk Management
120 ECTS (60 ECTS are studied at a partner university
16 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Methodology
Methodology
European e-Leadership Scoreboard
The scoreboard attempts to offer an approach to monitoring and assessing issues related to eleadership skills development, such as: education offers, workforce potential, exploitation
opportunities, and enabling policies or other driving mechanisms. It compares at Member State
level the e-leadership “performance” of EU28 Member states across several building blocks,
thereby allowing for comparisons on relative strengths and weaknesses of e-leadership ecosystems
between countries, with the major goal of informing and enabling policy discussions at national and
EU level.
The e-leadership scoreboard is an evolving model to be further refined through input from
academic / experts debates and feedback from other interested parties. It comprises a series of
indicators using data from both primary and secondary sources. It is based on a straightforward yet
comprehensive framework for measuring determinants of demand and supply for e-leadership
skills in each country. Conceptually, the e-leadership scoreboard comprises four levels, 28
indicators; 8 building blocks; 4 dimensions, which can be aggregated to receive an overall e leadership Index (eLI).
The overall e-leadership performance in each of the country has been summarized into a
scoreboard, and further on into a composite indicator (e-leadership index). These raised a number
of challenges related to the quality of the data selected and to their combination into a single
indicator. A number of steps were taken to assure the quality of the data and the reliability of the
e-leadership index. The steps followed are explained in more details below:
Step 1: Identifying and addressing outliers
Mean and standard deviations have been calculated for all indicators among all countries included
in the scoreboard. Outliers have been identified as the absolute z-values larger than 3. Relative to
the case, the values distorting the variable distribution (positive/negative outliers) have been
replaced by maximum/minimum values observed in each single indicator. Beforehand, some
indicators have been standardized using population data in order to avoid any country-size effects
in the dataset sample.
Step 2: Setting reference year
A reference year is set depending on the data availability of each indicator for each of the countries
considered. Overall, for most of the indicators the reference year is lagging 1-3 years behind the
timing the e-leadership scoreboard refers to. In this case, the reference year for most of the
indicators of the 2014 e-leadership scoreboard will be lying between years 2011 to 2013.
Step 3: Treatment of missing data
When dealing with the missing values, we distinguish among two different cases which influence
data imputation procedure:

Missing at random: If data is not available for a year-in-between, we replace data using the
value for the previous year / latest year available.

Missing completely: For countries which data is completely missing for the entire time series,
no imputation is effort carried out. In these cases the indicator is left empty, marked as not
available (‘n/a’), and not considered in the calculation of the county scores.
17 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Methodology
Table 1: e-Leadership scoreboard indicators
Indicator
Definition and scope
Latest data
available
Source
e-leadership skilling
Number of Master's or Exec Ed level
programmes with a mix of ICT and
business
Definition: combination programmes that have as target group specialist or junior / middle management are professionaloriented and have a mix of business and IT. Either at regular consecutive MSc level, or are aimed at specialist subjects only (e.g.
new media, marketing, logistics, communications, e-health etc.
Measure: per 100,000 population aged 20-59
2013
empirica
E-leadership candidate programmes
Definition: E-leadership candidate programmes - programmes that are clearly aimed at experienced professionals with leadership
roles, which usually already expect a high level of IT skills and significant business experience.
Measure: per 100,000 of workforce with potential e-leadership skills
2014
empirica
Enterprises that provided training to
Definition: Enterprises who provided training to develop/upgrade ICT skills of their personnel: for ICT/IT specialists (NACE Rev. 2).
ICT/IT specialists to develop/upgrade
Measure: % of enterprises
their ICT skills
2012
Eurostat Information society statistics
Code: isoc_ske_ittn2
2013
World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey
2013
LFS
2013
LFS
Quality of management schools
Definition: In your country, how would you assess the quality of business schools
Measure: [1 = extremely poor—among the worst in the world; 7 = excellent—among the 2012–13 weighted average
Line managers
Definition: ISCO-08 (1211, 1213,1219, 1221, 1222, 1223)
Measure: as % of total workforce
e-leadership skilled professionals
Definition: ISCO-08 (1330, 2421, 2511)
ICT managers, architects and analysts
Measure: as % of total workforce
e-leadership pipeline
e-Leadership pipeline 1:ICT
practitioners - professional level
Definition:ISCO-08 (2152, 2153, 5356, 2434, 5212, 2513, 2514, 2519, 2512, 2522, 2523, 2529)
Measure: as % of total workforce
2013
LFS
e-Leadership pipeline 2-1: ICT
graduates
Definition:Count of first degrees in ISCED 5A and first qualifications in 5B. The number of students entering the labour force in a
given year does not equal but is approximated by this number of graduates, as many will go on to second or further degrees
(master, PhD).
Measure: per 1,000 population aged 20-24
2012
Eusostat
Code: [educ_grad5]
e-Leadership pipeline 2-2: Business
administration graduates
Definition: Count of first degrees in ISCED 5A and first qualifications in 5B in business and administration.
Measure: per 1000 population aged 20-24
2012
Erurostat
Code: [educ_grad5]
High growth enterprises n ICT sector
Definition: High growth enterprises (growth by 10% or more) and related employment by NACE Rev. 2 sectors: Information and
communication (J).
Measure: Number of high growth enterprises measured in employment (growth by 10% or more)
2012
Eurostat
Code: [bd_9pm_r2]
High growth enterprises in ICT
intensive sectors
Definition: High growth enterprises (growth by 10% or more) and related employment by NACE Rev. 2 sectors: Manufacture of
computer, electronic and optical products (C26), Manufacture of electrical equipment (C27), Manufacture of machinery and
equipment n.e.c. (C28), Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (C29), Manufacture of other transport
equipment (C30), Professional, scientific and technical activities (M).
Measure: Number of high growth enterprises measured in employment (growth by 10% or more)
2012
Eurostat
Code: [bd_9pm_r2]
Employment in ICT sector
Definition: Number of persons employed in the following NACE Rev. 2 sectors: Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical
products (C26), Information and communication (J).
Measure: as % of total employment
2011
Eruostat
Employment in ICT intensive sectors
Definition: Number of persons employed in the following NACE Rev. 2 sectors: Manufacture of electrical equipment (C27),
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. (C28), Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (C29),
Manufacture of other transport equipment (C30), Professional, scientific and technical activities (M).
Measure: as % of total employment
2011
Eruostat
Enterprises that employed ICT/IT
specialists
Definition: Enterprises that employed ICT/IT specialists (NACE Rev. 2)
Measure: % of enterprises
2012
Eurostat
Code: [isoc_ske_itspen2]
State of cluster development
Definition: In your country, how widespread are well-developed and deep clusters (geographic concentrations of firms, suppliers,
producers of related specialized institutions in a particular field)?
Measure: [1 = nonexistent; 7 = widespread in many fields] | 2012–13 weighted average
2013
World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey
Capacity for innovation
Definition:In your country, to what extent do companies have the capacity to innovate?
Measure: [1 = not at all; 7 = to a great extent] |
2013
World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey
Firm-level technology absorption
Definition: In your country, to what extent do businesses adopt new technology?
Measure: [1 = not at all; 7 = adopt extensively] | 2012–13 weighted average
2013
World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey
Impact of ICT on new services and
products
Definition: To what extent are ICTs creating new business models, services and products in your country?
Measure: [1 = not at all; 7 = a significant extent] | 2011–2012 weighted average
2012
World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey
Availability of latest technologies
Definition: In your country, to what extent are the latest technologies available?
Measure: [1 = not available at all; 7 = widely available] | 2012–13 weighted averageAvailability of latest technologies
2013
World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey
Enterprises using social networks
Definition: Use social networks (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing, Viadeo, Yammer, etc.)
Measure: % of enterprises
2013
Eurostat
Code: [isoc_cismt]
Enterprises using RFID technologies
Definition: Enterprises using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies
Measure: % of enterprises
2011
Eurostat
Code: [isoc_ci_cd_en2]
ICT Practitioner Skills
Definition: Level of national policy and stakeholder activity on ICT Practitioner Skills
Measure: 1 - 5 (1 = "No relevant policy or stake-holder activities of significant scope and size have been identified."; 5 = "A master
strategy is in place.)
2013
empirica
Definition: Level of national policy and stakeholder activity on e-Leadership education and training
e-Leadership e-Leadership education
Measure: 1 - 5 (1 = "No relevant policy or stake-holder activities of significant scope and size have been identified."; 5 = "A master
and training
strategy is in place.)
2014
empirica
Definition: Level of national policy and stakeholder activity on Skills for digital entrepreneurship
Measure: 1 - 5 (1 = "No relevant policy or stake-holder activities of significant scope and size have been identified."; 5 = "A master
strategy is in place.)
2014
empirica
Business environment
Innovation opportunities
Technology trends
National policy and stakeholder initiatives
Skills for digital entrepreneurship
18 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Methodology
Step 4: Calculating re-scaled scores
Min-max normalisation method was adopted to adjust for differences in terms of units of
measurement and ranges of variation. All 28 variables have been normalised into the [0-10] range,
with higher scores representing better performance for the indicators.
The following normalisation formula has been applied:
Where:
Xi = country score
XMin = sample minimum
XMax = sample maximum
Xi, 0 to 10 = the data point i normalized between 0 and 10
Step 5: Calculating composite e-leadership index
The e-leadership Index for each country is calculated as a weighted average of the rescaled scores
for every indicator included in the scoreboard. The weighting approach used distributes different
weights to each of the building blocks, based on the results obtained from a regression analysis
which assesses relationships between each building block indicators’ (independent variable) and
estimated number of e-leaders for each 28 Member States (dependent variable). The rationale
behind this analysis is to explore and assess relationships between indicators’ performance and
potential presence of e-Leaders.
Identification of policies and stakeholder initiatives on e-leadership skills
To gather information on and evaluate the current e-leadership skills policy and initiative landscape
and try to assess the impact of relevant policies at EU and national level, a significant amount of
information needed to be systematically collected. The challenge has not only been that the
information owners are heterogeneous (including actors in the public sector, the private sector, e.g.
the IT industry, and educational organisations), but also the geographic scope of the exercise, as
the study focused on activities in all 28 Member States (and major regions, if relevant). The
collected information included, in particular, factual information about ongoing and completed
activities at the European level and in EU Member States (e.g. information about the types of
initiatives, the stakeholders involved and the governance model applied), as well as views of
stakeholders and experts that have been involved in such activities regarding the outcome of these
activities.
Our activities consisted mainly of:

a survey of relevant national policies in the e-leadership skills domain, and

a survey of initiatives and multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) at Member State level in
this domain, with the focus as before.
The data was collected with the support, where found appropriate, of a network of national
correspondents covering all 28 Member States of the EU.
Information gathering using templates where appropriate is divided into three steps.
In a first step it focused on the general policy context in the different countries. The aim has been
to give a brief overview of the overall structure of the policy system and programmes and the key
stakeholders active in this area. In this section, national correspondents were guided to refer to and
19 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Methodology
mention the policy programmes of relevance for e-leadership skills and to provide an overview of
how these are embedded and integrated in the overall policy context.
The work built on already existing literature and studies available from previous projects, statistical
sources and the proposers’ expertise and experiences gained in the precursor and previous projects
and service contracts. The analysis was enhanced by most recent literature and studies.
In a second step, more in-depth data has been gathered on the major policies and initiatives
targeting creation of e-skills and e-leadership skills which had been identified in the previous step.
The template was brief, with the following points to be addressed:

Name of policy, programme, initiative

Overall objectives

Specific objectives

Targets

Main characteristics

Policy evaluation: Monitoring and measurement system in place

Results achieved (versus objectives and targets)
The output of this activity included descriptions of the respective policies and initiatives on the
basis of a standardised template, consisting of about 5 pages of text in tabular format and a
preliminary assessment with regard to some benchmarking indicators (see below for a description
of the benchmarking approach).
At an early stage of the project (Phase I) empirica developed a data gathering guide and template
for use by national correspondents to gather the relevant information. This was followed by
contacting national correspondents and providing them with a Guide / Toolkit containing
background information, guidelines and instructions for how to conduct the research, and the data
capture instruments (description templates and questionnaires, as applicable). National
correspondents in each Member State were asked to identify key actors and experts in the fields of
e-skills and e-leadership skills and to interview them, as well as to undertake desk research.
In order to avoid work duplication and to achieve best value for money, national correspondents
were supplied with pre-filled data templates wherever available based on the instruments used for
precursor studies, which they were then asked to validate, update and complement as appropriate.
Benchmarking and assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on eleadership skills
Indices for Member States' level of policy activity
National policy activity was explored through an investigation on national policy and stakeholder
initiatives that have a bearing on skills development in the e-leadership and digital
entrepreneurship area. Findings are summarised in the form of two indices for policies & initiatives
addressing e-leadership skills of SMEs and skills for digital entrepreneurship, respectively. Index
values have not been mechanistically derived using checklists but rather through a qualitative
assessment of the significance and importance of each policy and activity.
20 / 23
Country Report: Italy - Methodology
Index values are to be interpreted as follows:
Table 2: Scoring format for assessment of national policy and stakeholder activities
Score





National policy and stakeholder
initiatives on e-Leadership Skills for
SMEs
No relevant policy or stakeholder activities of
significant scope and size have been identified.
Policy debate is non-existent or sketchy.
There are little policy or stakeholder activities
which explicitly deal with e-leadership skills, but
related topics have entered the policy debate.
Measures are in place, e.g. training of SMEs in
strategic use of ICT for innovation. Education
providers show clear signs of awareness.
Some major policy and stakeholder activities, but
coordination/integration, scope and
sustainability are limited. Policy debate is well
developed but still limited to insiders rather than
the main target groups. Education providers
offer relevant courses/programmes.
Training for e-leadership is fully embedded in
policy strategies (e.g. e-skills or SME strategies)
and action plans are in place. The policy debate
is well developed and involves all key target
groups. SME demand for training courses is met
by supply. Some shortcomings e.g. in terms of
sustainability, monitoring, scalability, coverage.
A master strategy is in place and there are not
only various relevant policies and stakeholder
initiatives, but these are also well integrated at
national and sectoral level. Buy-in from all
relevant stakeholders has been obtained.
National policy and stakeholder
initiatives on Skills for Digital
Entrepreneurship
No relevant policy or stakeholder activities of
significant scope and size have been identified.
Policy debate is non-existent or sketchy.
There are little policy or stakeholder activities
which explicitly deal with skills for digital
entrepreneurship, but related topics have
entered the policy debate, e.g. in the context of
efforts to boost entrepreneurial skills and
attitudes. Education providers show clear signs
of awareness.
Some major policy and stakeholder activities, but
coordination/integration, scope and
sustainability are limited. Policy debate is well
developed but still limited to insiders rather than
the main target groups. Education providers
offer relevant courses/programmes.
Training for digital entrepreneurship is fully
embedded in policy strategies on entrepreneurship, and action plans are in place. The policy
debate is well developed and involves all key
target groups. Entrepreneur demand for training
courses is met by supply. Some shortcomings
e.g. in terms of sustainability, monitoring,
scalability, coverage.
A master strategy is in place and there are not
only various relevant policies and stakeholder
initiatives, but these are also well integrated at
national and sectoral level. Buy-in from all
relevant stakeholders has been obtained.
Preliminary results, as reproduced in the present document, will be validated through a major
online survey using a sample of >300 stakeholder representatives and experts covering all 28 EU
Member States.
Methodology for Benchmarking policies and initiatives
For identification of existing policies and initiatives that are of relevance to the e-leadership issue
we have made use of a SWOT analysis approach (strengths – weaknesses – opportunities –
threats). A SWOT analysis combines the assessment of external developments that cannot be
directly influenced by the organisation in focus (e.g. the overall market development) with an
analysis of its internal specific situation (e.g. its capabilities, product quality and price, market
position). Factors specific to the firm are classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), depending
on how the situation is in comparison to key competitors with regard to the selected evaluation
criteria. External developments (e.g. market trends) are then matched with the organisation's
specific strengths and weaknesses, which leads to conclusions on opportunities (O) or threats (T). A
SWOT analysis helps organisations allocating their resources and capabilities to the competitive
environment in which they operate. As such, the instrument is often used for (longer-term) strategy
formulation.
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Country Report: Italy - Methodology
The unit of observation in the present study is policies and stakeholder initiatives. The
methodology for benchmarking these is described below. The analysis of strengths and weaknesses
was conducted in a multi-step process for which various sets of criteria are being applied. In order
to arrive at a shortlist of candidates from the initial total set of up-and-running policies and
stakeholder initiatives identified by the National Correspondents, an evaluation scheme based on
the following criteria was used:
Table 3: Criteria for selecting outstanding policies and stakeholder initiatives for shortlisting
Selection criteria Evaluation scheme
Partnership
approach of the
policy or
initiative
(“MSP fit”)
Target and
approach of the
policy or
initiative
To what extent does the policy or initiative make use of a "multi-stakeholder partnership" approach?
Each case is given a score on a scale of 3 values:
HIGH (2)
The policy or stakeholder initiative fully complies with the MSP definition, i.e. it
engages all main stakeholders that are of relevance for a certain e-leadership
skills related issue. The partnership involves all or most of the following:
government (at national, regional and/or local level), business, education
providers, social partners and possibly the civic sector (e.g. NGOs).
MEDIUM (1)
The policy or stakeholder initiative has some involvement of several partners
from the government, business, social partners and/or education sector, but not
all main stakeholders which are of relevance for a certain e-skills related issue
are engaged.
LOW (0)
The policy or stakeholder initiative is initiated and operated mainly by one / only
a few partners from only one, at most two sectors (government, business, social
partners, education) and it appears that some key stakeholders who are of
relevance for the e-skills related issue in question are not involved.
To what extent does the policy or stakeholder initiative target skills development in the
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e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship area ?
Each case is given a score on a scale of 3 values:
HIGH (2)
The policy or stakeholder initiative has a clear focus on skills
development in the e-leadership and/or digital entrepreneurship
area
MEDIUM (1)
The policy or stakeholder initiative addresses skills development
in the e-leadership and/or digital entrepreneurship area, but its
main focus is more traditional (e.g. on general leadership or
entrepreneurship skills).
LOW (0)
The policy or stakeholder initiative deals with “digital literacy” of the
general population or subgroups hereof (e.g. unemployed, disabled
people), but does not address ICT practitioner skills and/or e-Leadership
skills.
(“Target fit”)
Embeddedness in To what extent is the policy or stakeholder initiative embedded in a broader policy
the general policy context?
context
Each case is given a score on a scale of 3 values:
("Policy fit”)
12
HIGH (2)
The policy or stakeholder initiative is strongly embedded in a relevant
national or regional policy context (such as a skills strategy or an
innovation action plan).
Rather than entrepreneurship skills in general, or leadership skills in general
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Country Report: Italy - Methodology
Selection criteria Evaluation scheme
Size and scope of
the policy or
initiative
("Scope and
continuity”)
Level of
experience with
the policy or
initiative
MEDIUM (1)
There are some links of the policy or stakeholder initiative to general
skills and innovation related policy programmes.
LOW (0)
The policy or stakeholder initiative is poorly embedded, i.e. links to
general skills and innovation related policy programmes are very limited.
It is likely to remain a one-off activity of limited duration.
Are the size and scope of the policy or stakeholder initiative sufficient to make it
relevant to national skills development in the e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship
field?
Each initiative is given a score on a scale of 3 values:
HIGH (2)
The policy or stakeholder initiative has a size (in terms of budget,
number of stakeholders involved, target group reach, or similar) and
scope (e.g. sectors and occupations covered) which makes it highly
relevant to related developments in the whole country. Its duration is
not limited to a one-off project, but there is (planned to be) a continuity
of activities over many years.
MEDIUM (1)
The policy or stakeholder initiative has a size and scope which means it is
of some relevance to related developments in the whole country. Its
duration may be limited to a one-off project, but its goals are continued
through other means.
LOW (0)
Size and scope of the policy or stakeholder initiative are a too limited to
make it relevant to related developments in the whole country, or its
duration is limited to a one-off project without any continuation or
follow-on activities.
Has the policy or stakeholder initiative been in operation for long enough to make it
possible to assess performance and to learn from its experience?
Each case is given a score on a scale of 3 values:
HIGH (2)
The policy or stakeholder initiative has achieved a major part of its
operational goals already, i.e. it has been in operation for long enough to
allow for assessment.
MEDIUM (1)
The policy or stakeholder initiative has commenced already but is at an
early stage of implementation.
LOW (0)
The policy or stakeholder initiative is still at the planning stage, i.e. no
experience is available yet.
("Maturity”)
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