Digital Transformation,
The Crucial Challenge for SMEs

Among the most relevant initiatives at the European level, we find Next Generation EU, Horizon Europe, the Digital Europe Programme, and the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030, on which we will focus in particular.

The Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030 is a European Union initiative aimed at guiding digital transformation by 2030. It’s part of a broader strategy to strengthen European digital sovereignty, promote a more sustainable and resilient economy, and ensure that the benefits of digitalization are equitably distributed among all Member States. This programme establishes a vision and concrete objectives for the EU’s digital future, with emphasis on four key areas:

• Digital skills

• Digital infrastructure

• Business digitalization

• Digital public services

SME Digitalization

Italy is making progress in business digital transformation, but significant challenges persist, particularly regarding the adoption of digital technologies, investments in digitalization, and regional disparities.

According to ISTAT’s “Businesses and ICT 2024” report, 70.2% of Italian SMEs reached a “basic” level of digitalization in 2024, a figure slightly below the EU27 average (72.9%). Additionally, 26.2% of Italian SMEs achieved “high” levels of digitalization, adopting at least seven digital activities (Source 1).

Digital activities include artificial intelligence technologies, which are primarily used for:

• Extracting information from text documents

• Generative AI and voice recognition

• Workflow automation

• Robotization

Adoption of Digital Technologies

The report shows that 8.2% of companies with at least 10 employees used artificial intelligence technologies in 2024, up from 5.0% in 2023 but still below the EU27 average of 13.5% (Source 1).

The most adopted technologies include:

• Text information extraction

• Generative AI for written and spoken language

• Voice recognition

• Workflow automation

• Image recognition

• Robotization

Compared to 2023, AI adoption showed significant growth (+71%), with particular increases in generative AI, while growth in robotization-related technologies was more moderate.

Investments in Digitalization

According to an article published by the Digital Innovation Observatory of the School of Management at Politecnico di Milano, in 2023, 33% of Italian SMEs increased investments in digital transformation, while only 4% reduced them (Source 3). Furthermore, for 2025, a 1.5% increase in ICT budgets allocated to digital investments is expected (Source 4).

Regional Disparities

Regional inequalities represent a complex issue. Analyzing data reported by the Institute for Competitiveness (I-Com), it emerges that while the Northwest (64.7%) and Northeast (64.5%) exceed both the Italian and European averages, the Center (57.7%) and the South lag behind, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to bridge these differences (Source 5).

Despite progress, the adoption of advanced technologies remains limited: less than 20% of SMEs have initiated projects related to big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence, or augmented/virtual reality.

The Role of IT Companies in SME Digitalization

This data underscores the importance of IT companies’ role in the technological development of Italian SMEs.

REISER, as a strategic partner in the IT sector, offers advanced services and solutions to support SMEs in technological integration, thereby improving operational efficiency and competitiveness. Through a personalized approach, we guide companies on their digitalization journey, actively contributing to achieving the EU’s goal of bringing 75% of SMEs to at least a basic level of digital integration by 2030.

We believe that encouraging SMEs to rely on strategic partners to guide and support their digital transformation process is fundamental to the success of the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030.