en.Wedoany.com Reported - Italy has surpassed the EU average in the development of fiber optics and 5G networks, the digitalization of SMEs, and the adoption of cloud and data analytics, according to the fourth "State of the Digital Decade" report published by the European Commission on June 17, 2026.
Data from Italy's 2026 Digital Decade Country Report were released on June 22, 2026, by the Department for Digital Transformation (DTD) of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers, sourced from the European Commission's fourth "State of the Digital Decade" report. This report examines the progress of member states towards achieving the 2030 digital transformation targets set by the Digital Decade Policy Programme (DDPP). The DTD emphasized that the country report recognizes Italy's leading role in establishing a national AI governance framework to implement the EU's law on artificial intelligence (the AI Act) and ensure ethical, transparent, and responsible use of AI. Furthermore, the report highlights Italy's "strong academic and industrial capabilities" in key pillars of quantum technology, driven by the national quantum technology strategy.
Alessio Butti, Undersecretary of State for Technological Innovation, stated that the latest European Commission Digital Decade report confirms Italy is on the right track, ranking among the most advanced countries in 5G adoption, fiber growth, and digitalization of public services. These achievements are the result of investments under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and close collaboration among regions, businesses, and public administrations.
In terms of networks and connectivity, the EU study considers Italy to have achieved "excellent results," thanks to the "Italy 1 Giga Plan" (3.1.1) within the PNRR framework. Italy confirms its position among the best-performing countries in overall 5G coverage (99.82%), higher than the EU average of 99.38%. The penetration rate of FTTP fiber (fiber to the premises) in Italian households reached 77.56% in 2025, exceeding the EU average of 74.13%, with a growth rate (9.6%) also higher than the EU average (7.1%). However, a "significant gap" still needs to be addressed in rural areas.
In the field of artificial intelligence, the European Commission recognizes Italy's ambition with the adoption of the first national regulatory framework in Europe (Law No. 132/2025), which governs the development, adoption, and governance of AI systems, fully aligned with the EU AI Act. This initiative is part of the planned path outlined in the "2024-2026 Italian AI Strategy," and the committee for the 2026-2028 strategy has already been inaugurated.
In digital public services, Italy is on track with the trajectory set by the national Digital Decade roadmap. The results for digital public services for citizens (86.11%) are higher than the EU average of 84.64%, representing a 3% increase from 2024. Digital services for Italian citizens reached 96.77%, above the EU average of 94.01%, nearly achieving the final target. Cross-border digital public services also exceeded the EU average, reaching 75.45%. The European Commission study specifically highlighted the development of the digital wallet system IT-Wallet, the widespread adoption of digital identity systems CIE and SPID, and the strengthening of public data interoperability. Related initiatives also include promoting the adoption of national platforms like PagoPA and the IO app for service delivery and digital payments.
Measures supported by the PNRR continue to advance the migration of public administration services and data to certified cloud infrastructure, aiming to make public services more secure, integrated, efficient, and resilient. The National Digital Data Platform (1.3.1) supports over 9,000 entities in securely exchanging information via APIs, achieving over 1.1 billion data exchanges.
In digital health, Italy achieved a result of 89.93%, higher than the EU average of 86.51%, with access to electronic health data growing by 6.9%, thanks to the promotion of the Electronic Health Record 2.0 and the health data ecosystem within the PNRR framework. By February 2026, 95% of Italian general practitioners and pediatricians were transmitting digitally signed documents or managing electronic prescriptions through the national system.
Italy's results in digital skills remain below the EU average, but there are "encouraging signs," with an increase from 45% to 54%. The EU study highlighted the outcomes of two strategic measures within the PNRR framework: the Digital Facilitation Services Network (1.7.2) has established 4,000 active digital facilitation points, supporting approximately 2.5 million people; and the Digital Citizenship Service (1.7.1) has mobilized around 9,300 volunteers, benefiting about 290,000 citizens. The proportion of ICT specialists in employment stands at 3.8%, compared to the Digital Decade target of 10%.
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