**3. Advantages and disadvantages of digitalization**

figures. In public administration entities, the demand for new competences is guided by 360° innovation and digitalization of the administrations, which involves both the services to citizens and the services to enterprises (for 85.7% of the entities) and the internal workflows

All these factors have an impact also in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, which will in turn have to adjust the competences so as to better support the offer innovation (58.1%), the digital strategies to relate to clients (48.6%), and the multichannel system (41%). In this context, both technological and soft skills are essential in order to align business strategies and technological evolution to support innovation and improve internal procedures. The technological trends, which impact several levels of the demand for new digital competences, add to the needs pinpointed by companies, public entities, and ICT suppliers. The main technological trend is cloud, indicated by 71.4% of ICT suppliers and by 55.4% of the user companies, whereas big data, Internet of Things, mobile and app economy, and cybersecurity follow [8]. The most critical profiles that are more difficult to find on the market are: for the cloud area: cloud computing strategist, cloud security architect, and cloud computing engineering; for the big data area: big data specialist, big data scientist, big data architect, and big data software engineering. The Internet of Things will keep being one of the main drivers of the digital transformation of companies and it will require professionals with skills in architecture design and development and innovative applications, in managing and monitoring of services (meeting the service level agreement (SLA)/key performance indicator (KPI), internal client support, and system governance requirements), and in issue management and resolution. This is the context in which are emerging the IoT consultant and IoT engineering profiles, which are crucial to designing and implementing new processes and new smart products. They are accompanied by the IoT security software engineer, for systems protection, and the architecture mobile and IoT solutions engineer, for innovative processes management and development of related products. Cybersecurity, as well as other technological paradigms stands across the digital transformation processes, representing an essential element: the progressive and growing digitalization of the companies' internal and external activities in all market sectors is determining, indeed, an increase in cyber threats. In this context, the crucial profiles for companies are the cybersecurity consultant, the cybersecurity architect,

Finally, one key issue is the training of the new figures, which does not always keep pace with the demand. The master's degree programs in emerging digital areas (e.g., big data) in Italy are still very few. One risk is that the gap on the new areas will remain and will be accompanied by an excess in other areas linked to traditional technologies, limiting the digital transformation plans. Digital transformation is quickly changing the features of the skills needed by companies, public administrations, and citizens in order to keep pace with globalization, but the lack of awareness might leave behind many unaware small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Because of this, there is a lack of a "modernized" job market, lack of a training system that is able to keep pace with the skills required, and, finally, a lack of awareness especially in small entrepreneurs regarding the transformations in place and the urgency to acquire all the

and processes (64.3%).

60 Public Management and Administration

and the cybersecurity project manager.

opportunities they offer rather than being overwhelmed by them.

By now, digitalization is the key to competitiveness: it represents an essential leverage in order to increase the ability of enterprises to play a growing role in the international markets and the ways to realize this are many. The use of the new technologies in the management of a company, as a matter of fact, does not just apply to the communication and marketing areas but also to production, sales, business model, learning modalities, customer interaction, market access, and activities.

With digitalization, the production method changes, as well as the way the enterprise trades and communicates. Furthermore, digital technology, aside from simplifying our daily life, has generated new possibilities for development for all those enterprises that are able to keep pace with change and that know how to take advantage of the new opportunities that digital technology offers, resulting in the fact that nowadays more entities decide to evolve so as not to be excluded and so as to have the possibility to emerge in the market.

Digital transformation in general is financially sustainable for the SMEs and entails several advantages such as: saving on turnover, simplification of the access to information, improvement in business processes, and enhancement of competitive advantage. Furthermore, there is a strict connection between digitalization and internationalization: as a matter of fact, from a research conducted by DOXA on behalf of Google, it appears that enterprises that have used more digital instruments (such as software and the Internet) for their business, at the same time, have seen their export sales volumes soar.

that struggles to create the necessary skills to support it: there is a lack of long-term strategies which involve companies and training systems, there is a lack of a general view meant to coordinate the courses of digital transformation, there is a lack of resources to make the public

The Digital Culture within Enterprises and Public Administration: Legal Aspects and Repercussions…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.77606

63

The demand for ICT professions is constantly growing. Every year it increases by 26% on average, with peaks of 90% for new professions linked to digital transformation such as business analyst and big data specialists, just to highlight the evolution toward "data-driven company." The demand for new digital professions increases by 56% in total: cloud specialists, cybersecurity, IoT, service development, service strategy, robotics, cognitive and artificial

Regarding the traditional ICT profession, the demand for software analysts is in constant rise (+24% in the last year). Regarding salary, ICT pays: in sector companies, wages in 2016 have

The jobs are there but many positions remain empty. The estimate is that in the 3 years between 2016 and 2018, there could be 85,000 new jobs requiring ICT qualifications within a total occupation rate which could rise by 3.5% per year by 2018 to reach 642,000 units. For these positions, the market requires 62% college graduates and 38% secondary school graduates, but our training system offers too many secondary school graduates (8400 in excess) and too few college graduates in ICT courses (4400 in deficiency). The good news is that the number of enrollments in ICT college courses grows every year, however, the dropout rate is

The competences linked to big data, data science, cybersecurity are slowly making their way in university courses while cloud keeps being neglected. In non-ICT faculties, the digital skills are overlooked and there is no training related to them for about a half of the 4362 existing degree courses. However, the cooperation among schools, universities, enterprises, and associations are increasing, albeit slowly. It is definitely a strategic area that needs to be amplified by overcoming the issues linked to regulatory framework dispersion, to organizational coordination, and to access to incentives. The demand for new digital profiles, from the point of view of enterprises and public administration, has been analyzed by a qualitative panel and has highlighted the growing demand for new profiles linked to processes, products, and strategy innovation in a digital framework. The profiles that are crucial to the ICT chain are: business analyst, project manager, and security analyst. The gap can be filled by reconverting the existing resources through classroom training (which is increasing among young people) and digital learning. External research uses, as preferred channels, the interaction with technical and scientific faculties (47.6%), the personal/professional network (47.6%), and social

In user companies, the common most important profiles to be found are: information systems

What is critical today is the skill digital rate, that is, the grade of pervasiveness of the digital competences within a single profile requested by the market: according to the analysis of the web vacancies in 2016, in ICT professions, it affects for about 68%, with peaks of 80% for new

manager, ICT security manager, and project manager.

intelligence. There is definitely more demand in the Northwest (48%).

increased with peaks of +5.7% for employees and +4.9% for management.

very high (60%), especially in the 3-year information technology degrees.

administrations (PA) adaptable to change.

media (42.9%).

Despite many enterprises in Europe have been rapidly digitalized so as to be more competitive on a global level, the more traditional sectors of production and services such as the construction industry, the agro-food sector, the textile sector, and the iron and steel industry have only marginally benefitted from the opportunities offered by digitalization and are therefore still behind in digital transformation compared to their competitors in other European countries. In order to fill the gap, several European Union (EU) member states have approved strategies to sustain industry digitalization; however, it seems necessary to sustain a more global approach on a European level so as to avoid market fragmentation and to benefit from the digital evolution. Italy, for example, is among the member states that are less digitally developed: infrastructures and competences, indeed, are below the European average, whereas Spain is among the countries in their "catching-up" phase, which, despite remaining below the European Union average, are advancing faster than other member states and are therefore considered as recovering. Delaying the digitalization process of an enterprise means to limit its business tools and not allow it to exploit all the opportunities offered by the new technologies.

Digital transformation is an articulate process which requires management skills, but it is not just an innovative work. This transformation entails cost and process management benefits: more efficiency, more efficacy, as well as a range of definitely better services to offer to customers and suppliers. It is therefore necessary for Italian and Spanish enterprises to convert to this transformation quickly and efficiently, since only through digitalization, it is possible to think about the future of the entrepreneurial fabric.

There are numerous studies that have hypothesized the advantages of the digital industrial revolution and also many that have highlighted the possible disadvantages of it. Among several doubts, though, such as the jobs that could be lost, there are also some encouraging evaluations.

The last study written by the Capgemini Digital Transformation Institute states that the investments in smart factories could generate a 27% increase in production efficiency during the next 5 years, entailing an added value of €500 billion to the global economy. An encouraging factor is that the evaluations are made by enterprises that are active within the manufacturing sector. In addition, according to the survey, most of the enterprises interviewed seem to have understood that rather than losing jobs, the best strategy with the advent of automation is to enhance the skills of their employees, reducing inefficiency. It is not a case that 54% of the interviewed have declared to have inserted their employees in digital training courses, whereas 44% of them are investing in new workforce already trained. In our country, according to a research conducted by Ranstad in 33 countries, two workers over three deem necessary an increase in digital competences, since, according to 70% of the interviewed, to date, Italian companies do not have available the digital skills needed in order to start a digitalization process. After all, more digitalization would guarantee a positive impact on the companies' competitiveness, both in terms of internationalization and in terms of occupation and production. We live in a country with a strong motivation toward digital economy but that struggles to create the necessary skills to support it: there is a lack of long-term strategies which involve companies and training systems, there is a lack of a general view meant to coordinate the courses of digital transformation, there is a lack of resources to make the public administrations (PA) adaptable to change.

a research conducted by DOXA on behalf of Google, it appears that enterprises that have used more digital instruments (such as software and the Internet) for their business, at the same

Despite many enterprises in Europe have been rapidly digitalized so as to be more competitive on a global level, the more traditional sectors of production and services such as the construction industry, the agro-food sector, the textile sector, and the iron and steel industry have only marginally benefitted from the opportunities offered by digitalization and are therefore still behind in digital transformation compared to their competitors in other European countries. In order to fill the gap, several European Union (EU) member states have approved strategies to sustain industry digitalization; however, it seems necessary to sustain a more global approach on a European level so as to avoid market fragmentation and to benefit from the digital evolution. Italy, for example, is among the member states that are less digitally developed: infrastructures and competences, indeed, are below the European average, whereas Spain is among the countries in their "catching-up" phase, which, despite remaining below the European Union average, are advancing faster than other member states and are therefore considered as recovering. Delaying the digitalization process of an enterprise means to limit its business tools and not allow it to exploit all the opportunities offered by the new technologies. Digital transformation is an articulate process which requires management skills, but it is not just an innovative work. This transformation entails cost and process management benefits: more efficiency, more efficacy, as well as a range of definitely better services to offer to customers and suppliers. It is therefore necessary for Italian and Spanish enterprises to convert to this transformation quickly and efficiently, since only through digitalization, it is possible

There are numerous studies that have hypothesized the advantages of the digital industrial revolution and also many that have highlighted the possible disadvantages of it. Among several doubts, though, such as the jobs that could be lost, there are also some encouraging

The last study written by the Capgemini Digital Transformation Institute states that the investments in smart factories could generate a 27% increase in production efficiency during the next 5 years, entailing an added value of €500 billion to the global economy. An encouraging factor is that the evaluations are made by enterprises that are active within the manufacturing sector. In addition, according to the survey, most of the enterprises interviewed seem to have understood that rather than losing jobs, the best strategy with the advent of automation is to enhance the skills of their employees, reducing inefficiency. It is not a case that 54% of the interviewed have declared to have inserted their employees in digital training courses, whereas 44% of them are investing in new workforce already trained. In our country, according to a research conducted by Ranstad in 33 countries, two workers over three deem necessary an increase in digital competences, since, according to 70% of the interviewed, to date, Italian companies do not have available the digital skills needed in order to start a digitalization process. After all, more digitalization would guarantee a positive impact on the companies' competitiveness, both in terms of internationalization and in terms of occupation and production. We live in a country with a strong motivation toward digital economy but

time, have seen their export sales volumes soar.

62 Public Management and Administration

to think about the future of the entrepreneurial fabric.

evaluations.

The demand for ICT professions is constantly growing. Every year it increases by 26% on average, with peaks of 90% for new professions linked to digital transformation such as business analyst and big data specialists, just to highlight the evolution toward "data-driven company." The demand for new digital professions increases by 56% in total: cloud specialists, cybersecurity, IoT, service development, service strategy, robotics, cognitive and artificial intelligence. There is definitely more demand in the Northwest (48%).

Regarding the traditional ICT profession, the demand for software analysts is in constant rise (+24% in the last year). Regarding salary, ICT pays: in sector companies, wages in 2016 have increased with peaks of +5.7% for employees and +4.9% for management.

The jobs are there but many positions remain empty. The estimate is that in the 3 years between 2016 and 2018, there could be 85,000 new jobs requiring ICT qualifications within a total occupation rate which could rise by 3.5% per year by 2018 to reach 642,000 units. For these positions, the market requires 62% college graduates and 38% secondary school graduates, but our training system offers too many secondary school graduates (8400 in excess) and too few college graduates in ICT courses (4400 in deficiency). The good news is that the number of enrollments in ICT college courses grows every year, however, the dropout rate is very high (60%), especially in the 3-year information technology degrees.

The competences linked to big data, data science, cybersecurity are slowly making their way in university courses while cloud keeps being neglected. In non-ICT faculties, the digital skills are overlooked and there is no training related to them for about a half of the 4362 existing degree courses. However, the cooperation among schools, universities, enterprises, and associations are increasing, albeit slowly. It is definitely a strategic area that needs to be amplified by overcoming the issues linked to regulatory framework dispersion, to organizational coordination, and to access to incentives. The demand for new digital profiles, from the point of view of enterprises and public administration, has been analyzed by a qualitative panel and has highlighted the growing demand for new profiles linked to processes, products, and strategy innovation in a digital framework. The profiles that are crucial to the ICT chain are: business analyst, project manager, and security analyst. The gap can be filled by reconverting the existing resources through classroom training (which is increasing among young people) and digital learning. External research uses, as preferred channels, the interaction with technical and scientific faculties (47.6%), the personal/professional network (47.6%), and social media (42.9%).

In user companies, the common most important profiles to be found are: information systems manager, ICT security manager, and project manager.

What is critical today is the skill digital rate, that is, the grade of pervasiveness of the digital competences within a single profile requested by the market: according to the analysis of the web vacancies in 2016, in ICT professions, it affects for about 68%, with peaks of 80% for new business figures related to the IoT, mobile, and cloud area, whereas, in other professions, the incidence is growing and linked to both changes in the areas of automation in processes that are stimulated by Industry 4.0 (63.6%) and in the digital relation with the customer in service and business areas (54.6%).

The lack of *digital skills* represents one of the main obstacles to digital transformation. Italy is aware that these profiles are crucial and also it is aware of the importance of the diffusion of a *digital mind-set* to the purpose of success in the realization of the digital strategy. One direct expression of such commitment is represented by the reorganization of the Agency for Digital Italy, which will lead to the development and to the implementation of digital skills meant to

The Digital Culture within Enterprises and Public Administration: Legal Aspects and Repercussions…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.77606

65

On an international level, the situation that emerges seems to be even more undeveloped on the procurement side, which is spoiled by an excessive level of regulation and the lack of flexibility. The redesign of the Italian procurement model is certainly at the center of a government strategy which implies the simplification of the procedures and the identification of agile solutions that will be able to support all levels of public administrations, like, for

In order to really transform the public sector by taking advantage of digital technologies, the

Governments and administrations find themselves in very different phases of this "journey." While a small percentage might be considered as going through a "phase of maturation," governments and administrations, for the most part, are still in the beginning or developing phases of the digital course. What differentiates the leaders of digital technology from the others is a clear strategy for digital technology, as well as a leadership and a culture that are ready to sustain transformation. This should not surprise, as the history of technological progress abounds with examples of companies that have focused on technology without investing in

Public administrations have shown to be particularly prone to fall in this trap. Particularly, the first attempts to introduce computers in schools have not determined an improvement in performance, since they were not accompanied by essential modifications of the teaching

The failure to employ corporate resources within public entities is a classic example of unmet expectations due to the incapability to modify processes or to develop change-favoring

The digital development of an organization is influenced for the most part by its digital strategy. The "lack of a strategy" is the main barrier that prevents organizations in their beginning

However, it does not seem to be among the five main barriers for entities in a phase of digital

As organizations go from the initial phase to the more advanced one, the problem represented by the lack of strategy seems to withdraw and the barriers move toward the portfolio management, financing, and data and systems security management. The organizations that find themselves in a developmental phase have a clear strategy that moves toward a radical transformation. The potential impact of a digital strategy is broadly determined by the purpose and the reach of it. Also, the importance that organizations ascribe to the use of

public administrations will have to face a real journey, a "digital journey."

the organizing skills that are needed to guarantee its impact.

phase to fully take advantage of the digital trends.

methods that would allow them to be adjusted to the new technology.

respond in an efficient way to its mission.

example, the *pre-commercial procurement*.

cultures.

development.

In total, 85% of the interviewed PAs, instead, need digital skills in order to face the digitalization of services to citizens and enterprises, linked, for example, to SPID, PagoPA, and Fascicolo Sanitario Elettronico (Electronic Health Dossier). Unfortunately, it is difficult to find these skills externally because of the ongoing hiring freeze, and it is also difficult to train existing resources because of the difficulties in diverting them from their core activities.

But if we look at the jobs for the future, the scenario changes. The new professions will be called change manager, agile coach, technology innovation manager, chief digital officer, IT process and tools architect and will be formed by an articulate mix of skills meant to strategically manage the change imposed by the big data, cloud, mobile, social, IoT, and security areas. The new figures will be especially composed by technological, managerial, and soft skills such as leadership, emotional intelligence, creative thought, and change management.
