An attempt to quantify the technological change in Italy through a multisectoral framework: a comparative analysis

Abstract

The fourth Industrial Revolution, centred on the digitalisation of the productive processes, is intended to develop the process started during the Third one, but also to create a discontinuity with the previous one in relation to the speed, aim and impact on the whole society. The aim of this work is to evaluate quantitatively, as possible, the place of the Italian economy in implementing the Information and Communication Technology, comparing the Italian outcomes with those of The Netherlands, that occupies the 4th place in the Global Competitive Index ranking. Starting from the last available Input- Output Flow Tables retrieved from the WIOD database, an interindustry linkage analysis is performed, whose results could confirm and detail the different position of the two economies in the world ranking. The linkage analysis confirms the higher propensity of The Netherlands of investing in ICT and the major concern of Italy in the valorisation of the “Made in Italy”.