Digital transition between cohesion and territorial disparities

First Name
Daniela
Last Name
La Foresta
Institution/University
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Paper/Abstract submission

Technology and the opportunities deriving from the extensive use of information society tools are considered fundamental components of all growth models. The spread of innovation within territorial systems and social functions are directly related to a balanced access to digital services, becoming a key factor in promoting competitiveness, equity, economic development and social and environmental sustainability.

This is also the direction taken by the European Commission which, in highlighting the potential of digital transition as an important tool in the pursuit of the objectives related to sustainability, highlights the persistence of territorial disparities in access to innovation and the risks for social cohesion: this is the framework to which the vision of the "European digital decade" can be traced. In fact, the Commission emphasizes the centrality of the European digital policy for the coming years by clearly indicating objectives, governance mechanisms and financial instruments that support the territories in the processes of cohesion and elimination of digital inequalities dramatically emerged during the pandemic and that have confirmed a polarization of the gap between urban and rural areas and between western and eastern territories of the Union.

The strategic nodes foreseen by the European digital transition, referring to the increase of digital skills of citizens, the diffusion of a secure infrastructure system, the digital transformation of businesses and public administration and the creation of a European industry of digital technologies, have also been included in national policy documents that represent an opportunity to re-launch the economies of European countries.

The objective of this research work is to analyze, in a comparative perspective at the European scale, the infrastructural ecosystem in which the digital transition envisaged by the National Recovery and Resilience Plans financed by the European Union is grafted. The research, in an attempt to describe the peculiarities of different territorial contexts, will compare the relationship between processes of economic growth and some significant variables underlying the development of the communication society (regional expenditure for research and development, broadband coverage, number of innovative companies, expenditure of companies for innovation, number of university students in STEM disciplines, number of patents registered), focusing on the various actions planned to overcome the territorial fragmentation and complexity of the implementation of the objectives.