Digital Innovation in SMEs

The Digital Innovation in SMEs Observatory was established in 2020 to respond to the growing interest of companies, industry associations, and policymakers regarding the digitalization of Italian SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and the role of the ecosystem supporting them in this journey. Although they represent only 5% of active Italian enterprises numerically, SMEs have significant weight in terms of employees (35% of the private sector), revenue (42% of total in Italy), and generated value add (38%). However, over the past five years, the business world has experienced situations that have put its organizational and business models to test, to which the more digitally mature small and medium-sized enterprises have been able to respond with greater promptness and resilience. For this reason, the goal of the Observatory is to develop a community for sharing insights, with which to study and explore the real opportunities for small and medium enterprises arising from Digital Transformation.

Digital Innovation in SMEs, Observatory Research

In its annual edition, the Digital Innovation in SMEs Observatory conducts a wide range of research activities focusing on innovation in SMEs. Specifically, it aims to:

• Collect solid empirical evidence, providing interpretation models of events and useful instruments to support business decision-makers;
• Understand the role of digital technology for competitiveness, performance, and growth of Italian SMEs, also relating it to economic and organizational variables
• Study enabling factors at the country system level to support innovation and digital transformation (e.g., connectivity, public policies);
• Suggest opportunities for comparison between SMEs and the ecosystem supporting them (e.g., large enterprises, public institutions, associations, innovation hubs, training entities…), with a view to promoting constructive exchange of experiences and skills;
• Ensure visibility to the best practices and experiences of small and medium enterprises.