Rome, 27 October 2026 – The report “Shaping Skills – Italians’ Views on Training”, commissioned by Fastweb Digital Academy and conducted by Youtrend to mark the tenth anniversary of Fastweb + Vodafone’s digital skills school, on the state of digital literacy in Italy, was presented in Rome today.
The findings were presented by Lorenzo Pregliasco, Founding Partner at Youtrend, during a roundtable attended by Hon. Walter Rizzetto, Chair of the Chamber of Deputies’ 11th Committee on Labour; Hon. Chiara Tenerini, member of the Chamber of Deputies’ 11th Committee on Labour; Pasquale Staropoli, Head of the Technical Secretariat of the Minister of Labour and Social Policies; Paolo Vicchiarello, Head of the Department of Public Administration at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers; Marco Bentivogli, lecturer at POLIMI Graduate School of Management and Founder of Base Italia; and Walter Renna, CEO of Fastweb + Vodafone.
Ten years after its launch, Fastweb Digital Academy has established itself as a national point of reference for digital training and inclusion. Through its free courses in the skills most in demand in the labour market, the school has trained more than 1.38 million people. Its impact has grown exponentially over the years: in 2025 alone, the school generated an estimated benefit of more than €7 million for the country, based on a social impact assessment model. Drawing on this established experience, Youtrend’s report aims to help understand and address the challenge of digital skills in Italy.
Findings from Youtrend’s study:
The need for training
Continuous learning is seen as a necessity. 78% of Italians recognise a skills gap, reflecting a cultural shift towards the need for training and lifelong learning. Training is viewed primarily as a way to improve the quality of day-to-day work, but also as a means of changing sector or profession and increasing earnings while doing the same job. Among those who invested in themselves by taking at least one course in the past year, online learning was the preferred format (55% of respondents), with considerable appreciation for its flexible scheduling, reflecting the greater convenience of digitally delivered content. However, while 70% of university graduates have already undertaken training, the figure falls to 24% among those whose highest qualification is lower secondary school. The gap is even more concerning given that almost half of the latter group have no intention of undertaking training, risking a loss of competitiveness in the labour market. There is also a “saturation” effect in basic skills: more than 76% of respondents feel confident in their fundamental digital skills, which helps explain the lower interest in further training in these areas.
AI and cybersecurity trends
The greatest training gap concerns artificial intelligence: only 44% of respondents say they feel adequately prepared, while 45% identify it as the most relevant skill for work and the area in greatest demand for training. Italians’ attitudes towards this technology are evenly divided between those who fear its impact on their careers and those who are not concerned about its effects on their work. The analysis also shows that people who have already undertaken training are significantly more concerned about these impacts (54%, compared with 41% of those who have not trained). This suggests that greater awareness is a key driver of upskilling and adaptation to a change perceived as real and immediate.
Cybersecurity is considered the most relevant skill for the labour market by only 26% of Italians and attracts training interest from just 19%, highlighting a significant mismatch with major labour-market reports that identify cybersecurity as one of the key skills for 2030.
The public-private divide
Confirming that the gap is not merely technical but also structural, two-thirds of respondents (66%) perceive significant differences between the public and private sectors in the digital skills required for equivalent roles. This perception highlights the need for an increasingly coordinated approach to ensure more opportunities for professional development.
“When it comes to digital skills, we have a great deal of data on supply and very little on demand—that is, on how people perceive their own skills in relation to what the market requires,” said Lorenzo Pregliasco, Founding Partner at Youtrend. “Our study specifically examines the self-perception of the segment of the population most concerned with training: people aged 18 to 60. The gap between these two elements seems to me to be the most useful insight for those designing training policies, because it shows where demand already exists and where it still needs to be developed. The study reveals an awareness that a skills gap exists, but also that demand for training is distributed very unevenly according to educational attainment and area of competence.”
“Public-private cooperation in the digital sphere must promote the responsible use of new technologies, putting people at the centre of innovation and decision-making. It is therefore essential to strengthen dialogue between institutions, businesses and the education and training system, identifying emerging professional needs and developing appropriate upskilling pathways. The goal is to support changes in the labour market so that innovation becomes an opportunity for professional growth rather than a source of exclusion or inequality,” said Hon. Walter Rizzetto, Chair of the Chamber of Deputies’ 11th Committee on Labour.
“Removing barriers to digital access means not only bringing next-generation networks to the country, but also giving everyone the opportunity to benefit from them,” said Walter Renna, CEO of Fastweb + Vodafone. “That is the idea behind the Digital Academy, which was founded ten years ago and has now trained more than 1.3 million people, many of them in public administration. Ten years ago, we began providing training for new digital professions and promoting basic skills for using the internet and new platforms. Today, the challenge is artificial intelligence. Making tools available and stimulating demand for training are two key elements in making the digital transformation inclusive and accessible to everyone.”