E-adoption in Italy among firms using domain names

The digital divide can be either local (within a given country) or global (between developing and industrialized coun-tries). Our study explores this phenomenon by analyzing the digital divide in Italy and the factors which contribute to this situa-tion at the territorial level (i.e., macro areas: North, Central, South and at the provincial level) To do this, we used the registration of Internet domains under the ".it" country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) as a proxy. In particular, we analyzed domain names registered by firms. The analysis produced interesting results: the distribution of domains registered by firms in Italian provinces is more highly concentrated than distribution according to income and number of firms, suggesting a diffusive effect. Further-more, in order to analyze the factors that contribute to the presence of a digital divide at the regional level, regression analysis was performed using demographic, social, economic and infrastructure indicators. Results show that the best candidates for the Internet use are Italian regions with good productive efficiency measured according to the added value per employee and a high educational level measured by the number of firms specialized in ICT service sales (Internet Service Provider) and by the number of employees devoted to research and development. Our preliminary conclusion is that, far from being an "equalizer", Internet technology reï¬,ects and possibly exaggerates existing differences in economic opportunities within industrialized countries like Italy.