Information Technology, telecommunications, software and connected services, all strictly made in Italy, with care taken over the quality, research and look (why not?) of the products on offer. The latest products will be presented to visitors in the Italian Pavilion of the Cebit trade fair in Hanover, from March 2^nd to 6^th. This is an important appointment, particularly for the small and medium enterprises participating in the event, which last year involved more than four thousand exhibitors from 70 different countries and 400 thousand visitors. They will have the chance to make their solutions more widely known and consolidate relationships that were established in the previous editions of the trade fair.

To give some concrete examples, Cebit, which is now in its twenty-fourth edition, will be a fundamental showcase for ICTs from Piedmont (with more than seven thousand firms in the province of Turin alone and 20 per cent of Italian patents), from Sardinia, which are known for their specialist laboratories, including those for environmental intelligence, GeoWeb and mobile user experience, as well as for all the others taking part (44 in all, between individual companies and districts). It is therefore an occasion not to be missed, particularly to gain recognition from sector operators, with projects being presented that involve the use of latest generation technologies, such as those in the area of teleassistance and home telemonitoring.

It is an important chance to promote Italian IT, which has a force of 97 thousand firms, around 390 thousand employees and an added value that represents 2.8% of the total produced by industry and services in the country as a whole. It is one of Italy’s leading industrial sectors and one of the top Information Technology sectors at the European level. In line with European trends, 92.4% of the sector is now involved in software activity, compared to 3.6% in hardware and 4% in technical assistance. Figures emerge that are of fundamental international significance: there is a core of 40 medium-size Italian hardware production firms that, with a turnover of over 1,500 million Euros, occupy the leading position in Europe. This surpasses the 1,300 million Euro produced by the 46 British medium-size firms and leaves the other countries well behind. Then there are 640 medium and large firms producing software and services that account for almost 70% of employees in the sector. With a turnover of just over 19 million Euros, they are in fourth place, after Great Britain, Germany and France.

The two main centres of production and development are Milan and Rome, which show levels of activity in line with European company dimensional standards. 38.5% of the firms are concentrated in these two regions, with 42% of the national total for employees in the sector. Italy is already at the top in various areas of the communication technology sector, and the Cebit trade fair can only consolidate this.