Il divario digitale infrastrutturale delle Marche[The infrastructural digital divide of Marche Region]

Undoubtedly a fast and sustainable migration to the most innovative eServices requires the preliminary availability of a pervasive, reliable and updated digital network infrastructure. Unfortunately, in Italy nor the Market neither the State promptly worked to solve the enduring infrastructural digital divide affecting many less populated areas of the country. Although the awareness of this divide in the public opinion has recently grown, the accumulated retard persists, and reduces the competitiveness of the national economy, now adversely impacted by the structural crisis and the industrial decline. In this work we critically discuss the conventional empirical evidences available on the Marche Region, and we present new and more accurate ones. Contrary to the received wisdom, it emerges that Marche and more generally the NEC area remain among the most disadvantaged regions of the country, also due to the polycentric and diffused characters of their model of socio-economic and urban development. Looking into the near future, we envisage that the passage to the next generation of broadband (NGAN) will accentuate the existing coverage and quality problems of the digital infrastructure while, considering the employable public funds, to date there isn’t any trace of a prospective landmark change in policy-making.