D.SUMMIT 2012
THE ITALIAN SUMMIT ON DIGITAL MEDIA
 Â
Milan, May 15, 2012 – Digital Magics,  the internet startup incubator, and Grafo Ventures have organized the D.SUMMIT – www.dsummit.org – the Italian Summit on Digital Media held today at the San Sirio Stadium in Milan . An event in which the market’s leading players, media companies, media agencies, investors and opinion leaders, shared views on the evolutions, trends and opportunities in the Italian digital industry. The objective of the summit – which registered the participation of more than 200 professionals in the industrial and financial sectors – was to define and understand the market’s state of the art so as to launch innovative projects from Italy which can excel and compete at an International level.
“The Italian economy is on the threshold of an important challenge, essential for our development, and that is to double our GDP by 2015. However, the digital industry and its ancillary activities is suffering from the crisis of traditional media, the lack of financial resources for innovation and the pressure deriving from large international operatorsâ€, said Enrico Gasperini, President of  Digital Magics, “A combination of actions for strengthening our eco system consisting  of new rules, of the consolidation of the research sector and of venture capital, of the collaboration with industrial operators and collective initiatives with allied industries, can develop the market in a short time. This idea led to the launch of the D.Summit and Digital Magics is proposing itself as an incubator to stimulate industrial operators, web companies and venture capitalists to develop the digital media industry in Italyâ€.
360 Capital Partners, 4w MarketPlace, Aegis Media Italia, Atlante Ventures, Connect Ventures, De Agostini, Gruppo 24 ORE, Gruppo Editoriale L’Espresso, Innogest, Matrix, Mediaset, Meta Group, Populis, Principia, RCS MediaGroup, Telecom Italia, Triboo, WPP and many more contributed their views on the possibilities of creating digital innovation in Italy. Focus on  startups and on the younger generation, adoption of appropriate tax interventions, promotion of research and venture capital, involvement of the industry, creation of system alliances, engineering of companies to become European, and not just local leaders, establishing of an Italian Silicon Valley: these were the topics discussed during the D.Summit.
THE ITALIAN SCENE
In Italy the digital GDP is approximately 2%, a third with respect to Germany and France. Advertising is worth about 1.1 billion Euro, a share of 13% against the 20% of the majority of other European Countries. E-commerce counts for only 2% of retail: the Italian market (8 billion) is one sixth of the British market (more than 51 billion), a quarter of the German market (34 billion) and less than one half of the French market (20 billion). Only 4% of the medium/small Italian companies sell online, whereas the European Union average is 12%. The delay in the development of broad band costs Italy approximately 1% of the GDP. Also with regard to venture capital – which in all other Countries in the world represents the main investment motor for innovation and economic and employment growth – and Italy is at the tail end. Currently risk capital investment in Italy is the lowest in Europe and corresponds to a sixth of the European average, which is a sixth of the USA average. Network penetration amongst Italian citizens instead shows a much narrower audience and user gap with respect to other economic indicators. Italy is the European Country with the greater number of cellphones and mobile devices: 30% of Italians own a smartphone, a percentage which reaches 47% in young adults. 63% of Italian families are connected (in Europe it’s 73%), and approximately 50% of the population uses internet from the PC. (Dati Audiweb, DAG, IAB, Milan Polytech, AGCOM).
Partner of the event – Grafo Ventures and Milano San Siro
Digital Magics www.digitalmagics.com
Digital Magics is the Italian industrial incubator of online initiatives founded by Enrico Gasperini. Digital Magics focuses on the startup of dynamic and innovative models of business, managing the seed stage: the first stage of the creation of a new company, including the initial consumer testing phases and consequent period of development, guiding the companies in the subsequent funding and development phases. The Digital Magics model is unique in Italia and is based on the Digital Magics LAB: the team that identifies, analyzes and launches new initiatives, providing the startups with financial, administrative, strategic, logistic, technological and marketing services as well as business management support to accelerate the company’s development. Since its foundation in 2004, Digital Magics has helped launch 30 new startups, which currently cover the main areas of the Italian online market, and has invested approximately 10 million of its own capital, of which 5 million deriving from the exits.
For further information:
Digital Magics – Press Office
Giorgio Bocchieri giorgio.bocchieri@digitalmagics.com
02 52505202
334 6853078
