Smart homes: how digital are Italian homes?

An analysis by Centro Studi TIM shows how digital technology is changing habits in the home while also helping to reduce our environmental footprint.

03/24/2021 - 10:50 AM

The pandemic we are still experiencing has turned homes into offices, classrooms and even gyms for physical activity. Houses are therefore back at the top of our priority list, with almost half of Italians not fully satisfied with their home.

According to Centro Studi TIM's most recent report, nearly a quarter of Italians consider a smart home to be their ideal home, with a fast and stable Wi-Fi connection, that can be controlled remotely via smartphone, with advanced security systems and malfunction and leak detectors. And in order to equip domestic spaces with smart objects, but improve their energy efficiency too, people have started to completely rethink their spaces.

The most advanced example of such a phenomenon is that of "smart working villages", villages in which municipalities have allocated financial incentives to attract families interested in moving and working remotely, thanks to the spread of broadband and smart working.

The Smart Home: a fast growing market

The Italian smart home market is currently worth 566 million euros and will reach 1 billion euros by 2023.

The driving force behind this is the usefulness of smart speakers, speakers with voice assistance which have seen truly exponential growth over the last two years. But other networked appliances have also started to populate our homes: appliances to automate and control the home’s energy consumption, gateways, hubs, smart bulbs and sockets. Not forgetting cameras, sensors and other safety and security systems, as well as entertainment systems.

A smart home increases its value on the real estate market too, as shown by the experiences of pioneer countries in this field such as the USA and the UK.

The only obstacle is a concern around privacy: more than one in two Italians are reluctant to share their personal data, even if it makes their homes smarter. The answer is obviously better performing IT security solutions, but also information campaigns to develop more conscious usage of these tools.

Smart Home means sustainability, too

It should be noted that the benefits of the smart home go beyond improving our experience at home. Focusing on the use of smart objects helps to significantly reduce energy consumption and therefore CO2 emissions. It therefore contributes to caring for the environment and the world we live in. Using energy management systems can lead to a reduction in energy consumption by 10-15% per year at national level, saving between 3 and 3.5 billion euros and, at the same time, reducing CO2 emissions by around 1.7 to 2.5 million tonnes per year.

Report on Smart Home and Internet of Things in Italy (in italian)

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