Internet diffusion in the non profit sector in Italy

This paper reports about the analysis of the Internet diffusion among organizations basing on daily observations on registrations of second level domain names underneath the ".it" ccTLD. In particular, domains registered by non profit sector are analysed. The penetration rate over the relevant population of potential adopters is computed at highly disaggregated geographical level (region). A concentration analysis is carried out to investigate whether the geographical distribution of Internet is less concentrated than population and income, suggesting a diffusive effect. Regression analysis is carried out by using demographic, social, economic and infrastructure indicators. Finally we briefly describe the further developments of our research. At present we have built a database containing domains registered by foundations, associations, committees and other organizations. The idea is to verify if a social digital divide exists both in terms of geographical distribution (at macro areas - North, Center, and South - and regional level) and in terms of legal status.