30 Ottobre 2025
Autori: Enzo Peruffo, Viviana D’Angelo, Arina Tsirkuleva
Abstract:
This case study explores the process of digital transformation at Italgas, a leading gas distributor in Italy and the third largest in Europe. For a company with a 185-year history, digitalization constitutes an important milestone. In the most tangible manner, it alters Italgas’ key asset – a 81,582-km distribution network – but also it reshapes its processes and operations and reskills its employees. In a nutshell, it enriches the identity of the company, transforming the organizational culture and mindset of the people who make up Italgas. In a broader context, digital transformation is Italgas’ response to the European energy transition scenario, which is geared toward a net zero emissions target and an integrated energy sector. In fact, in view of the European Green Deal, where renewables take centre stage and become integrated in a single system (including gas renewables, such as green hydrogen and biomethane), the digital transformation of a gas grid is the most efficient and readily available solution in facing the challenge of the emission reduction targets set within the new European agenda. The purpose of this case study is to reveal the management dynamics and the internal and external barriers, as well as the enabling factors, that have formed the elements of a successful implementation of digital transformation. In terms of expected learning outcomes, the case prepares students to understand and undertake digital transformation, i.e. digitalizing a whole range of operations and being aware of the critical areas that need to be monitored and assessed during this process. The introduction presents the central theme of the case to students. Section 1 provides an overview of Italgas and its 185-year history, highlighting its evolution and the previous challenges it faced in the Italian context. Section 2 introduces a larger institutional framework, focusing on future challenges related to the European Green Deal. In particular, it focuses on energy system integration, providing an overview of existing and future energy sources and discussing the place of the gas grid within this system and the role of energy distributing companies in particular. Section 3 focuses on the gas distribution industry, including the competitive environment, key players, the business model of gas distribution network operators and the key defining and enabling factors in the industry. Section 4 constitutes the core of the case. It reveals the ins and outs of the digital transformation of Italgas, focusing on the factors that have impeded and enabled the process, as well as the key challenges faced by its management and the solutions found along the journey. It depicts the digital transformation as taking place across three interrelated pillars: assets, processes and people. Section 5 addresses perspectives on the future advancement of digital transformation at Italgas and stimulates further reflections on the part of students.
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