STEEPLE

Technological forces * Transportation infrastructure: Highly developed transport networks. Italy is a very dynamic country and since the opening of borders with Europe, it did everything to increase links with other European countries. With 29 airports, 7,000 km of highway, and several ports, Italy also has numerous public transport such as tram, metro and TAV. Moreover, it is very easy to get around town and when you live in the countryside, many means are available to users to reach the center.

* Communication infrastructure: Internet is very present in Italy. The government and some companies like Vodafone attempts to provide Internet in areas that are deprived. According to the University of Sherbrooke, 30 million of Italian use Internet (1/2 inhabitants). In general, the country has all the modern means of communication. We notice that 93% of families have at least one television, and a large majority of the population owns a mobile phone.

* Commercial infrastructure: Italy has large cities with many dynamic centers such as malls, many cities lively pedestrian and business centers. These are mostly fairly modern infrastructure and renewed regularly.

Companies know renewing production processes to be more competitive. A substantial budget is dedicated for research and development to foster the emergence of new technologies and new products.

Political forces * Political system: Although Italian politics seems unstable due to the numerous cases involving Berlusconi, the Italian parliamentary democracy is quite strong. Founded in 1946, this political system has known some changes and still meets the vast majority of Italians.
We note that the influence of the pope and cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church in Italian politics is evident. Union are present and the protection of the employee is strong. * Major Political objectives: The government wants to increase the standards of living bringing prosperity and facilitating