E-procurement, Adoption in the Non-profit Sector Using Endogenous Metrics

This paper analyzes Internet diffusion among various organizations, based on daily observation of secondlevel domain name registrations under the “.it” ccTLD. In particular, we analyzed domain names registered by organizations in the non profit sector. The penetration rate, calculated according to the number of organizations, was computed for various widely separated geographic levels (regions). Regression analysis was performed using demographic, social, economic and infrastructure indicators. Results show that a “social digital divide” exists, both in terms of geographical distribution (i.e., in macro-areas – Northern, Central, and Southern Italy and at the regional level) and in terms of the legal status of the organizations.