# The Impact of the 4.0 Paradigm in the Italian Agricultural Sector: A Descriptive Survey
## 5 Discussion and Conclusions
### Research and Managerial Implications  
For the current study, there are several implications, both for scholars and for practitioners.  
The first aim of the proposed study was to provide evidence in a developed economy market of the state of adoption of Agri 4.0, here trying to define through concrete numbers the state of adoption of the paradigm in Italy, which can be representative also of other European economies. As defined above, there is no study analyzing the state of penetration of Agri 4.0 in Italy or Europe. Hence, the current study paves the way for scholars to pursue empirical research regarding the paradigm and state of the art. Some of the key insights of the proposed study are that Agri 4.0 is gaining more momentum, mainly because of the continuing need to be more sustainable, efficient, and using increasingly circular means while using digital leverage. However, within the main applicable solutions, it appears there are different levels of awareness that make up the digital solutions because some solutions are probably not yet mature enough to fit the needs of farmers.  
The same applies even more so to the level of adoption because, on paper, the expected benefits are far greater than those perceived. This seems to me an important implication, and there is probably a mismatch between practical application and theory. A further implication is that the more solutions are used simultaneously, the more there is an alignment between expected and actual benefits.  
The results of the exploratory survey presented in the current article provide several insights that can be useful for professionals working in the agricultural sector, technological suppliers of Agri 4.0 solutions, and public administration decision makers. First, it is clear that the approach to the digitalization of agricultural processes is currently possible for all companies, regardless of size, here in terms of revenue and arable land, even though an increasing trend is noticed in Figures 7 and 8.  
The identification of the most known solutions within the sample leads to two possible implications for practitioners: (1) from the point of view of public institutions, it helps us to understand which solutions or clusters of solutions should be invested in from a communication and knowledge point of view as a way to inform potential users of the potential of these solutions; (2) it helps the companies providing the different solutions to identify the most well-known ones and, ultimately, which solutions can be used the most (at least in the short term).  
In addition, the benefit analysis has shown that the average benefit among users is lower than the expectations of nonusers, but that, for those who use a large number of solutions in parallel, the average benefit per solution is similar to the level of expectations. At the same time, challenge expectations are higher than the challenges experienced by users. Furthermore, the results highlight that, for both nonuser and user expectations, the technological obstacle (particularly from the point of view of interoperability between different systems and lack of connectivity in the fields) is the worst and, therefore, the most important to pay attention to, particularly from the point of view of policy-makers, who must focus on these aspects to entice and channel investment from farms that have not yet invested in Agri 4.0. In fact, one of the main difficulties that can undermine the success of a digitalization strategy in agriculture is the risk of not being able to connect the new technologies with the infrastructure already in place on the farm or even with other solutions in parallel. To overcome this constraint, it is important to develop an integration strategy plan that allows for effectively linking not only the solutions to each other, but also the people who must be properly trained and whose skills must be properly aligned. In this way, it is possible to properly implement Agri 4.0.