What the Italian Digital Agenda Is About
Albert Einstein once stated an apparently trivial concept: "We can't expect things to change if we continue doing the same things". If we apply this maxim to Italy, where national debate has revolved for many years around the same themes – bureaucracy, transparency, corruption, tax evasion, economic growth – the government's Digital Agenda is an opportunity to do something different to try to solve our structural problems.
The Digital Agenda entered the political debate for the first time in November 2011, with the start of the Monti government. Since then, the two subsequent governments have moved in the same direction, launching a series of initiatives that the Renzi government has developed further and consolidated into two strands: the physical infrastructure of digital connectivity and the digitization of transactions by and with public administrations.
The obsolescence of Italy's communication infrastructure is an old problem. In 2016, Italy was just 54th in the world in terms of the average speed of Internet connection and, even more disappointingly, 75th in terms of maximum speed offered, which in EU terms translates into being ranked fourth from the last across both dimensions (Akamai State of the Internet, 2016), but next-to-last in the synthetic valuation index of connectivity of the European Commission (DESI Connectivity Index, 2016). To solve the problem, the Renzi government launched the first national plan for ultra-broadband coverage that sets an ambitious target (by 2020, at least 30 Mbps for 100% of Italians and at least 100 Mbps for 85%). The plan is divided into two parts: the so-called white areas of the country, where no operator has invested or plans to invest in laying optic fiber cables, and the remaining areas, where there have been or there will be investments, but not enough to bring the speed of fiber connection to the customers' homes.
➜ MORE THAN TWO BILLION EUROS FOR WHITE AREAS
For white areas, representing about 7,300 municipalities inhabited by almost 20 million citizens, the government has allocated €2.2 billion, to which must be added the funds coordinated by individual regions. The first calls for purchase have been made by the Abruzzo, Molise, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Tuscany and Veneto regions, and closed on July 26. Once the white areas start being covered, implementation of the rest of the plan should start. The entire target, in order not to lose EU funds, should be achievedd by 2022.
Software infrastructure requires a rather more complex discussion. E-invoicing is among the most advanced government initiatives recenlty introduced. It is meant to decrease the operating costs of companies in their dealings with public administrations, but also to improve the efficiency of public payments and reduce the room for tax evasion. It has now come fully into force, since a mandatory switch-off was set on 31 March 2015. So far the new system has handled more than 35 million invoices, with more than 23,000 administrations involved, 56,000 offices and more than 600,000 suppliers. Soon a version for digitizing on a voluntary basis invoicing between private market actors will be introduced. At the second highest stage of advancement, there is the system of electronic payments (PagoPa), created to enable citizens to pay digitally in the most common ways in conditions of security, cost-effectiveness and flexibility, but also to ensure the simplification, reduction of costs and standardization of processes in public administration. The PagoPa system now covers more than 14,000 administrations, of which over 2,000 are already active (among which are the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Justice, INAIL, ACI, INPS and various regions) with 80 different types of payment services carrying out more than 500,000 transactions. Although these are small numbers compared to the total size of Italian public administration, it's already big change if you think that, for example, by the end of 2016, the new system will be used to pay school fees, school trips, meals, and more in all Italian schools. Finally, there is the digital identity public system (SPI), born with the aim of creating a unique online identification system that can be used with smartphones by both public administrations and individuals who wish to use it. It was started in March this year, but there are already 292 active administrations, 3 certified identity providers, 648 services available with about 86,000 digital identities registered.
In order to have a more complete picture of the Italian Digital Agenda was, one needs to add the centralized digital civil registry (ANPR) and electronic health records, both introduced in December 2015, the 76 local administrations which have already opted for open data in publishing their results and deliberations for the benefit of the public, as well as the coalition for digital skills, the guidelines for public administration websites and Italy Login. But it would only be a provisional list.
With the appointment last August of Bocconian Diego Piacentini as plenipotentiary commissioner with the task of "putting Italy at the top of digital competitiveness rankings", the Digital Agenda is expected to accelerate in its implementation. If it were just a technological project, it would already be a big challenge. But this is about establishing the foundations on which the future of a lighter, more transparent and efficient Italian state can be built. It's a huge challenge, one of those challenges that make one appraise the real nature of a country.