Frequently Asked Questions
Question: what is the digital agenda?
Reply: the “Italian Strategic Digital Agenda Project" is one of the main novelties introduced by the "Simplify Italy" Decree. Based on the strategy drawn up in 2010 by the European Commission, “EUROPE 2020. A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”, the Agenda is designed to make government-held data freely available; it is intended to encourage transparency, accountability and efficiency in the public sector, and to fuel innovation and boost economic growth.
The deadline for completing the Digital Agenda is 2020. By that date a large number of different objectives will have to be attained. These include the social use of technology, the implementation of new generation networks and, in more general terms, digital literacy. In order to put these objectives into practice, the government has instituted a "control room", tasked with coordinating the central and local government authorities – ministries, Regions, sub-Regional tiers of government and independent authorities. The control room will operate on four fronts:
1) Broad band and ultra-broadband. "Broadband" is the system of links which makes it possible to transmit information at speeds of between 2 and 20 Mbps (Megabits per second). "Ultra-broadband" is for even faster transmission: between 30 and 100 Mbps. Despite the efforts made so far, Italy is still trailing behind its Western partners. The figures leave no doubt: almost 5.6 million Italians are caught up in the digital divide, in the sense that they do not have the basic notions needed to exploit the benefits of the Web. There are at least 3000 localities in Italy which are caught up in an "infrastructure deficit” – in the sense that they do not have the infrastructure needed to explopit the benefits of broadband and ultra-broadband – particularly in Southern Italy, in rural areas, and in places far from the urban centres.
In addition to the resources already made available for Southern Italy (about €600 million) a further €150 million has been provided to finance measures in Central-Northern Italy.
2) Smart communities/cities. "Smart" cities are urban areas where the resident community can meet, exchange opinions, and discuss their common problems using state-of-the-art technologies. The community also functions as a stimulus to research and to the implementation of projects of use to government departments and agencies. The Italian Digital Agenda is providing fresh funding to create the technological platforms needed to enable towns and cities to adopt the smart philosophy.
3) Open data. Open data is a new approach to the handling of data and information in the possession of public authorities, managed entirely through telematics technologies. The British and the United States governments were the first to trial this system. But the number of governments adopting this approach is rising all the time.
With the open data system all the information held by government authorities is "freed" and becomes accessible and interchangeable online. The adoption of open format is an important opportunity, particularly for government authorities, superseding rigid and bureaucratic ways of accessing data and managing information resources.
In Europe alone, the annual "value" of public information is about €150 billion. But the open format is also an opportunity for the public in general.
The huge volume of data rendered public makes it possible to bring the citizens closer to the institutions and to involve them in the work of government.
The "Growth 2.0" Decree Law requires all the data and information supplied by government departments and agencies to be published in open format. By making this mandatory, access will be widened to include information of use to the public, encouraging the reuse of analyses, services, applications and solutions, which will have major repercussions in terms of fostering economic and social growth. This data will be covered by an open user license, and can therefore be used without any restrictions whatsoever. All government goods and services procurement procedures must be performed exclusively through the Internet in order to guarantee greater transparency and to hasten the time taken. Encouragement is also given to the re-use of computer programs by government departments and agencies, which will bring about considerable savings.
To find out more: http://www.governo.it/governoinforma/dialogo
4) Cloud computing. Cloud computing is one of the most important novelties in the field of technological development. For the government, cloud computing means the possibility of linking and sharing information originating from different areas of government service. This makes the data more interoperable, offering evident benefits in terms of the speed and the completeness of administrative processes.
The "Growth 2.0" Decree Law introduced an element of structural innovation for managing the stock of public information which is becoming accessible to and usable by individuals and companies to foster economic growth, participation and administrative transparency.
From today, the Italian government authorities are making their information available in digital format, and are committed to sharing the information they manage, and using digital technologies they can involve the general public, civil society and the production system in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the management of the public sphere.
E-government. The last, but by no means the least important, principle is digital government or e-government. With the Digital Agenda, new incentives are being created to use digital technologies in administrative processes to deliver services to the citizens. This will improve efficiency, transparency and effectiveness. One specific example is public tenders, with the National Public Contracts Data Bank. As from 1 January, 2013, companies must submit the following to this Bank: ...
To find out more:
Page published on 30/05/2012
Updated on 5 October, 2012
