It's time to accelerate onDigital Agenda. This was stated by the Digital Agenda Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, which notes how, according to the European Commission's Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), Italy is still stuck in fourth last place in Europe for digitization .
An unfortunate placement, the result of some delays in the application, but also of a period of sowing that will now necessarily bear fruit, with the effective implementation of many of the foundations that have been laid over the last year. An implementation strategy that foresees investments of 1,51 billion euros from 2014 to 2020, sustainable with 1,65 billion euros a year of European resources provided we know how to intercept and use them properly.
The delays, on the other hand, are due to the fact that from 2012 to today only 32 of the 65 implementing measures envisaged by the Decree Laws which govern the implementation of the Digital Agenda have been implemented and, of these, only 5 within the set deadlines. Regulatory delays that risk compromising the implementation of the "Digital Growth Strategy".
What is needed, according to the scientific director of the Digital Innovation Observatories of the Milan Polytechnic Alexander Perego, are "new strategic plans with specific objectives and clear priorities, a strong orientation towards the implementation of the AgID, enabling projects, a renewed governance, finally usable European resources, a new reference framework for public procurement, structural reforms with effects on disruptive paper and a digital market that is growing again”.
“Now – continues Perego – there are no more alibis: the players in the system must move from the correct denunciation of obstacles and delays to concrete initiatives. The Italian Digital Agenda must move from the phase of defining plans to that of their execution. We hope to be able to measure fewer and fewer delays and more and more tangible results as early as next year".
In the meantime, something seems to be moving: ten Italian regions have already formalized their Digital Agendas, and will have 2014 billion euros available from 2020 to 5,7 from European ERDF and ESF resources to proceed with their implementation.
On the other hand, there is no clear information on how much the Italian PA spends in the procurement of digital technologies. The most reliable estimates certify expenditure at 6 billion euros for 2014, equal to 3% of purchases by the Public Administration, down and lower than that of other EU countries: rather than making linear cuts on this expenditure, it would be appropriate to measure and redevelop it.
The Observatory has also instituted the Digital Agenda Award with the aim of supporting the culture of digital innovation in the country, generating virtuous mechanisms for sharing the best experiences in implementing the Digital Agenda, rewarding and giving visibility to the most innovative Italian companies and PAs.
Six rewarded experiences: Digital Islands, Municipality of Milan (Financing category of the Digital Agenda), "Cloud for Europe" tender, AgID (Public Procurement category of digital innovation), Online Registration, Ministry of Education, University and Research (Digital Agenda Implementation category). Open Data Lazio, Lazio Region (Regional Digital Agendas category), SalentoGov "Development of the Regional e-Government System in the Wider Lecce Area", Lecce Municipality (Digital Agendas of Local Authorities category) and Professions System, INSIEL (Digital Agendas of Local Authorities category) digital skills).
