Digitalizzazione e PNRR

  Focus - Allegati
  07 March 2022
  19 minutes, 33 seconds

Digital Transformation and NRRP

Develop cross-cutting planning and strategic skills

Edited by Mariella Brunetti, Policy Analyst MIPP e Alberto Gollin, Policy Analyst MIPP.

Starting from an analysis of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), this policy paper aims to focus on the main content of Plan's Mission 1: digital transformation in Italy, to which approximately 40 billion euros have been earmarked. As reported in the PNRR itself “among the causes of the disappointing productivity performance is the inability to take advantage of the many opportunities related to the digital revolution. This delay is due both to the lack of suitable infrastructures and to the structure of the productive fabric […]”. Italy needs to accelerate the convergence process towards the other advanced countries of the European Union and in this regard the digital issue has been a central area for some time a crucial but also a cross-cutting investment area: it is a matter of increasing the competitiveness of the productive sector, innovating the public sector, rebalancing the country’s territory and spreading knowledge, in short modernizing the country. For this reason, this research focuses both on the role and opportunities and on the gaps of Italian digital transformation (including investments in digital infrastructures), in order to make policy proposals for the intervention areas of the financial resources available.

What are we talking about (in short)?

For the first time in Italy, the NRRP is allocating about 27% of the country's resources to the digital transition. Now that this goal is among the government's priorities, the historic opportunity to combine investment and structural reforms must become the engine of a renewed capacity for implementing public policies to overcome past delays.

  1. Introduction
  2. Overview of National Recovery and Resilience Plan: brief analysis of the functioning mechanism and structure of the NRRP;
  3. The level of digitalization in Italy: what is Italy doing compared to the other European Union countries? The gap in basic digital skills and connectivity;
  4. MISSION 1, digitalization, innovation, competitiveness and culture: focus on the NRRP Mission dedicated to the digital transition;
  5. Digital infrastructures: what is meant by "digital infrastructure"? The situation in Italy
  6. Weaknesses: which delays have occurred;
  7. Policy proposals and international cooperation;
  8. Conclusions

1. Introduction

The approval of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) confirmed that the digital transformation in Italy is now a priority on the government agenda. It will be necessary for the government to develop an effective and forward-looking digital public policy strategy. The course of action supported by Vittorio Colao, the Minister for technological innovation and digital transition, envisages adopting a different speed in designing public processes and intensifying partnerships between institutions, companies and scientific research, at national, European and international level.

2. Overview of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan


It is well known that Italy is among the nations hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis and its consequences. Among the various effects of the pandemic crisis, there was that of bringing out the strengths and weaknesses of the government systems, but also of the productive and social structures of all the countries affected by the emergency. In particular, in the Italian case, fragilities emerged in the economic, social and environmental spheres: as reported in the introductory pages of the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the so-called NRRP, the statistics reveal the difficulty for our country in keeping pace with others advanced European countries and a slower productivity trend, as well as a fragmented productive fabric and high unemployment. What these imbalances have in common is a certain inability to grasp, plan and invest in digital opportunities. An example is given by the recent Government intervention on the public sector, specifically on the digitalization of the Public Administration.

In response to the pandemic emergency, the European Union first suspended The Stability and Growth Pact, and then prepared huge economic support packages, including the ambitious investment and reform program calledNext Generation EU (NGEU) - a program to relaunch growth, through investments and reforms, for a total of 750 billion euros, of which over half under agreements. The program focuses mainly on three actions: to accelerate the ecological and digital transition; to improve workers training; to achieve greater gender, territorial and generational equity. Within the modernization process of the Italian state, this European political program represents an opportunity for considerable growth compared to the last ten- or 20-years performance. When the European Commission's NGEU plan was approved, Italy was the first beneficiary in absolute value of its two main operating financial tools:

1.The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) – which is the most significant component, made up of resources for a value of 191.5 billion euros to be used in the period 2021-2026, of which 68.9 billion are in the form of non-repayable grants. For Italy, the loan is estimated at 122.6 billion euros;

2. The Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU) to be used in a more short-term perspective, only for the initial relaunch phase.

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) is born thanks to RRF which required Member States to present a national package of investments and reforms on six pillars:

• Green transition;

• Digital transformation;

• Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth;

• Social and territorial cohesion;

• Health and economic, social and institutional resilience;

• Policies for the new generations, children and young people.

The European Commission assessed the Italian Plan positively overall, accompanying the assessment with a detailed analysis. In July 2021, the NRRP was definitively approved with the Council's Implementing Decision: each investment and reform have specific objectives and goals on a six-monthly basis and resource allocation is subject to their achievement. In August 2021, the European Commission disbursed 24.9 billion (13% of the total amount allocated) to Italy and from December 2021 the first implementation report on the NRRP presented by the government is underway at the Italian Parliament.

The NRRP is divided into 6 Missions, closely connected to each other. A total of 226 measures are planned to be implemented, divided between reforms (62) and investments (164). The European Commission will monitor the progress made (through the so-called milestones and targets) by European countries in their Next Generation EU implementation plans through periodic checking mechanisms.

To understand why the Italian government has decided to implement such a substantial and radical reform package in the context of digitalization of the country, it is necessary to retrace some steps. As already mentioned before, the Covid-19 pandemic has only brought to light already existing problems, including the insufficient level of digitalization of public services and digital literacy in Italy compared to European standards; for this reason, the planning and implementation of measures in the short to medium term will be of crucial importance to solve these problems and bridge the gap created over the years.

3. The level of digitalization in Italy: where we are

There are some indicators used to detect the level of digitalization of the Member States of the European Union which are also used to perform benchmarking activities when substantial differences appear between culturally similar countries. The DESI index (Digital Economic and Society Index) drawn up by the European Commission is among the most important, because it reports a general overview of the competitiveness and performance of 27 European countries, taking into consideration the 4 main indicators connected to digitalization (i.e. connectivity, human resources, digital technologies integration, and public services digitalization). The latest DESI update in 2021 (which refers to data for the first half of 2020) places Italy in 20th position out of 27, with a score of about 5 points lower than the EU average - the second to last (Greece).

Compared to DESI 2020, however our country has climbed 5 positions. In particular, encouraging numbers come from the use of "e-Government", which is now approaching the levels of the EU average (in DESI 2020, Italy occupied the last box for the use of digital tools in the interaction with the PA ), and from the integration of digital technologies by small-medium enterprises (eg e-commerce, electronic invoicing, use of the cloud).[1] However, when compared with the positioning of neighboring countries in the general ranking, such as Spain (9th), Germany (11th) and France (15th) it is clear that these results are not enough. Specifically, the DESI reveals serious delays in two areas:


1. Basic digital skills of Italian citizens (human capital). Only 42% of the Italian population (aged 16-74) has basic digital skills. Unfortunately, the problem of the lack of digital literacy is not new, being rooted in the Italian system together with a digital culture that is struggling to take off. According to two recent Eurostat rankings, in 2019 only 73% of Italians accessed Internet on a daily basis and, even more seriously, only 65% of girls and boys between 16 and 24 years old had basic digital skills. This means that the lack of digital education and insufficient IoT network and tools usage also affect younger people. This does not promise a good construction of a future digital society. Not surprisingly, the percentage of ICT specialists in Italy is close to 3.6%[2].


2. Digital infrastructures (connectivity). According to DESI 2021, despite improvements in the diffusion and coverage of connectivity in the country, the pace of optical fiber installations slowed down in the two-year period 2019-2020 (with lower percentages than the EU average regarding the fiber possession itself). Furthermore, if compared with the EU average - the inhabited Italian areas covered by 5G are half of the European benchmark. As for companies, the use of big data, artificial intelligence and the use of ICT for environmental sustainability are below the European average.[3]
These rankings show the need to apply structural interventions to change this situation. By focusing on the Next Generation EU, and therefore also on the NRRP, Italy can mature substantial changes towards digital transformation (given that some gaps may not be filled "simply" with economic and financial aid from above). Deficiencies in digital skills require wide-ranging programs to achieve truly impactful results. Not surprisingly, among the various approved objectives, the NRRP provides for investments and projects in digital infrastructures, connectivity and digital skills of citizens and within the PA to solve these structural problems. The DESI itself recalls how the NRRP represents a unique opportunity for Italy as "an important change of pace and an opportunity to promote digitalization in the country [...]", given that approximately 25% of resources (the largest in financial terms among the EU countries) will be exclusively allocated to the digital transition.


4. Mission 1: digitalization, innovation, competitiveness and culture


The digital transition is presented in the NRRP document as follows: "The digital revolution is a huge opportunity to increase productivity, innovation and employment, to ensure wider access to education and culture and to bridge territorial gaps".

Among the 6 Missions of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Mission 1 aims to relaunch the competitiveness and productivity of the country system through digital innovation with 40.2 billion euros distributed in the following three sub-categories:

1. digitalization, innovation and security in the public administration (9.75 billion euros);

2. digitalization, innovation and competitiveness in the production system (23.89 billion euros);

3. enhancement of the cultural and artistic heritage (6.68 billion euros)

Digitalization and innovation in a country must first take on a cross-cutting meaning: the continuous need for technological updating of entire production processes, which is considered an intrinsic capacity of the phenomenon of digitalization itself. Consequently, giving digitalization a central role in the entire process of national modernization also means taking into account other factors that together bring positive benefits to the community, such as:

  • the ownership of a strategic asset of digital infrastructures, like transport or energy infrastructures (missions 2 and 3 of the NRRP itself);
  • the renovation of school buildings, the adaptation of school programs, the improvement of digital skills of young and old students, teachers and administrative staff;
  • the creation of digital health infrastructures and the updating of staff skills.

In Italy there is a structural gap that requires widespread intervention on several levels. It is therefore necessary to opt for a unified approach to PNRR's Mission 1. The three main areas of intervention are:

  1. The first point is the package of reforms and investments for the Public Administration sector. The main actions are: moving to the Cloud through the "Cloud first" approach, accelerating interoperability between public bodies and streamlining the procedures for the provision of information by citizens. These investments are part of the improvement of the network of digital infrastructures lacking in Italy. Then there is the cybersecurity issue and the increase in digital public services for citizens. To the infrastructural interventions must be added those on human capital, to increase the skills of all citizens, in coordination with the other missions of the Plan.
  2. The second aspect is to encourage innovation in the production sector. In detail, we refer to investments in Transition 4.0, in research and development, in industrial property reform, measures that support sectors with a high technological content and in synergy with European strategic initiatives (such as satellite technologies). This also concerns the protection of SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Italian Enterprises) which are the beating heart of our production sector, with a strong driving force in the country's internationalization process and the competitiveness of industrial supply chains. In addition to these transformations, investments have been made to ensure coverage of ultra-broadband networks throughout the national territory to take full advantage of the digital advantages.
  3. The third point is the value of the country's image, which must be enhanced by increasing the attractiveness of historical and cultural sites, including minor sites and urban suburbs. These interventions will be more incisive the more the potential of digital tools is exploited.

5. Digital infrastructures

Digital infrastructures are defined as “Data Processing Center” (Centro Elaborazione Dati or CED), i.e., they are real operational bases where digital devices and archives are kept and monitored, as well as the entire IT structure on which a huge number of applications, software and websites depend. These are country's strategic services. Digital infrastructures make use of software applications and highly specialized personnel. Above all, the cloud is among the digital infrastructures that has had a great expansion in the most recent period: the current debate concerns the national endowment of a cloud model that is safe, autonomous and sustainable at the same time, through a National Strategic Pole.

According to the Digital Transformation Team (merged into the Digital Transformation Department since 2020), in Italy there are currently 11,000 Data Processing Centers serving over 22,000 public administrations: approximately one data center for every two administrations, which results in high costs (typical of the maintenance of these infrastructures) and poor security of the related data processing centers (most of which are located in unsuitable places, with seismic or hydrogeological risk or subject to blackouts[1]).

As regards the management of Italian Big Data, it is concentrated in Emilia-Romagna due to the presence of the European Data Valley with approximately 70% of the national data storage and computing capacity. This is a symbol of the importance of concentrating research, knowledge and innovation which has made the region a real European hub.

6. Weaknesses

The objectives of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan have been widely shared by many. The centrality attributed to digitalization is meant to be a political choice, not just an economic one. Alongside strengths, attention should also be paid to some weak points or elements that should be better articulated to make the most of the huge resources by combining investments and reforms. As regards connectivity, and precisely the European Commission's 5G Action Plan, by 2030 it is expected to achieve the goal of uninterrupted coverage of the 5G network in urban areas: ultra-fast networks are the starting point for all new technologies and for the functioning of digital infrastructures. Thanks to the NRRP, Italy aims to achieve this goal early, ensuring national coverage by the end of 2026. Italy ranks among the few EU countries with a high probability of success. From 2021 the Italy 5G Plan defines the national strategy. This is the first public investment plan approved for the mobile market in Italy, an initiative envisaged within the framework of the Italian Strategy for Ultra Broadband Towards the Gigabit Society[1]. However, a slowdown has emerged in the opening of tenders while the international ecosystem is already starting to move towards 6G.

Another weakness is the availability of territorial data throughout the country: as reported by the AGID - Agency for Digital Italy - territorial data are a basic knowledge element for every public policy that engages in territorial management, such as in the case of digital infrastructures. However, territorial information in Italy is so fragmented that it jeopardizes the effectiveness of administrative decisions.

7. Policy proposals and international cooperation

The NRRP constitutes a historic opportunity for Italy. Success will be determined by the so-called "grounding" of the policy guidelines indicated in the Plan. We have identified some of them:

  • Italy will need a clear strategic vision of its role and its political will by 2030.
  • The implementation of the PNRR and its Mission 1 can have real results only thanks to collaboration between regions and local authorities, private and public entities, to overcome the well-known fragmentation of the digitalization process in our country. Digital transformation must also be an opportunity for territorial rebalancing in order to enhance country's capabilities. The eighth EU Cohesion Report highlights the still existing gaps in the growth and development of the entire national system. Reducing territorial gaps was also identified as a cross-cutting priority of the Plan. Public policies that encourage digital services can become crucial occasions for changing the phenomena of "limited citizenship”[1] (which occur in Southern Italy as well as in the suburbs) by providing greater guarantees in terms of equal access to citizenship rights. It would be desirable for the new round of public investments to relaunch innovative technological, social and urban regeneration projects. The mission of territorial cohesion must be recognized and consciously addressed. It is therefore necessary to pay more attention to the function of accompanying the central technical structures towards local and regional administrations, especially small-medium ones. Above all, “targeted, coordinated investments at national level” are needed to achieve innovation and equity”[2].
  • To avoid wasting resources and create and improve the digital infrastructure network, the need for new professional profiles will need to be reconsidered: upskilling and reskilling activities are needed in collaboration with universities or training institutions.
  • Being trained in digital skills can be an instrument of equity and social redemption for the new generations: it will be essential to implement large-scale digital education events, even during school hours in collaboration with Third Sector entities and / or experts. It is important to accelerate the development of a greater critical capacity in the use of social platforms and the web, especially for the new generations, training them in the topics of cyberbullying, cybersecurity, fake news and others. The European Union has renewed the initiative of the Action Plan for Digital Education 2021-2027 aimed at promoting the sustainable and effective adaptation of the education and training systems of the EU member states to the digital age. For example, France has been implementing digital promotion programs in schools for several years to ensure that all students are familiar with digital tools and resources. These were followed by ministerial projects, such as France Universités Numériques[3], which is the first national online platform for online university courses and for teaching staff updating.
  • Establish solid partnerships with reliable state and non-state actors who have knowledge of local technological innovation in order to create profitable research and knowledge exchanges, while strengthening local digitalization. Some research projects of international interest, for example, have been promoted by Italy in synergy with other "similar" countries in terms of values. This could strengthen mutual trust and even investment in research. International cooperation interventions are increasingly required and will be increasingly necessary: promoting a strong bilateral and / or multilateral commitment, while balancing national interests is one of the actions supported by Minister Vittorio Colao (MITD).

8. Conclusions

Making the National Recovery and Resilience Plan fully operational undoubtedly represents a historic opportunity for Italy to break down barriers that hinder the full development of the country. Since the issue of digitalization is a cross-cutting priority, it also requires cross-cutting interventions and coherent and concretely achievable policy lines. The challenge for Italy will be above all to increase research and innovation projects to build autonomous digital infrastructures, human capital training and a solid national base capable of keeping up with European and international partners. Flexibility, openness and resilience will be the key words in future transformation processes, especially in the post-pandemic period. According to Prime Minister Mario Draghi, regarding the NRRP: « Italy must combine imagination, planning skills and concreteness, in order to deliver a more modern country to the next generations, within a stronger and more supportive Europe». The challenge posed by the digital transition is only the first necessary step, but we must continue consistently to foster social cohesion.

Translated by Simona Taravella

SITOGRAPHY

(1) Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza, https://www.governo.it/it/articolo/piano-nazionale-di-ripresa-e-resilienza/16782

(2) European Commission, The Digital Economy and Society Index https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/80590

(3) FPA Digital 360°, DESI 2021: Italia avanti piano, il vero nodo sono ancora le competenze, https://www.forumpa.it/pa-digitale/desi-2021-italia-avanti-piano-il-vero-nodo-sono-ancora-le-competenze/

(4) Eurostat (2021), Individuals' level of digital skills (2019), https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ISOC_SK_DSKL_I/default/bar?lang=en

(5) Eurostat (15 luglio 2020), Do young people in the EU have digital skills?. Eurostatnews, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/edn-20200715-1

(6) Assolombarda, Italia 20esima in UE per digitalizzazione (DESI 2021), https://www.assolombarda.it/centro-studi/italia-20esima-in-ue-per-digitalizzazione-desi-2021

(7) European Commission, Comunicato stampa 12 novembre 2021, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/it/ip_21_5481

(8) Il ruolo primario delle infrastrutture digitali per la ripresa economica del paese: a che punto siamo? IRPA, Istituto di ricerche sulla Pubblica Amministrazione, https://www.irpa.eu/

(9) Road to 5G, a che punto siamo in Italia e in Europa, https://www.agendadigitale.eu/infrastrutture/road-to-5g-a-che-punto-siamo-in-italia-e-in-europa

(10) Consultazione pubblica del Piano Italia 5G, https://innovazione.gov.it/notizie/articoli/parte-la-consultazione-pubblica-del-piano-italia-5g/

(11) AGID, https://www.agid.gov.it/it/dati/dati-territoriali

(12) Cohesion in Europe towards 2050, https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/reports/cohesion8/8cr.pdf

(13) PNRR e divari territoriali, https://www.pandorarivista.it/articoli/pnrr-e-divari-territoriali-intervista-a-giuseppe-provenzano/

(14) Il PNRR alla prova del Sud, https://lnx.svimez.info/svimez/il-pnrr-alla-prova-del-sud/

(15) Europea Education Area, https://education.ec.europa.eu/it/piano-dazione-per-listruzione-digitale-2021-2027

(16) FUN, France Universités Numériques, https://www.fun-mooc.fr/en/

SITOGRAFIA

- Agenda Digitale, Road to 5G, a che punto siamo in Italia e in Europa, https://www.agendadigitale.eu/infrastrutture/road-to-5g-a-che-punto-siamo-in-italia-e-in-europa

- Assolombarda, Italia 20esima in UE per digitalizzazione (DESI 2021), https://www.assolombarda.it/centro-studi/italia-20esima-in-ue-per-digitalizzazione-desi-2021

- Confartigianato, STUDI – In Italia digitalizzazione PMI sale più che in altri paesi Ue, https://www.confartigianato.it/2021/07/studi-in-italia-digitalizzazione-pmi-sale-piu-che-in-altri-paesi-ue-ripresa-per-servizi-digitali-9-boom-e-commerce-61/

- European Commission, Comunicato stampa 12 novembre 2021, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/it/ip_21_5481

- European Commission, European Education Area, https://education.ec.europa.eu/it/piano-dazione-per-listruzione-digitale-2021-2027

- European Commission, The Digital Economy and Society Index, https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/80590

- Eurostat (2021), Individuals' level of digital skills (2019), https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ISOC_SK_DSKL_I/default/bar?lang=en
- Eurostat (15 luglio 2020), Do young people in the EU have digital skills?, Eurostatnews, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/edn-20200715-1

- FPA Digital 360°, DESI 2021: Italia avanti piano, il vero nodo sono ancora le competenze, https://www.forumpa.it/pa-digitale/desi-2021-italia-avanti-piano-il-vero-nodo-sono-ancora-le-competenze/

- FUN, France Universités Numériques, https://www.fun-mooc.fr/en/

- IRPA, Istituto di ricerche sulla PA, Il ruolo primario delle infrastrutture digitali per la ripresa economica del paese: a che punto siamo?, https://www.irpa.eu/

- Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza, https://www.governo.it/it/articolo/piano-nazionale-di-ripresa-e-resilienza/16782

- SVIMEZ, Il PNRR alla prova del Sud, https://lnx.svimez.info/svimez/il-pnrr-alla-prova-del-sud/


Share the post