The first effects on the territories of the projects financed by the PNRR for the Digital PA are recorded: the levels of digital maturity of the capital municipalities increase, the North-South gap is reduced and between large and small cities, for the first time there are no administrations with a low level of digitalisation. This is what emerges from the sixth edition of the “Survey on the digital maturity of the capital municipalities” presented today at PA FORUM 2024. The research, carried out by FPA, group company DIGITAL360For Deda Nextsociety of Dedagroup, analyzed the state of progress of Italian municipal administrations in the digitalization objectives identified by the national strategies, according to the Ca.Re model. (Change Made) by Deda Next. A benchmark with which Municipalities can evaluate their level of maturity and an operational tool to measure the results achieved and direct new investments for the development of new generation digital services.
The result is a classification of the state of digital maturity of 110 capital administrations based on their positioning on three dimensions: the online offering of services (Digital public services), the integration of municipal systems with national platforms (Digital PA) and data and interoperability maturity, measured with the new index Digital Data Government which replaces the previous one Digital Openness. In this edition, measurements on the adoption of the SEND (Digital Notifications Platform) and PDND (National Digital Data Platform) platforms were also integrated.
In the 2024 survey, the vast majority of cities monitored (81 out of 110) are placed in the highest bands of overall maturity of the Ca.Re index. Specifically, 29 cities are at a “good” level of digital maturity (Aosta, Arezzo, Bergamo, Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Caltanissetta, Cesena, Cremona, Ferrara, Florence, Genoa, Livorno, Praises, Mass, Milan, Modena, Nuoro, Padua, Parma, Pavia, Perugia, Piacenza, Pistoia, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Rome capital city, Siena, Udine). Another 52 are at a “medium-high” level and the remaining 29 at a “medium-low” level, while none are at the minimum level. A result mainly due to progress in the indices Digital Public Services And Digital PAwhile in the new index Digital Data Government There are still few administrations that have reached the highest level of maturity, as it is a new path in which cities are still at the beginning.
The index Digital Data Governmentin fact, it has been profoundly revised compared to previous editions of the Survey: the indicator relating to social networks has been replaced with that on interoperability, which measures the level of adhesion of the Municipalities to the PDND, whose launch is relatively recent. These changes constitute a further raising of the bar, after that already implemented in the 2023 edition, and reflect the higher digitalization objectives to which administrations are called today as a result of the goals set by the PNRR. The objective is to offer a snapshot of the evolution paths of the Municipalities in accordance with the changed context scenario.
Territorial and demographic gaps are reduced. Among the 29 cities with a good level of overall digital maturity we find, in addition to 5 metropolitan municipalities, 12 medium-large cities (with a population between 100 thousand and 250 thousand inhabitants), 9 medium cities (between 50 thousand and 100 thousand inhabitants) and 3 small cities (under 50 thousand inhabitants).
Although this structure does not differ too much from that of last year, it is important to highlight how the growth of medium and small businesses recorded in the first two indices is significantly higher than that of the previous survey. Similarly, at a geographical level, there is a recovery in the South: there are 3 entities in the South with a good digital level, but the progress in the development of services and integration with national platforms is evident, with 7 Municipalities (there were 3 in 2023 ) at a good level of maturity in the index Digital Public Services and 8 (they were 0 in 2023) in the index Digital PA.
“The research highlights growth in the digitalisation of Italian municipalities, with the novelty of no capital city at the lowest level of maturity – he claims Gianni Dominici, CEO of FPA -. There is a marked improvement in the indices of online services and national platforms, in a general harmonization of digitalisation levels and a reduction in gaps between territories, a phenomenon evidently linked to the first effects of the PNRR projects for digital PA. The next big challenge is that of data governance, also in light of the close correlation between this topic and the adoption of artificial intelligence. The combination between the completion of ongoing processes and the introduction of new paradigms (such as that of AI) is in fact the basis for the development of a new model of smart government, based precisely on the ability to best interpret the data produced by the different sources to improve services aimed at the territory”.
“The PNRR is proving to be a unique opportunity to innovate the public sector, both for local authorities and for central PA, which can exploit digitalisation to bring about a revolution in the culture of service to citizens and businesses” commented Fabio Meloni, CEO of Deda Next. “In this sense, adhesion to the PDND, which promotes the sharing and interoperability of information between administrations, is a key piece to definitively modernize public services and encourage the development of innovative solutions built on the basis of certified and unique sources . Data, when interoperable, becomes the engine of an innovation that has people at its centre, because it enables a timely and effective PA, an ally of citizens and businesses, with an efficient and easily accessible range of services, within the reach of all, proactive towards the user. A fairer PA. To achieve this goal we must build a collaborative ecosystem in which the public and private sectors share resources and knowledge to generate value and well-being throughout the territory.”
Digital services. According to the survey, the offer of online services provided by the Municipalities is improving, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. For example, on a qualitative level, the number of Municipalities that at least partially comply with the main requirements of the Designers Italia municipal website template has grown from 19 in 2023 to 61 in 2024. On a quantitative level, out of the total of 25 services in measure 1.4. 1 of the PNRR, 13 are available on average (there were 11 in 2023), but the average rises to 15 if SUAP and SUE are also considered (services reintroduced in this edition of the survey).
National platforms. The growth trends in the adoption of enabling platforms are confirmed, a figure that has now been constant since 2021. Out of 19 services monitored, the average of those for which authentication via SPID is envisaged rises from 6.9 in 2023 to 7.7 in 2024, while those with CIE access go from 5.6 to 6.7. Transactions on pagoPA in March 2024 reached 67.7 million, compared to 46.1 in the same period of the previous year, with an increase of 47%. The Municipalities that display services on appIO (at least one service) are 108 (one more than the 2023 survey), while the services provided via the app grow from 1,987 in 2023 to 2,957 in 2024 (+49%). The newly formed SEND, activated in July 2023, can already count on the participation of 70 of the 110 capital municipalities, with an average of 2 integrated notification services per participating city.
Open Data. The capital municipalities that publish datasets on their portals rise from 55 to 57, but they reach 75 (+4 compared to 2023) if we also consider the cities that publish open data only through their own Region’s portal. On an overall level, the number of datasets released by the Municipalities in open format is 16,938, +2% compared to 2023. However, the quality level, calculated on the basis of the functionality of the Open Data portals, of their integration with the national Dati.gov portal .it and the compliance of published datasets with the DCAT-AP framework it drops slightly, going from 10.2 in 2023 to 9.9 in 2024 (out of a maximum of 15).
PDND – Interoperability. Although the launch of the PDND is relatively recent (October 2022), the platform has seen progressive growth, with 5,907 participating municipalities and over 6,500 e-services displayed in the catalogue. Among these there are 31 provincial capitals, for a total of 147 exposed services. 97 Municipalities already use e-services displayed by other administrations and benefit on average from 4.4 services among those exposed on the PDND. Overall, the most used e-service is the SEND digital notification service (85 capital cities), followed by the INAD digital domicile consultation service (46) and the residence verification service (24).
