The digital infrastructure of Public Administration forms the backbone of the services they provide to businesses and citizens. That is why this infrastructure must be reliable, secure, and guided by principles of sustainability.
A census conducted in 2020 by the Agency for Digital Italy (Agenzia per l’Italia digitale/AgID) showed that among 1,252 Data Centers analysed, 95% lacked of security, reliability, and efficiency. This might mean having only a limited capacity for handling large amounts of data traffic, or, above all, a high vulnerability to cyberattacks at the expense of citizens and their data.
Adopting Cloud Computing in the Public Sector could concretely help Administrations by letting them offer autonomous, efficient, and reliable digital services and technological infrastructures. This goal is in line with the privacy protection principles envisioned under the Italian Cloud Strategy.
The Italian Cloud Strategy was developed by the Department for Digital Transformation (Dipartimento per la Trasformazione Digitale/DTD) of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the National Cybersecurity Agency. It aims to respond to three needs: ensuring the country’s technological autonomy, guaranteeing comprehensive data security and control, and enhancing the value of administrations and digital services.
This strategy is based on a “Cloud First” principle. This means prioritising the use of cloud-based tools and technologies in PAs over any other technological options. This approach follows three lines of action:
In order to consolidate and secure PA digital infrastructure, the Department for Digital Transformation has supported creating a Polo Strategico Nazionale (Polo Strategico Nazionale S.p.A/PSN). This is a newly established company owned by: TIM; Leonardo; the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti/CDP (Italian Savings and Loan Fund), through its subsidiary, CDP Equity; and Sogei (Società Generale d’Informatica del Ministero dell’Economia e della Finanze /the General IT Company of the Ministry of Economy and Finance).
The aim is to provide Public Administrations with highly reliable, resilient, and independent infrastructures by deploying state-of-the-art technologies.
The creation of Polo Strategico Nazionale is directly linked to the concept of technological autonomy. This idea grows out of the European community’s aim to operate independently from any non-EU IT companies or services linked to data and strategic infrastructure activity. In this regard, the Hub represents one of the first concrete solutions for reaching comprehensive digital-data sovereignty.
Polo Strategico Nazionale, combined with other National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP)-supported initiatives, aims to step up digital transformation among Public Administrations.
The contract to kick off work on implementing and managing Polo Strategico Nazionale was signed in line with the timeframe set out in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the security and data sovereignty features defined in the Italian Cloud Strategy.
The Hub worked to finalise infrastructure testing in the Acilia and Pomezia sites in Lazio region and the Rozzano and Santo Stefano Ticino sites in Lombardy region. This was done in accordance with the deadlines set out in the founding Agreement and Next Generation EU milestones.
As of 2023, Central and Local Public Administrations and Health Authorities will be able to apply for funding to complete the migration of their strategic and critical data and services to Polo Strategico Nazionale.
The project timeline includes two important deadlines:
We want to support Public Administration along the path of migrating towards an infrastructure offering high guaranteed security and data protection, as well as greater technological and environmental efficiency. We see working alongside specialised technology partners to support PAs as a special challenge to this end.
We are already working with the Administrations interested in joining to define the best strategies for migrating and adopting the services envisaged under the Italian Cloud Strategy. We are also providing support in terms of Next Generation EU funds.
If you have questions about the Agreement, doubts, or specific requests, please visit the dedicated section now.
