These are two periodic surveys carried out as part of the activities pertaining to the “Three-year plan for information technology in the Public Administration”, which the AgID prepares in accordance with the Digital Administration Code (CAD).
The three-year plan is updated on the basis of the data and information collected from the Public Administrations and, to this end, the Agency carries out periodic surveys on the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) expenditure of the central and local PAs, in order to identify the current spending strategies and guide their future direction.
Alongside the central and local PAs, a further survey focuses on local healthcare structures, represented by healthcare companies, hospitals and scientific hospitalization and treatment institutes, which constitute the complementary aspect of ICT expenditure in the context of public health.
The objective of the two reports is to identify the characteristic aspects and behaviors of the public administrations that most characterize Italian spending on ICT, so as to be able highlight the main directions for the digitization of the Public Administration and the national health service.
ICT expenditure in the PA
The survey of ICT expenditure 2022now in its fifth edition, has involved a cluster of 77 central, regional and local administrations intercepting over 90% of the ICT expenditure of the PA. These Administrations, responding periodically to the survey, provided timely data and information which, once standardized and verified, made it possible to highlight positive and critical aspects for the benefit of the entire PA system.
The data collected also supported the 2022-2024 update of the Three-Year Plan published in January 2023. The analysis of the data collected shows, in the period 2022-2024, a trend that is still growing of the ICT expenditure of the PA (+5,2%), motivated to a decreasing extent by the response to the pandemic, the effects of which are in fact now residual, and to an increasing extent, especially in the forecast values, by the use of funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
In 2021 the most significant increase is found (+10,1%), after the lower growth recorded in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic which had led to a slowdown in investments. Most of the 2021 projects focused on the implementation of the objectives of the Three-Year Plan for Public Administration IT and in particular on the evolution of citizen services from a digital and mobile first perspective. In particular, the componente Education score a 17.5% increase and a value of 470 million euros to support the digitization of teaching activities through the growing adoption of videoconferencing systems, as well as tools for managing the teacher-student-parent relationship (e.g. electronic register).
In addition, a significant share of institutions focused on renewal of networks and infrastructuresper support it smart working which in 2021 was still the predominant way of working, considering the prolongation of the pandemic. These were followed, in terms of number of projects, by the evolution of databases and reporting and the projects to renew the data center and transition to the cloud.
The design choices made by the PAs, in the three-year period 2021-2023, saw as the prevailing area, both from a numerical point of view (279 interventions) and from a resource point of view (2.2 billion euros), the “Platforms”, with the aim of supporting the rationalization of back-office or front-end processes of the PA and creating simpler and more homogeneous digital services.
We also note the interventions for the development of the “Infrastructure” in order to make them reliable, safe and guarantee the provision of essential services for the country, which are characterized by higher average expenditure compared to other project areas. Overall, it emerges that institutions are continuing to advance along the path of Digital Innovation. In fact, compared to the previous surveys, there is an increase in the percentage of administrations belonging to the clusters of Advanced and gods Digital leader.
Finally, the report shows which will be the main investment areas that will support growth in the coming years:
– the cybersecurityto be strengthened in all sectors of the PA to counter the increase in attacks which, especially in recent years, have targeted public bodies and healthcare companies;
– the cloud migration which will concern the Public Administration entities that will have to implement the National Cloud Strategy;
– the data platformswhose development will support the evolution towards a government data driven model;
– l’evolution of online services to citizens and businesses and authentication systems and online payments.
ICT expenditure in territorial healthcare
The survey on digitization and ICT spending in local public health it constitutes an extension of the periodic survey of ICT expenditure in the central and local PA conducted by AgID starting from 2016.
Carried out through the administration of a questionnaire to the Managements of the participating structures in autumn 2022, it concerned the following health structures operating in the area: Local Health Authorities (ASL), Territorial Social-Health Authorities (ASST), Hospital Authorities (AO), Polyclinics, Hospitalization and Scientific Care Institutes (IRCCS) and Health Protection Agencies (ATS).
The first fact that emerges from the report is that the current state of ICT spending in public health is still there far from an optimal situationso further efforts and investments will be needed in the coming years in order to ensure technological development in line with the objectives.
The panorama is, however, extremely varied, and there is no lack of cases of design excellence and vivacity. The ICT expenditure of local healthcare facilities refers to a sample of 168 entities respondents. Considering the final data, relating to 2021, the expenditure recorded is equal to 808 million euroswith a dynamic growing compared to the previous year 5.5%.
As regards the types of ICT projects, there is a strong focus on “Cybersecurity”, a sign of the growing sensitivity and attention towards this issue, with the launch of numerous initiatives in particular in 2023. The Report also highlights how the “telemedicine” still represents a important area of investmentwith a significant number of projects starting in 2022 and 2023.
The expected increase in project activities in this area also directs the growth of infrastructure activities, due to the need to modernize and extend systems, proceed with migration to the cloud or renew networks and infrastructures enabling remote assistance and monitoring services.
Even the projects on the subject of “Electronic Medical Record” record an acceleration compared to the past, supported by the need to extend their adoption to the entire hospital structure and to strengthen telemedicine services, which have often led to the need to integrate and expand the functions on this front.
It should be underlined, however, that the existing and prospective projects focus mainly on updating the existing one, while investments towards the introduction of digital solutions that focus on innovative technologies are still limited data-driveneven if there is an expected increase for 2023.