OECD, Italian Public Administration: The digital transformation of the public administration is no longer just a collection of projects or investments linked to the PNRR. For the OECD, it now represents a structured public policy, equipped with national governance, shared infrastructure, and a strategy that is producing concrete results. This is what emerges from the Digital Government Outlook 2026, the report in which the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development assesses the state of digitization in the public administrations of member countries. Italy scored 0.67 on the Digital Government Index, still slightly below the OECD average (0.70), but up by nine hundredths compared to 2023—one of the most significant improvements recorded in recent years. More than the overall figure, it is the qualitative assessments that reveal a change that is now well established.
OECD, Italian Public Administration, Digitalization: A Mature Governance Model
In the report, the OECD acknowledges that Italy now has one of the most comprehensive governance structures for digital transformation in Europe. The strategic leadership entrusted to the Department for Digital Transformation through the “Italia Digitale 2026” program, the operational role of AgID, the Three-Year Plan for Information Technology in the Public Administration, and the coordination provided by the Interministerial Committee for Digital Transition are identified as the elements of a system capable of guiding innovation across the entire public sector in a unified manner. This is no minor achievement: for years, one of the historical limitations of Italian digitization has been precisely the fragmentation among government agencies, with projects that were often disconnected and difficult to integrate. According to the OECD, this problem is gradually giving way to a “whole-of-government” approach—that is, a transformation designed for the entire public administration.
Data, Interoperability, and Shared Platforms
The report particularly highlights the quality of the infrastructure built in recent years. Italy scores above the OECD average in the “Data-driven Public Sector” dimension (0.77 versus 0.74) and in the “Open by Default” dimension (0.73 versus 0.59), a sign that the use of data in public decision-making and policies promoting openness and transparency have now reached an advanced level. Particular emphasis is placed on the National Digital Data Platform (PDND), considered the central infrastructure for the secure exchange of information among government agencies via APIs, along with the national API catalog and common models for semantic interoperability. According to the OECD, these platforms provide the technological foundation for putting the “once only” principle into practice: the public administration should never ask citizens or businesses for data or documents that are already available in one of the government’s databases. If a person has changed their residence, if their income is already certified by the Revenue Agency, or if a child is enrolled in school, this information must be automatically shared among the relevant government agencies, without forcing citizens to submit it each time. This is a step that goes beyond technological innovation. It means changing the way the public administration works, by sharing data instead of constantly requesting it from users.
Investing in Skills as Well
Among the most highly regarded aspects is the work done on training public sector employees. The OECD cites the Syllabus platform as an example of a structured approach to developing the digital skills of public employees: personalized learning paths, assessment of training needs, integration with government training systems, and skills monitoring. This initiative is complemented by ANCI’s Academy of Digital Municipalities and the Repubblica Digitale program, dedicated to spreading digital skills among the general population. It is an element that is often less visible than large digital platforms, but it is crucial. No transformation can take root unless the ability of public administration employees to use tools, data, and new organizational methods grows in parallel.
The Many Challenges That Remain
The OECD’s assessment, however, is not entirely positive. Italy continues to lag behind in certain key areas. The main one concerns the ability to design services that are truly centered on the needs of citizens and businesses. The report shows scores below the OECD average in areas related to the proactiveness of services, the “user-driven” approach, and the “Government as a Platform” model. In other words, while Italy’s public sector now has a solid digital infrastructure, it has yet to fully leverage it to offer services that anticipate users’ needs, more actively involve citizens and businesses in the design process, and systematically use data and analytics to improve the public service experience. The OECD also highlights the need to strengthen the evaluation of digital investments through ex post cost-benefit analyses and common models for measuring the public value generated by projects. Similarly, it emphasizes the need to develop standardized tools to measure the impact of digital services and user involvement in the design of public policies.
From Digitalization to the Quality of Public Services
Italy has thus moved beyond the phase in which the main challenge was building the digital infrastructure of the public administration. Today, it has internationally recognized governance, interoperable national platforms, and a strategic framework that the OECD considers robust. The new challenge is different: using these assets to tangibly improve the quality of public services. Digitalization is not, in fact, an end in itself. It has value when it reduces processing times and administrative burdens, simplifies the relationship between citizens and government agencies, increases transparency and trust in institutions, and enables public servants to work more effectively. This is precisely the step the OECD is now urging Italy to take: to move from laying the groundwork to the full transformation of public action, making technology a tool in the service of a public administration that is more effective, simpler, and closer to the people.
From the PNRR to Administrative Normality
The report comes at a decisive juncture. Much of the public administration’s digital infrastructure has been built thanks to investments from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). In the coming years, however, the issue will no longer be spending extraordinary resources, but making the capacity to innovate the norm. This is likely the most important message contained in the OECD’s assessment. Italy is not being commended because it has acquired new technologies, but because it has built a national strategy, stable governance, and a set of shared platforms that can make public services more effective. The challenge that remains is the quality of the citizen experience. A truly digital public administration is not measured by the number of available platforms, but by how easily a person can access a service, the time they save, the trust they develop in institutions, and the state’s ability to meet their needs.