The AGID three-year plan in the new 2019-2021 program

The three-year plan AGID (Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale, as it is often called) is officially known as the Three-Year Plan for Information Technology in the Public Administration.

This is a strategic document, always published in September, which is a guide and support for digital transformation in Italy. A digital transformation also in line with what the European Union Action Plan for eGovernment 2016-2020 predicts.

What is the purpose of the AGID Triennial Plan and why do we deal with it?

This plan serves as a structured and strategic planning of technological investments in the Public Administration scheduled for the three-year period 2019-2021.

Obviously, we are dealing with this because the implementation of a project management software falls within the AGID Plan. Can you imagine how useful it could be for the economies of the country to have a centralized place for the realization and control of public administration projects?

The Plan, as we have said, will be valid for three years (2019-2021), but before being implemented, it must be approved by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and signed by the President.

Thanks to the solutions provided by this document, public administrations can work and invest to offer more effective services to citizens and businesses.

The focal points are mainly the use of agile methodologies, a mobile approach, safe and reliable application interfaces, and open source.

Digital development in the country is therefore organized, structured and integrated following this three-year plan. But let’s try to see the application steps in detail:

1. At the national level, the standards and general rules are defined. In addition, platforms are built in order to optimize investments in this field.
2. The individual public administrations then develop the services according to their own needs and specific case – for example, the autonomous regions will function differently than the others.
3. Individual companies plan long-term investments by seeking to exploit new opportunities and innovative national or regional platforms.

The goals of the Three-year Plan

The AGID Three-Year Plan has several goals, including:

• Implementing a shared strategy in the country following the goals of the Digital Agenda in Italy.
• Supporting public administrations in offering digital services that meet the needs of citizens and businesses.
• Facilitating the functioning of the market thanks to best practices and standards, also involving private entities in the implementation of integrated services.
• Introducing a new vision about digital transformation in our country.

As can be easily deduced from the topic, this plan is constantly evolving over time.

Specifically, the three-year AGID 2019-2021 Plan envisages four changes compared to the previous one. Let’s see them together:

• The inclusion of the latest changes envisaged by the Digital Administration Code – CAD – and the recent European directives and regulations about digital innovation.
• The strengthening of the concept of Cloud for the Public Administration – cloud first – which allows to ensure a complete circulation of data and a new interoperability between systems.
• Particular attention to the issues of open innovation and smart landscape. With the first concept, we mean a new approach according to which companies no longer rely only on their internal resources, but also on ideas and solutions coming from outside, in order to compete better in the market. While the smart landscape concept, sometimes known also as Smart City, means a user-friendly city, that is easily usable and understandable by citizens, with the aim of improving the quality of life.
• Application of digital by default and once only principles: Administrations must learn to provide digital services as the first option – ie. digital by default – and should avoid asking citizens and businesses for information they already know – ie. once only.

Who takes care of the digital transition?

The purpose and goals of the three-year AGID Plan are now, very probably, clear; but who is in charge of making this digital transition?

There are three main actors:

• The digital transition manager.
• The Purchasing Manager and the person in charge of personal data protection.
• The offices in charge.

This is then not a solitary project within the Public Administration, but a process where different experts must be involved and should work together, for the good of the citizens.

In addition, a large monitoring action must be taken in order to evaluate the results of the introduction of these new services and evaluate any possible change.

How do you read the Three Year Plan?

The 2019-2021 Three Year Plan, like the previous one, is structured in three parts.

Above all, the first and the third give a summary of the strategies that Public Administrations are expected to implement.

The second part is much more technical.

In particular:

Part 1 – Frame of reference

Here the European and national regulatory context is illustrated and the strategic model is mapped.

Part 2 – Technological and governance components

Divided in turn into:

• Current scenario
• Targets
• Lines of action

Part 3 – Final considerations and address notes 

Here are reported the data of the Public Administration expenditure as regards the digital transformation.

Also, the actions that the public administrations will have to implement from the digital point of view are listed.

Conclusions

To conclude, the AGID Triennial Plan offers a framework and a “guide” to the digital world for the entire ecosystem of the Public Administration.

It is therefore hoped that with its help it is possible to positively continue a digital transformation in line with the European one, but above all responding to the needs of citizens and businesses.